Kristof: Campaign against Wilson was backstabbing politics, not crime

[BurtWorm]

"To me, the whisper campaign against Mr. Wilson amounts to back-stabbing politics, but not to obvious criminality. And if indictments are issued for White House officials on vague charges of revealing classified information, that will have a chilling effect on the reporting of national security issues. The ultimate irony would come if we ended up strengthening the Bush administration's ability to operate in secret."

http://select.nytimes.com/2005/10/25/opinion/25kristof.html?hp
<must subscribe to read the whole idiotic thing>


I really don't get these pundits. The government uses its power to attack a critic of its policies using his wife and this is NOT A CRIME?! This is just politics as usual?! Am I losing my mind or is Kristof justifying the criminal use of the government apparatus to harm an individual citizen? Would he have excused Nixon, too? The American people have to tolerate the power elite playing these kinds of games AT OUR EXPENSE?! This is enfuriating!

[savemefromdumbya]

1. but it wasn't about Wilson

it was about the forgedNiger docs and a lot of other things?

[Carolab]

2. Of course it was. This is more smoke and mirrors. n/t

[savemefromdumbya]

14. I don't think

but there is a more sinister reason for taking such risk

[Carolab]

22. NO! I meant it was about "so much more"--not just about Wilson!

Sorry for the confusion.

To quote Arianna:

In the end, Plamegate isn't about the outing of Valerie Plame or the sliming of Joe Wilson. It's about Iraq and the White House's attempt to slam the door on questions about the corrupted intelligence that was used to lead us into a disastrous war. Intel that Fleitz and Bolton played a key role in shaping.

[savemefromdumbya]

31. and there's even more

WMD smuggling? This pops up on the internet at various places.

[Carolab]

32. Not to mention

Espionage and treason (AIPAC scandal)

[BurtWorm]

3. We shall see about that.

I hope the rumors are true that the investigation has gone there.

[chaz4jazz]

12. I'm going crazy here!

It was about shutting down Brewster Jennings, the cover company that knew all the facts of where the WMDs were and weren't and who were actively pursuing the truth - once Plame was outed, it effectively closed down their operations. Plame worked for Brewster-Jennings (as her cover) and all contacts she had, foreign and domestic, disappeared (and maybe forever). All other US secret agents working through B-J were also compromised and at the least, lost their moles and ability to gather important intelligence (at the most - they were hurt). We are more in the dark now than before the outing of Valerie Plame re: WMD. This is the egregious traitorous actions these WH characters are responsible for - they shoud all burn in Hell.

[savemefromdumbya]

16. Our media are totally oblivious to the fact

the media should keep its mouth shut as it could be implicated as to aiding and abetting a conspiracy to prevent the truth coming out re: WMDs

[rodeodance]

15. of course it is about Wilson--What he knew/was claiming -the information

was denying Cheney an important rationale for war with Irag. Wilson made that information public. Cheney/his staff did NOT like that. So it was payback time. And the major payback was to out his wife.

[savemefromdumbya]

17. should we say only part of it? nt

nt

[radwriter0555]

4. The republicans have been employing the politics of personal destruction

for so long that they've become accustomed to the blood, mayhem and damage... much like freaks who torture others, they become immune to the blood on the walls, and to the screams. To them, these actions are the norm, not the abnormal.

The republicans lowered the bar for ethics so, so far down that their standard for decent behavior is buried six feet under.

[pointsoflight]

5. And what if an agent or foreign sources were executed?

We all need to remember that the judge who ruled on the Judith Miller matter admitted a bias to protecting sources, but then said the gravity of the matter overrode that bias. We also need to remember that there were 8 redacted pages in the judges ruling. There is a very real possibility that when Plame and Brewster Jennings were revealed, our own agents or foreign sources were executed.

[shance]

6. Where's Kristof's connection? Obviously he's covering for someone.

n/t

[Lex]

7. Then why was Clinton's BJ such a big deal?

Republicans are such hypocrites.

