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Posted by David Totheroh on 09/12/06 01:19
Ed Hulse wrote:
> David Totheroh wrote:
>
> > Correct me if I'm wrong...
>
> You are. Again.
>
> > ...but the objections to the Reagan bio were that
> > it depicted truths that were considered disrespectful; Nancy's
> > astrologer, Ronnie's contra involvement.
>
> Well, there *was* that little matter of making up conversations
> wholesale and attributing to Reagan remarks he never made -- like the
> one about AIDS being God's way of punishing gays.
You're absolutely right. Reagan didn't say that. His communications
director Pat Buchanan said AIDs was "nature's revenge on gay men" and
Reagan never had him retract or amend the statement.
>
> > I'm more than happy to join you. Mr. Hulse, in expressing reservations
> > that just because Armitage ALSO leaked classified information, that
> > that fact somehow negates all the documentation that shows a concerted
> > effort on the part of the Bush administration to try to discredit
> > Wilson. The evidence is clear. Rove DID "tip off" Novak, he's (finally)
> > admitted to doing so, and on the same day Armitage talked to Novak. The
> > only thing the evidence is NOT clear about is whether Rove was the
> > primary source or the confirming second source.
>
> It's not clear only to people whose entire worldview depends upon the
> propagation of conspiracy theories and a continuing, relentless
> demonization of the Bush administration. Novak has stated
> unambiguously that Armitage was his primary source for the assertion
> that "Wilson's wife" was instrumental in having the former ambassador
> sent to Niger; he then found Plame's name in Wilson's WHO'S WHO entry
> and added it to his column. Armitage, thou art the man! Mystery
> solved. Officer, take him away.
Novak has said lots of things, like that he used the term "Agency
operative" when he says he meant 'employee.' For someone who's been in
Washington as long as he has, it doesn't pass the smell test. What he
says contradicts your implication that his confirmation came from
"WHO'S WHO." "Novak will later write that he originally acquired the
information from an official who is "no partisan gunslinger." Novak
says, "When I called another official for confirmation, he said:
'Oh, you know about it.'"" The documents are ambiguous about who
he met first, Armitage or Rove. And in any case, documents show that
Libby leaked the info more than 2 weeks before Novak spoke to both
Armitage and Rove.
>
> As for the effort to "discredit" Wilson -- well, notwithstanding the
> question of whether an administration has the right to question those
> who make very public and forceful denunciations of its foreign policy
> in wartime, I would say the guy did a pretty good job of discrediting
> himself. He lied, and his lies are now a matter of public record,
> thanks to a Senate investigation. (The MSM had no interest in
> verifying or challenging anything Wilson said once he went public.)
> That there was some truth sprinkled amidst the lies doesn't qualify him
> for the role of Innocent Victim Targeted by Big Bad Adminstration
> Boogey Men. If anyone is responsible for ending Valerie Plame's career
> in the CIA, it's Joe Wilson, who put partisan considerations and a
> desire for 15 minutes of fame above her government service.
If that's true it sorta begs the question of why it was 'necessary' for
the administration to do anything more than point out the falsehoods in
Wilson's statement itself instead of jeopardizing intelligence on one
of the most critical areas to US security, ie. Iranian WMDs. It also
doesn't explain all the inter-office memos that preceded the
publication of Wilson's op-ed piece (unless you accept that the Bush
doctrine is valid and also includes preemptive character assasination
of American citizens as well as preemptive invasions of sovereign
nations).
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