Here's their talking point, and it's not easy to refute.

[11 Bravo]

Joe Wilson is on the record as saying, "My wife was not an undercover operative the day that Robert Novak outed her." If this were true, then Rove's guilt would be, at least technically, mitigated. But listen to the tape of Ambassador Wilson's actual statement. It is indisputable from the nuance, the emphasis, and the cadence of his speech, that he is saying his wife CEASED to be an undercover operative the day Novak exposed her. Anyone who heard him would have to come to that conclusion. Those are the facts, now how do we combat the RW noise machine?

[flowomo]

1. AP has already corrected the story on that point....

link soon

[flowomo]

3. here's the link:

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000980270

[Tommymac]

22. Thanks for the link...i like E&P.

They were the First to post Larry O'Donnell's comments from the Capital Gang original revelation on that fateful Friday two weeks ago in an official news story...

[NMDemDist2]

2. since it's a total lie, why would it be hard to refute? n/t

[Al-CIAda]

5. My thought as well. Making up shit is 'hard to refute'? n/t

[11 Bravo]

15. In case you haven't noticed ..

this entire fucking administration has been based on one lie after another. All of the lies have been difficult to refute due to the corporate eunuchs who laughingly refer to themselves as "the White House press corps".

[Media_Lies_Daily]

33. Except that they were part of the effort to refute it. Next.

[sendero]

4. Wilson has already explained...

.. that he meant that the revelation of her role rendered her useless as a covert operative.

There's no "there" there, and there is nothing to refute.

[tuvor]

6. If they don't acknowledge that the text is ambiguous at best...

...they're desperate and grasping at straws.

[flowomo]

7. it is NOT ambiguos

see link above

[tuvor]

16. The text, my friend. The text. n/t

[flowomo]

30. not sure what you are saying here but,

the TEXT is not ambiguous, as the above E&P linked story shows. The AP reporter miswrote the story. The full quotes are crystal clear on what Wilson meant and have been restored in the rewritten story.

[Tommymac]

8. Easy to refute. It's a misinterpretation of his statement. A lie.

Already being debunked all over the place.

Edited for snarkiness. See my post below. My bad. :(

[11 Bravo]

25. I'm not talking about debunking RW bullshit HERE.

All 70,000+ of us are already pretty well convinced that is one of the most corrupt, morally bankrupt administrations in our history. I'm talking about getting the word out elsewhere. The Washington Post, USA Today, and the rest of the mainstream media are reporting Wilson's statement as news. Curiously, they haven't mentioned any of the "at least a dozen threads" at DU which we all know give the lie to the spin machine. And take your "Do better than that" and stick it wherever you think it will do the most good.

[Tommymac]

28. My sincere apologies for my snarkiness.

Just been so many bogus posts about this today floating around on several boards...my tired eyes misread yours.

[11 Bravo]

29. Thanks, and sorry for going off on you.

I have got to learn not to post after listening to Hannity. I know I shouldn't do it, but my curiosity as to what kind of bullshit the wingnuts will be spewing keeps drawing me back.

[Tommymac]

31. Cheers Mate! This one's on me!

:toast:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

34. Hey...you started this thread. It's already been refuted in the MEDIA.

[Donailin]

9. It's already been disputed and proved, here:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200507150003

AP falsely reported Wilson "acknowledged his wife was no longer in an undercover job" when her identity was first publicly leaked

In a July 15 article reporting new details in the ongoing criminal investigation into the leak of CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity, the Associated Press distorted a remark by former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV to falsely report that Wilson "acknowledged his wife was no longer in an undercover job at the time Novak's column first identified her." In fact, Wilson merely emphasized that his wife's cover was blown at the moment when columnist Robert D. Novak revealed her identity in a July 2003 column.

From the AP report:

In an interview on CNN Thursday before the latest revelation, Wilson kept up his criticism of the White House, saying Rove's conduct was an "outrageous abuse of power ... certainly worthy of frog-marching out of the White House."

But at the same time, Wilson acknowledged his wife was no longer in an undercover job at the time Novak's column first identified her. "My wife was not a clandestine officer the day that Bob Novak blew her identity," he said.

Federal law prohobits goverment officials from divulging the identity of an undercover intelligence officer. But in order to bring charges, prosecutors must prove the official knew the officer was covert and nonetheless outed his or her identity.

But the context of the interview on the July 14 edition of CNN's Wolf Blitzer Reports demonstrates that the AP misconstrued and falsely reported Wilson's remarks. In stating that "My wife was not a clandestine officer the day that Bob Novak blew her identity," Wilson was simply noting that Plame's identity was no longer secret after Novak publicly revealed it. In fact, when host Wolf Blitzer specifically asked Wilson if his wife "hadn't been a clandestine officer for some time before" Novak's column was published, Wilson responded that he could not comment on her past status as an undercover officer, but noted that "the CIA believed that a possible crime had been committed." The implication of Wilson's statement is clear. Had Plame not been a clandestine officer at the time Novak published her identity, the CIA would not have believed a possible crime had been committed.

