It’s terribly sad that this sorry-ass editorial was published in the Washington Post. A snip:
The fall of this skilled and long-respected public servant is particularly sobering because it arose from a Washington scandal remarkable for its lack of substance. It was propelled not by actual wrongdoing but by inflated and frequently false claims, and by the aggressive and occasionally reckless response of senior Bush administration officials — culminating in Mr. Libby’s perjury.
Yu can read a rebuttal to the editorial here.
The irony is that the Washington Post was the newspaper that broke the Watergate scandal. And in those days, Nixon supporters dismissed the Post as a partisan rag just trying to stir up trouble, and the whole scandal as much ado about nothing. You can still find recent comments calling Watergate a “second-rate burglary” (which is an upgrade from third rate).
But the burglary by itself was not the scandal. There was a lot more to it, including illegal campaign contributions, wiretapping of reporters, and cover-ups.
Just so, the Libby verdicts by themselves are only a clue, not the whole picture. It’s a shame the Post can’t see that.
Reactions to the verdict all splitting along partisan lines — the wingnut Right versus everybody else. I submit three samples for the honor of Dumbest Wingnut Editorial on The Verdict — from American Thinker, the Opinion Journal, and the New York Post. I’m not even going to comment.
It’s time for President Bush and Vice President Cheney to come clean about their roles in the White House’s outing of a CIA agent and the ensuing cover-up.
It’s actually long past time. But with former vice presidential chief of staff Scooter Libby’s conviction on charges of perjury and obstruction yesterday, the stench of corruption has taken formal residence at the White House.
Please read the whole thing; it’s excellent. I should note that Froomkin writes for Washingtonpost.com.
See also:
“Libby Lied, Troops Died” by Sidney Blumenthal
“Is Libby Taking a Fall for the White House?” by John Dickerson
“Lies About Crimes” from The Guardian
“The Cloud Over Cheney,” The Boston Globe
“A Libby Verdict,” The New York Times
Why are we surprised? Yes, there is a “DEAL” for “Libby”,
Washington Post – I don’t even read – they are so biased. It is a total waste of time and energy.
Why is KARL being protected? DO you think it is because he has dirt on BUSH and he got Bush to the White House? Where is the turd blossom now?
Let’s see–Bush started a war on a fact that didn’t exist – in otherwords – a lie. He didn’t serve and was AWOL! Troops sent to war without protection. Injured come back and are not protected and sent to Walter Reed.
Cheney all of a sudden has a deep blood clot or whatever – give me a f—ing break?
Bush is the absolete worse President. There is more to list than I have time for. I blame his Mother, Barbara, for much of this.
NOW, we hear Jenna has written a book about AIDS. She has only been in South America for 9 months or less and with an intern for UNICEF. Isn’t that odd that Bush is now headed there. Yes, Jenna is a genius–LOL
Pingback: antonella » Oooo, That Smell
We should call it what it was “betrayal” rather than “outing.”
It’s not The Washington Post any more; hasn’t been for a long time. Pravda on the Potomac is the only name it should be called.
Sadly Maha, all I smell is a pardon and no chance of impeachment.
The Globe and Times links are broken. 🙁
And who’s surprised that the traditional media is going to spin a story involving the traditional media’s failures? If the problem was with a few newspapers, we could see the other newspapers rip them apart. But the problem is systemic, and so none of the newspapers or cable news channels should be seen as trustworthy due to their conflict of interest.
Links are fixed.
Just so, the Libby verdicts by themselves are only a clue, not the whole picture. It’s a shame the Post can’t see that.
Yeah, the Post article kinda abstractly illustrates how formidable an opponent Fitzgerald had to overcome. By rights he should have come away empty handed considering the weight of purposeful confusion thrown against him. Never the less, he managed to keep a spark of hope and justice ignited. It might seem that Fitzgerald’s successful conviction of Libby is inconsequential and unrelated to the big picture( the lies and deceits that led us into Iraq) but that’s only because that idea is originated from a part of the opponent Fitzgerald faced
Bush and Cheney weren’t able to bury their lies…Thanks to Fitzgerald.
It was Cheney’s vindictiveness that snared ’em.
I will always wonder about scooter….did he volunteer to fall on the sword or did he wake up one day to find cheney had volunteered him.