Time for rapid response for the Wilsons - Milbank started the shitstorm

[robbedvoter]

Original message
WP: Husband Is Conspicuous in Leak Case
Edited on Tue Oct-25-05 01:21 AM by hang a left

Husband Is Conspicuous in Leak Case
Wilson's Credibility Debated as Charges In Probe Considered
By Dana Milbank and Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, October 25, 2005; Page A03
To his backers, Joseph C. Wilson IV is a brave whistle-blower wronged by the Bush administration. To his critics, he is a partisan who spouts unreliable information.
But nobody disputes this: Possessed of a flamboyant style and a love for the camera lens, Wilson helped propel the unmasking of his wife's identity as a CIA operative into a sprawling, two-year legal probe that climaxes this week with the possible indictment of key White House officials. He also turned an arcane matter involving the Intelligence Identities Protection Act into a proxy fight over the administration's credibility and its case for war in Iraq.

Joseph Wilson, husband of outed CIA officer Valerie Plame, has not been camera-shy since Plame's identity was leaked.
Understanding the Plame Affair

Also beyond dispute is the fact that the little-known diplomat took maximum advantage of his 15 minutes of fame. Wilson has been a fixture on the network and cable news circuit for two years -- from "Meet the Press" to "Imus in the Morning" to "The Daily Show." He traveled west and lunched with the likes of Norman Lear and Warren Beatty.
He published a book, "The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity." He persuaded his wife, Valerie Plame, to appear with him in a January 2004 Vanity Fair photo spread, in which the two appeared in his Jaguar convertible.
snip>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

A few days ago, a message from Joseph Wilson was relayed to us by Will Pitt - he knew this was coming and asked for our help. We promissed it.
Please, post in this thread all address info for Millbank, Pinkus, WaPo ombudsman and let's tell them how we feel!

[tularetom]

1. Why the fuck is this coming up now

They've known everything there is to know about Wilson for 2 years and now they start with this shit? I think they thought they could bullshit their way out of this and now they're getting desperate and its time to call in some chits with their press bootlickers. But c'mon. Wilson a bad guy for defending his wife? And if he in fact "turned an arcane matter involving the Intelligence Identities Protection Act into a proxy fight over the administration's credibility and its case for war in Iraq" then he deserves a medal, not the condemnation of a hack writer like milbank.

Fuck the WP I emailed a similar message to them without the f's. I also told 'em their crossword puzzle was fuckin lame.

[Uben]

3. link does not work N/T

N/T

[robbedvoter]

4. We don't know why, but Wilson knew it was coming

remember, for him, staying in the spotlight after attacking the BFEE was pure survival. (Daniel Elsberg of the Pentagon Papers recommended)

[Catrina]

7. He didn't just defend his wife

he called them on their lies and coverups.

Dana Millbank should be fired. He was the one who went against his country's interests when he made fun of the Conyers hearings on the Downing Street Memos.

We've had enough of these traitors in the press who will not tell the American people the truth and who have covering up for this criminal administration from the beginning.

We knew Judith Miller lied about the WMD, so why didn't they? Joe Wilson is a patriot, Dana Millbank is a traitor to this country as are all those who participated, and continue to participate in the lies about this war.

He needs to pay attention to the plummeting poll numbers of the party and administration he is protecting. They commit the worst kind of crimes, and imo, when all the truth comes out, and it will, these propagandists need to go along with the criminals who have practically destroyed this country.

He's wasting his time anyway. Most Republicans I know, have begun to understand the scope of the lies they were told. There is now turning back, and people want the TRUTH.

Joe Wilson told no lies. There were NO WMDs. The NIGER DOCUMENTS were forgeries. Cheney, Bush and their cabal of plotters against this country's interests, were willing to put in jeopardy the lives of US covert agents in order to cover their lies about this war. That is treason. And I hope that is the charge against those who orchestrated the campaign against Joe Wilson (and their pimps in the press).