From the July 14 edition of CNN's Wolf Blitzer Reports:

BLITZER: But the other argument that's been made against you is that you've sought to capitalize on this extravaganza, having that photo shoot with your wife , who was a clandestine officer of the CIA, and that you've tried to enrich yourself writing this book and all of that.

What do you make of those accusations, which are serious accusations, as you know, that have been leveled against you?

WILSON: My wife was not a clandestine officer the day that Bob Novak blew her identity.

BLITZER: But she hadn't been a clandestine officer for some time before that?

WILSON: That's not anything that I can talk about. And, indeed, I'll go back to what I said earlier, the CIA believed that a possible crime had been committed, and that's why they referred it to the Justice Department.

She was not a clandestine officer at the time that that article in Vanity Fair appeared.

And as Media Matters for America has documented, multiple press outlets reported that Plame was an undercover CIA operative at the time Novak wrote his column.

Note: After this item was written, but before it was posted, the AP corrected its error. New versions of the article read:

In an interview on CNN earlier Thursday before the latest revelation, Wilson kept up his criticism of the White House, saying Rove's conduct was an "outrageous abuse of power ... certainly worthy of frog-marching out of the White House."

Wilson also said "my wife was not a clandestine officer the day that Bob Novak blew her identity."

In an interview Friday, Wilson said his comment was meant to reflect that his wife lost her ability to be a covert agent because of the leak, not that she had stopped working for the CIA beforehand.

Though the AP ran a correction, other news outlets had already repeated its mistake. CNN's Ed Henry told viewers that "Wilson himself suggested that she was not undercover." The Drudge Report link to the AP story suggested the same thing, and numerous other news outlets picked up the AP article.

[XOKCowboy]

36. THANK YOU!

Even AP has issued a retraction and correction. CNN did also. The only "NEWS" outlet that won't do the same is Faux News but don't we expect that from them? After all the RNC hasn't given them new Talking Points retracting it!

[BeFree]

10. Ummmm

I think you just did refute their BS. Ceased, being the term, eh?

[karlrschneider]

11. I'm not totally certain he meant it the you're suggesting, although

it might be so...what bothers me about that is why he wouldn't just come right out and say so? What would be the downside from saying that? In any case, there seems to be ample evidence that she WAS undercover not long -before- Novak's expose. (off topic, just wondering does 11 Bravo refer to an aircraft perchance?) :D

Edit: I just realized I TIVO'd this program, I am re-viewing it right now, wanna be sure my memory is working...back in a while.

[11 Bravo]

21. 11 B (light weapons infantryman) was my MOS from 1970-1972.

Although now that I think of it, flying an airplane would have been a Hell of a lot more fun!

[karlrschneider]

24. Ah! Okay, I was wondering because many years ago I occasionally

flew a plane with the tail number N811B. Have no idea what ever happened to it. Now back to the subject, I just replayed my TIVO'd program of Wilson on Wolfie and I agree completely with you...I failed to note the nuance of his comments until your post gave me pause to watch more closely. He was probably too subtle for most people (not to puff up my own balloon but I usually catch those things)...good observation on your part.
KS

[rooboy]

12. Who gives a flying f&^% what their "talking point" is.

It's a matter of LAW. Talking points, public opinion and Fox News polls aren't relevant in this matter.

[LynnTheDem]

13. It's VERY EASY to refute if one knows & understands the English language.

She STOPPED being a NOC the day Robert "traitor" Novak outed her.

[punpirate]

14. Here's the best counter-argument for that....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4112057

Cheers.

[xray s]

17. It's not easy to refute if...

...you are an idiot like Mark Shields who refutes it by talking about Rove's dirty tricks during the Ann Richards campaign for Texas govenor!! :banghead:

[stepnw1f]

18. LOL (nt)

[Zen Democrat]

19. If that's their talking point ... it's already "nonoperative"

[pk_du]

20. Easy

1. The first thing Fitzgerald did was ask a senior CIA official , in front a Grand Jury, what the circumstances were re Plame and if leaking her identity would constitute a crime under the law.
2. The CIA Official confirmed there was basis for a crime to have been committed.


Otherwise...Fitzgerald , wouldnt have wasted 2 years of his life and millions of our tax dollars.

[Lex]

23. Karl's going to jail for lying to the federal investigators and the grand

jury, not for the underlying crime.

Note--that's exactly what put Martha Stewart in the pen. The lying and conspiracy to cover her tracks. She wasn't convicted on the underlying crime.

[madaboutharry]

26. It doesn't matter

Patrick Fitzgerald understood him. Listen, it doesn't make a difference if these rw nuts run all over town trying to restate Joe Wilson's comment. The special prosecutor knows what happened and that is the only thing that matters.

[Garbo 2004]

27. So the CIA referred the matter to the FBI/justice dept just for kicks?

If it was no big deal there'd be no reason for the CIA to ask for an investigation and no reason for the justice dept to follow through and spend almost two years on it.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

32. Sorry, but it has ALREADY been refuted....and easily. Next.

[wiggs]

35. All of the above, then ask why Rove was/is trying to discredit Wilson nt