Karl Rove called Chris ("Hardball") Matthews about Joseph Wilson?

[Paragon]

From this month's Vanity Fair article (no link available, transcribed by me):

In the days after the Novak column ran, a producer from ABC - Wilson will not say who - phoned him at home and said, "They're saying things about you at the White House so off-the-wall we can't even put them up." NBC's Andrea Mitchell called him that weekend, he says, and told him that sources at the White House were telling her, "The real story here is not the 16 words - the real story is Wilson and his wife." Next, Wilson got a call from a journalist whom he won't name - but who is widely thought to be Chris Matthews - who, according to Wilson, gushed, "I just got off the phone with Karl Rove. He says your wife is fair game. I gotta go." Click.

[grasswire]

1. that's pretty much what we've heard

Chrissy was not one of the original recipients of the leak. He was called by Rove to push the story.

[buycitgo]

2. and NOBODY will talk about it!!!!!!

where are our, uh, elves?????

this is, indeed, an old story, relatively speaking. when did Matthews' name first surface here? at least a month....two?.....ago?

more? really nauseating that in this little Jr. High School of a town, with big names being bandied about, that nobody will touch it when it involves a thug.

turn the tables, of course, and we'd either know who it was, or they'd be cooling it under a contempt of congress citation by now.

[buycitgo]

3. and from the other Plame thread today

http://www.bustbob.com/petition/

[wryter2000]

6. I could have misunderstood

But it sounded to me like the first leak of Plame's identity was to Novak and the other leaks were pointing other journalists toward the story. I'm pretty sure that's what Andrea Mitchell said happened with her.

[Eric J in MN]

4. Journalists with information on the Valerie Plame leak should speak up.

The whole purpose of the leak was to stop people from talking to the press.

Journalisitc ethics against naming sources should include this exception:

if someone leaks to you to smear a whistleblower, it's ok to talk about the anti-whistleblower leaker.

[wryter2000]

5. Wilson needs to talk!

He's brave. He's not a journalist. He can't let this just die.

(Of course, maybe he's not. Maybe this is just his latest salvo.)

[buycitgo]

7. my guess is........

he enjoyed the spotlight, and is picking his time to talk until it has maximum effect, which means sometime during the election.

if things start to heat up now, he might be called by Ashwipe, just so the public will forget about it ASAP, trying to keep it off radar as the election comes closer and closer.

I bet he doesn't talk at all about it, unless Kerry deems it a last gasp attempt to pull his campaign out of the swamps.

not that I have anything against Muskie, I mean Kerry, but he makes old Algore look like Abby Hoffman.

always remember, though.....
AB fricking BBBBBBBBBBBBBB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AnnabelLee]

9. I tend to agree with your point about Wilson

I'm wondering if the CIA doesn't have something else they're holding in reserve for closer to the election, so there won't be time for it to fade away. They've already seen that treason gets no traction in the press when it's committed by repubs.

[Must_B_Free]

8. Tewwty is holding the bomb!

get it?

He has them all by the balls. No wonder why he was doing the chacha all over Peggy Noonan's face. He knows what liars they are.

[thebigidea]

10. the only thing Tweety is holding is a GE check in one hand

and possibly his genitalia in his other hand, but that's just rampant speculation.

[KoKo]

11. ROFL! That's the truth about Tweety! Both ends against the middle....

that's our little song bird.

[11 Bravo]

12. Speculation that he has a check ...

or that he has genitalia?

[thebigidea]

13. he could be built like a no-crotch Ken Doll

only his wife knows for sure.

or the small children he habitually exposes himself to.

"Hey kid! Come over here! Up next - Frank Luntz on why people are frightened of me!"