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Sunday, 27 August 2006
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FLASH: Isikoff Tells All...Aww shucks, it's nothing.
Contributed by John Werntz
So, what have we here? Essentially, a big, fat, Greek nothing [more apologies to Joel Zwick & Nia Vardalos]. No serious person, not even Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, no one not afflicted with Bush Derangement Syndrome believes that there was a crime here. Isikoff is careful to exonerate Mr. Armitage of any intention to "smear" Valerie Plame and Joseph Wilson.
Just in passing: exposing falsehoods disseminated by present or former government officials, such as those of Ambassador Wilson, used to be known as setting the record straight, not as smearing someone. The delicate nuances of goring oxen must be observed. Isikoff's article reveals other interesting tidbits, such as that Robert Woodward got the word from Mr.Armitage a couple of weeks before Robert Novak did. Woodward's mature judgment that the Plame-Wilson saga was a nonstory has earned him a chorus of Bronx cheers from the herd of independent minds in the media. Woodward is a big boy, and has had no problem brushing that sort of lint off of his well-tailored blazer. The final paragraph offers an insight into the vicious, witch-hunting mentality of the White House inner circle. Secretary Powell, Mr. Armitage, and William Howard Taft IV, legal counsel to the State Department were concerned lest news of Armitage's action might leak and damage the Department. So Mr. Taft took the precaution of alerting the White House:
Get the implication. The White House, which has been repeatedly flayed in the media for "outing" Valerie Plame, learned of the story from the State Department. President Bush's hit-man, Gonzales, apparently never breathed a word to anyone in the media. So much for the "first draft of history." One final note: poor Valerie Plame did not even get a cover photo out of this story. Heartless, soulless Newsweek devotes its September 4 cover to an inanimate chunk of orbiting space junk call Pluto or some such thing. Shameful. *** The webmaster adds: John, there's more coverage, not as good as yours, at and . I've posted an excerpt and a link to this post at . |
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Contributed by John Werntz on August 27, 2006 at 07:48 AM in , , , , | Comments Posted by: I've posted an excerpt from and a link to this post at and in the comments on Captain Ed's post on the subject, and a link in the comments at Hot Air. Posted by: | Aug 27, 2006 1:44:29 PM Posted by: John, I just put the original timestamp back on this to move it down to it's "normal" position in the blog. It's still just as excellent as it was -- It's just someone else's turn for the added exposure. Posted by: | Aug 28, 2006 10:36:49 AM |