Tell the truth, Dana Millbank, this smear nonsense is getting old. Time once again to ask the Washington Post to do something about its rogue reporters. Look what is happening to the NYT. They may not survive their star rogue 'reporter'.

Someone should check Millbank's connections to this WH. Is he on the payroll too?

[symbolman]

11. Somebody get me a snail mail address for this putz

and I'll send him my 2 DVD set Rove's War which has Wilson debunking EVERY THING they throw at him on it..

[liveoaktx]

13. VIDEOS-Several from MSNBC Joseph Wilson interviews or relevant

2004

2005

Hardball/Matthews given talking points about Wilson-2005

[spanone]

27. Why Now? Shit is hitting fan.

Fitz is all that matters. Wilson could be a murderer and it wouldn't matter.

[janx]

2. Is this an editorial? It's all pure opinion. It can't be an article.

:shrug:

[Clark2008]

5. The link doesn't work, so I'm not sure.

However, I know Dana Milbank writes a personal column (one-person viewpoint editorial) for the WaPo, so this is probably it.

[robbedvoter]

6. Fixed the link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/24/AR2005102401690.html?sub=AR

[Clark2008]

8. It reads like an op/ed.

Making it a form of half-news, half-opinion.

I never liked op/eds much, unless they were clearly labeled, because the average person can't tell the difference between a story and an op/ed.

Hell, when I was reporting, people called LTTE's "editorials" or even "articles." The general reading public cannot tell the difference with something so nuanced as an op/ed.

[robbedvoter]

9. Someone please repost the link to Joseph Wilson message to DU

Will Pitt's thread of Saturday. I cannot find it and he is far more eloquent than I can ever be

[CatWoman]

16. here it is, RV

:hi:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5135213

[peacetalksforall]

10. May I point out that he is one of the top five guest experts on the NBCs

to pimp for the right wing. He is Olberman's second most frequent commentator after Craig Crawford. Both are pimps.

Hutchinson, Milbank, who else?

But remember who positioned them to spew the stuff.

Hutchinson - NBC (GE)
Milbank - Wash Post (a right wing ownership and pimp company).

Yes, yes, they all have their token liberals working for them.

Can someone ask Will or someone to post the things Wilson has said about himself on a website? We need to send people some place to read what he said. We also need to have the U.S. law on exposing undercover agents.

A transcript of the longest interview he gave would be good.

For DU purposes, I will be glad to repeat what I heard Wilson say on various talk radio shows (in case no one has ever heard him) and so others can improve on my memory. Maybe someone could get a trascript from one of the Air American hosts or Ed Schultz.

The only way to counter these rats is to state the facts. Ideally, on a website. Fitzgerald has one. The stink and smell of right wing politics demands one for Wilson.

[bunny planet]

29. I know, he is always on Keith Olbermann's Countdown, even though I'm

sure KO doesn't want it that way. He is too much of a gentleman to diss him on air but I wish there was someway to get enough letters to the producers asking them to change up their guest line-up and to question Milbanks 'objectivity' and not put him on so much (or not at all, even better). Milbank is one of the guests who pollutes an otherwise truly 'fair and balanced' newscast, one of the only ones left.

[liberalla]

31. Here's a GOOD interview with Wilson from July 2005

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Interview_Ambassador_Wilson_husband_of_outed_CIA_agent_sees_larger_Administration_ro_0713.html

6 pages if you print it out...

With thanks to Larisa Alexandrovna and Raw Story!

[Norquist Nemesis]

12. Well, if I were defending my spouse I'd shout it from the rooftops!

Especially if my spouse were an deep cover operative for the CIA. That's not something one lets casually be swept under the rug, nor should they allow it.

The only way to protect the lives of the operatives family, the lives of other operatives and their families is to bring it to light. You can be damned sure that little tidbit of information was overlooked by foreign intelligence agencies.