[dbeach]

8. here comes da judge

order in the courtroom here comes da judge

kristol best watch his mouth. the long arm of the LAW is unleashed..He sure smells like a Traitor to me.

get an umbrella its raining crooks

Watch the MM lie and sit on the HUGHEST story in US History..

when its fairly safe the euro press will bust the story open
JUST to make the MM out for what is has become the propaganda voice of US fascism

[Demoiselle]

18. It's NOT Kristol. It's Nicholas Kristof, regular NTimes op ed-er.

And he's also an asshole. Every judge who'se okayed Fitzgerald's requests over the past two years has done so on the grounds that serious crimes may have been committed. The CIA made the referral to pursue it in the first place because their operative was OUTED!!! Mr. Kristof writes inumerable pieces about the poor who suffer in Africa and other parts of the world, yet he doesn't seem to recognize oppression and malfeasance in our own country.

[dbeach]

27. sorry gotta put all the popcorn and noise makers away

its a safe bet that ALL THE MM have bought into the fascist lies and now will scramble and ramble as the LAW moves in..

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. If this isn't a crime, nothing is.

That's the problem with this country. White men have the power in this country to rationalize their own criminalities. They never get held accountable for any wrong they do. And when the country suffers from their indiscretions, they keep putting the blame for the deterioration of society on powerless people.

[Inland]

10. It would have a chilling effect on backstabbing politics, rather.

Cxan't have that.

Certainly Kristol, Mr. Neocon, doesn't think that actual inside information should be used to debate admin. policy. He doesn't think admin. policy should be debated at all except with the info that the admin has fed us, right or wrong.

[unblock]

11. it's complete bu**sh** to focus on mr. wilson when they harmed MRS. wilson

focusing on mr. wilson makes it look like it was retaliatory politics.

but the real focus should be on MRS. wilson. she's the one they harmed, she's the one they exposed, she's the one whose career was destroyed.

and what the f*ck did she ever do to deserve that?

[wtmusic]

21. It was retaliatory politics

It's what Rove/Cheney cabal does best. It's the mob--you disprespect my war, I hurt your family.

[tuvor]

13. RULE OF LAW! RULE OF LAW! RULE OF LAW! RULE OF LAW! RULE OF LAW!

Godammit!

[jaxx]

19. The right wing wire hard at work blaming YOU for what the liars did.

Same spin, different story. If you think they're guilty, then it's all your fault for not believing in the nightmare. We'll be seeing a lot of this in the next months and the only strength the bushco's will gain is swearing on the weight of that bible everyday in court.

[Gyre]

20. Political revenge is NOT a crime

but in this case the revenge was carried out thru committing a crime. In this case, revealing the identity of a CIA operative.

Gyre

[Carolab]

23. Yeah but faking documents to take us to war sure is.

And THEN outing a CIA agent on account of it after the fact.

[Marr]

28. Yep- by that logic, you should be able to

shoot your opponents and just call it "political hardball". It's a ludicrous argument.

[reality based]

24. Kristof is neither a good lawyer nor a good journalist

How far you have fallen New York Times!

[Eugene]

25. This lame excuse is the classic response of someone caught in the act.

It really wasn't theft. I found it, and
I really didn't take it for my own gain. Honest.

They committed a serious crime. It doesn't
help that the motive was personal revenge
instead of plain ordinary greed.

[Marr]

26. Tell it to the judge.

Unfortunately for the spinmeisters, you can't spin your way out of a felony.

[wookie294]

29. Typical liberal

The allegedly "liberal" Washington Post columnist, Richard Cohen, also denounced Fitzgerald's investigation.

Bush and the Republican Party will survive and prosper for a long time after the indictments, just as the GOP prospered after Nixon's resignation.

Hillary is a Republican. Do the DUers understand this?

[Garbo 2004]

30. Without subscribing to read it, the portion excerpted here is an example

IMO of the specious reasoning favored by Judy Miller and her fellow stenographers.

Perhaps this case will have a chilling effect on top Administration officials laundering their lies through a credulous and compliant press, but really that is unlikely. No more likely that the press will abandon its In this instance it resulted in a serious breach of national security which apparently was the issue that concerned the appeals court judges who decided that it was appropriate and necessary that Cooper and Miller be compelled to testify.

Leakers of classified info always have taken their chances with the law, as do journalists who publish such leaks should an investigation ensue. That is not at all new. The "chilling effect" has always been there: the threat of prosecution for the leaker and the possibility that journalists will be compelled to testify or face contempt.

I fail to see how this case sets any sort of legal precedent in such matters.