In today's New York Times Helene Cooper writes with approval of Bush's reversal of his longstanding and irrational policy of refusing to speak with leaders of countries that he doesn't like.
"The morphing of the White House from imperial protector of American presidential exclusivity to sending Christmastime greetings to North Korean dictators will leave the next president, whoever he or she is, with a lot more legroom to decide whether to talk to America’s foes, foreign policy experts say."
This is no act of beneficence on Bush's part, merely a pre-emptive attempt to polish what will be one of the most tarnished legacies ever left by an American President. I can hear the mantra that Karl Rove instructed the boy King to repeat:
Who changed the face of the Middle East? I did.
Nixon may have gone to China, but I sent a Christmas Card to Kim Jong Il.
A'm just crazy about Ahmadinejad, I love the way he ran I ran.
Bush promises to continue distorting reality even after he leaves office from his perch at his Presidential Library - but he'll fail at trying to spin the world.
So I was walking through a Barnes and Noble yesterday and I passed Valerie Plame Wilson’s new book; “Fair Game; My Life as a Spy; My Betrayal by The White House” and oddly enough, I thought of you. In your endless pursuit of liars; how in God’s name do you give these folks a pass? “My life as a spy”. That demeans the dangerous work done by real covert people who sit in dangerous places like Karachi and Peshawar and Mogadishu and meet with dangerous people intent on doing evil. (Ask Danny Pearle) Armitage, no friend of this white house for sure, told Robert Novak. So, what betrayal? And you know for 100% surety that she was not covert because Fitzgerald charged no one. And I can tell you with 100% certainty and personal knowledge that her husband introduced her around the party circles as being with the ‘agency’. That she was a sorta ‘spook’ was part of the persona they flaunted. And she testified before congress that she had “absolutely nothing to do with her husband’s assignment to Niger” and now her letters and emails recommending him for the assignment have surfaced. And explain which of the sixteen words in the state of the union speech were untrue and what did Wilson ‘expose’? What pure and unadulterated manure!
So I invite you to show your even handedness. I don’t defend trash on my side. I dispose of it because it’s embarrassing. Take a deep breath. Call these people what they are. You’ll feel better in the morning.
Posted by: rick | December 17, 2007 at 07:06 PM
I have no intention of buying Plame's book. If I remember correctly - your accusation of lying to Congress must also apply to Michael Hayden - who stated that she was a covert agent.
Sadly I lack your inside information, and so cannot be so sure as you of the facts. There was a time when the justice system was able to get to the bottom of these things, but then George Bush subverted the system by essentially pardoning the guy who threw sand in the eyes of the Umpire - so we'll never know. What we do know is that asserting that if Fitzgerald's failure to indict others proves anything at all, it is that crime does pay in the Bush administration.
No News Flash Here.
Posted by: bbbustard | December 20, 2007 at 08:29 PM