[tgnyc]

14. Remember, Milbank also wrote that smart-ass critique of Conyers'

DSM hearing, in which he portrayed Conyers as someone just looking for a chance to seem powerful.

This dickhead has a real problem with other people getting more attention than him. Especially when they are talking about something important, unlike his bitch ass.

[Neil Lisst]

15. Typical attack on the guy who had the nads to fight the WH

His 15 minutes of fame?

He had a lifetime of public service that ended when he decided to let the public know the Bush administration lied to start a war.

He's a hero, and so is his wife. True American heroes. True Profiles in Courage.

Here's my homage in cartoon form.

[warrens]

17. What's the big deal?

It's a bit snarky, but I would hardly call this character assassination. Besides which, the case is about outing his wife, not about him.

[Cults4Bush]

21. Its a hit piece just like the one he did on Conyers and the DSM

Meeting a while back.

Dana can go fuck his shill'd ass with his damn keyboard. He's just another power whore presstitute afraid of his own words catching up with him. I think its long past time that some of us do everything but invade his privacy and see what skeletons he has. Whats good for the goose and all...

[Autonomy]

18. Walter Pincus is also on the byline

and he was one of the few, perhaps the ONLY high-profile journalist uncovering all the BS by the Bushies in the runup to the Iraq fiasco.

[progressoid]

19. Cheap shots aren't going to save them this time.

I heard Tony Blankley same similar shit on NPRs "Left, Right, & Center" yesterday.

It's pretty desperate to attack the victims. Ultimately, the man with the best hand is Fitz. He's going to make these guys look like dolts.

[wryter2000]

20. Anyone have an address for these bozos?

I told Joe Wilson I'd pitch in to defend him from character assassination, and that's the least I can do.

I'd suggest to everyone that if we write to these clowns, we keep our remarks dignified and courteous. I plan to point out that Wilson had voted for * in 2000 and is no partisan hack. What was he supposed to do when he saw that lies had been told in order to get us into an unnecessary war? It was the patriotic thing to speak up, and although it may have gotten him a great deal of publicity, it wasn't publicity that he wanted. He was perfectly happy with his life before his wife's identity as an undercover CIA agent working to prevent the proliferation of WMD's. I'm sure if he could, he'd be happy to go back to that life. The choice was taken away from him by multiple people in the White House who committed multiple crimes.

[barbaraann]

22. Dana Milbank is Skull and Bones.

n/t

[Pithy Cherub]

26. Milbank = the Judy Miller of the Washington Post too. n/t

[confludemocrat]

23. The story itself is not too bad but the headline is bizarre

His op-ed led to the WH and Cheneys outing of her! He is as prominant a part of the story as her, for god's sake. So as an offended party what is it he supposed he should be doing? He is supposed to be in seclusion. His and her being public kept the issue out there. This isn't the first time a story like this has come out. Awhile back a DUer started a thread criticizing him for being public saying it was a "bad move" and had plenty of takers on that line of thinking, shallow as it was.

[Senator]

24. Email Addresses >>

Dana Milbank: [e-mail]
National staff writer

Walter Pincus: [e-mail]
National staff writer/national security affairs

Here's a link to the Staff Directory

---
www.january6th.org

[DeepModem Mom]

25. kick

[bunny planet]

28. I HATE DANA MILBANK.

:rant:

[EC]

30. He gave them plenty of time to back off on the claims before

he published his piece. They refused to remove the false claims, so he went public...Part of going public, is staying public, to stay on it - or it doesn't mean much...takes away from the seriousness of why he felt he HAD to make the information public...Haven't they learned yet about trying to smear this guy?

[KharmaTrain]

32. Milbanks Also Knew About Jeffy Gannon/Gunkert

IIRC, he wondered about Jeffy's credentials and had his doubts about his legimitacy, but Dana still gladly sat next to him in the Press Room.

Another hack of this type is Mike Allen...used to work with Milbanks at the WP now at Time.