by Starman » Mon Jul 18, 2005 9:33 pm
Heyia;<br><br>As usual per Parry's writing, good article.<br><br>The thing I NEVER understood was what the Repugs hoped to gain by claiming that Plame was involved in 'selecting' Joe Wilson, her husband, to check on the Niger yellowcake claims. I always thought this was absolutely batty. What is that supposed to do with what Wilson FOUND??? I also recently heard a 'new' criticism, that Joe Wilson lied when he claimed that VP Dick Cheney asked him to go to Niger -- which is just such a bolloxed lie in itself that shows the repugs have NO integrity whatsoever, as well as reaching for straws in trying to discredit Wilson any doggone way they can. <br><br>Also bizarre is the point Parry raises, the Repugs claim Wilson badgered Cheney's office to send him -- also completely disproved by the transcript of Wilson's comments. This all shows, for anyone who hasn't been paying attention, that the Bush Adminstration has NO honor or decency. If Bush had ANY leadership, he'd have demanded the truth and fired anyone responsible for compromising National Security (sic) -- But of course he couldn't if Rove or Scooter Libby or even Cheney or Steven Hadley were involved, as they were crucial to his abuse of power and authority. All for spite and to send a 'message' to potential whistleblowers -- Christ, but how pathetically venal.<br><br>--excerpt from Parry's Constortium News article--<br><br>From the start, the Republican assault on Wilson has concentrated on the strange point about his wife supposedly arranging his fact-finding trip to Niger, though it’s never been clear why the Republicans consider this question so important. Who authorized the trip wouldn’t seem to have much bearing on Wilson’s conclusion that the Iraqis weren’t seeking yellowcake uranium in Niger – an assessment that turned out to be correct.<br><br>Yet, even now, the Republican National Committee continues to focus its fire on this small part of the controversy. On July 14, for instance, the RNC posted “Joe Wilson’s Top Ten Worst Inaccuracies and Misstatements,” which leads off with what is really an RNC misrepresentation about the trip issue, claiming that “Wilson insisted that the Vice President’s office sent him to Niger.”<br><br>But not even the RNC’s own citation supports this accusation. To back up its charge, the RNC states, “Wilson said he traveled to Niger at CIA request to help provide response to Vice President’s office.”<br><br>That’s followed by a quote from Wilson: “In February 2002, I was informed by officials at the Central Intelligence Agency that Vice President Dick Cheney’s office had questions about a particular intelligence report. … The agency officials asked if I would travel to Niger to check out the story so they could provide a response to the Vice President’s office.”<br><br>To nail Wilson, the RNC then quotes Cheney as saying, “I don’t know Joe Wilson. I’ve never met Joe Wilson.”<br><br>But nothing in the comments by Wilson and Cheney are in contradiction. Wilson simply said CIA officials sent him on a mission because of questions from Cheney’s office. Cheney said he doesn’t know Wilson. Both points could be true, yet the RNC juxtaposed them to support a charge of dishonesty against Wilson. (The rest of the supposed “top ten” are a similar mix of RNC quibbles and lies.)<br><br>******<br>I dunno, has the institution of the White House ever been so grossly abused and disrespected by any other regime?<br>Starman <p></p><i></i>
