So said Dana Milbank at the start of Howie Kurtz’s now hour-long Reliable Sources on CNN.
The panel’s first topic: How careful we (the WaPo) were about the Karl Rove indictment story … as opposed to some other careless journalists. (The implication, of course, is that the “responsible” journalists have concluded that Fitz is essentially done. Fitz doesn’t have a knuckleball, they’re smugly certain.)
“The mainstream media was responsible,” says Dana Milbank. “… as opposed to some of the wacky stuff by the ideologues and the blogs.” (FU, DM.)
Update [2005-10-30 12:31:25 by susanhu]: Via Crooks and Liars‘ Blog Round-up, “”On or about July 10, 2003, LIBBY spoke to NBC Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert to complain about press coverage of LIBBY by an MSNBC reporter.” Guess who that reporter was.
I can’t guess who the reporter is — David Shuster? — and I haven’t looked yet It can’t be Norah O’Donnell. No way. Can you guess?
………………………………………………
If you’re watching, comment away … i wonder how many more distortions and falsehoods will be spun. If you’ve watched Meet the Press or This Week or other Sunday shows, report in. Even though we’re “wacky,” we are curious little buggers.
At the top of the show, a clip of Tim Russert on NBC:
Tim Russert’s testimony to Fitz, he says: No. (and) No.
(I know people here don’t much like Russert. But, if I’d been he, I’d be beyond furious with Libby.)
…
Fitz made a deal with NBC that Russert’s testimony would be confined to what he told Scooter Libby.
However, Isikoff just said that if this goes to trial, Russert, while testifying, would have to spill the beans.
Since that’s unlikely (the trial), I wonder what else Russert and Libby discussed and if we’ll find out… well, maybe when Timmy writes a book.
If the Libby trial doesn’t happen, Russert should sue the bastard.
Instapundit – what a piece of work that was: saying that the media “which opposed the war since the beginning” used the milestone of the 2000 deaths of US soldiers to “pile on Bush”.
Which part of the fact that this war is illegal don’t you get, Reynolds?
Judith Miller opposed the war?
The MSM opposed the war?
They sure had a funny way of showing it.
He’s a piece of shit and receptacle of VERY bad information.
He also just said that Fitz’s investigation was to investigate WHO IN THE CIA LEAKED information about Valerie Plame .. and that Fitz’s work and millions of dollars has been mostly “indictmentus interruptus.” (or some similarly silly concocted phrase)
I could be wrong about this, but wasn’t the Starr investigation of Clinton originally about a land deal in Arkansas?
But, you just don’t get it. That was different. It was about sex.
And it was sex that involved a <gasp> Democrat!
Which is why anything Starr wanted to investigate was fair game.
I read that the cost of Fitz’s investigation was, at last report, about $750,000. But of course, these “reporters” can’t be bothered with those distractions from the talking points by any pesky “facts.”
Contrast, from Susan McDougal’s statement to the Judiciary Committee:
How come no one challenges him?
Jeralyn? You’re from TALK LEFT. TALK!
Don’t obediently answer Howie’s question … attack Glenn’s outrageous lies.
Note to all “spokespersons for the left”:
Don’t take the Republican bait! Change the f**king subject! Insist that the conversation be about what is actually important!!!
Tim Russert just said that Joe Wilson is going to be on Dateline tonight. Larry King also said on Friday that Wilson would be on his show early in the week. I can’t wait to hear his take on all of this!
I switched back and forth to hear MTP and Reliable Sources. I’m struck too that everyone just assumes that the investigation is over and all we got was Libby – and not for the outing. On MTP (Safire’s back – yuk!!) they talked about NO indictments about the actual outing of Plame and how that proves there was no conspiracy. I just don’t get their lack of curiosity about all of this (ok, I get it with Safire – he’s bought and paid for). If there was no conspiracy to out Plame – why did Libby go to such great lengths to lie?!!!
Wow … he’s also on “60 Minutes” tonight, which airs at the same time as Dateline.
And Wilson will be on with Wolfie Blitzer tomorrow — on the “Situation Room” on CNN.
Dateline doesn’t have him listed as a guest tonight, but that doesn’t mean that they’ve not added him.
And — on its home page — Dateline links an excerpt from Joe Wilson’s book, “The Politics of Truth.”
I’m pretty sure that’s what Russert said – about Dateline. But I caught it at the end and might have gotten it wrong.
Oh, wait, that was supposed to defend Libby.
Nevermind!
Enough said. Now shut up. SHUT! UP!
SAFIRE on MTP:
Fitzgerald is a “media darling” NOW — but history will look at what he did as a “BODY BLOW” to freedom of the press.
I would like to see proof that this current batch of media is “free.”
Or, more accurately, that they have any clue how to exercise that freedom.
I started to watch Meet the Press but I really can’t stomach their inbred bs that much. Myopic is a good word for the DC circle.
While my son and granddaughter were in the other room making spider webs to adorn our front porch out of cotton balls, string, and glue… William Safire was spinning a web of pure deceit from the first words out of his mouth.
Safire stated that the idictment of Libby on cover up charges proved the lack of an underlying crime. He said that the indictment proved that neither Libby or Rove nor anyone else outed a CIA operative.
Timmeh had a gotcha moment and I thought for a moment he would pounce instead he played a very brief section of Fitzgerald’s conference in support of Safire. A brief section that edited out the part of Fitzgerald’s news conference where he stated Safire was completely full of it.
The indictment shows that Libby lied. My non-lawyer reading thinks it also shows that he could have charged Libby on the espionage act as well but didn’t for his own reasons… hopefully to be revealed as Fitzgerald wraps up the rest of his investigation… a point completely ignored by the MTP panel during the part that I stomached.
They then went on to how bush can recover and the inherent difficulties of second terms and I switched it off.
Myopic. Closing their ranks to protect their own. Bleech. I’m sick of the bunch of’m. There are very few in the media untainted by their general complicity in covering up 5 years of misdeeds, deception, and greedy hood-winking by the White House.
Bleech.
Exactly. As Pat Lang says below – we don’t get information, we get journalists interviewing journalists – ignorance talking to ignorance.
Safire=tool.
I am so disgusted. What a bunch of crap. Saying that Fitz did not bring any charges of indictment on the original crime, outing Valerie Plame. BS He cannot bring charges when someone is obstructing justice with lies to coverup the original crime. They make me so sick, especially Brooks.
on Jim Lehrer on PBS Friday night. He admitted that after what Fitz said, this claim that perjury and obstruction of justice are not serious was ridiculous.
He and Gannon should open a dating service.
Safire’s mouth …. um, never mind.
nice snark!
Moi?
I was merely pointing out an additional economic opportunity for Mr. Safire in a service industry much akin to the one in which he already has demonstrated tremendous skill.
am I wrong when I understand that an indictment means a trial? When will this come to pass….
Am I wrong when I understand that the investigation is continuing?
Where are their talking points on that?
They are covering their ears with their hands and singing, “La-La. La-La-La! I CAN’T hear you!”
They are ignoring it, of course. What else do you expect from the Bushies? They are on record as thinking they manufacture reality (I’m too lazy to find a link) and thus see no reason to acknowledge anything outside their own little bubble.
In the long run this is a Good Thing. It’s just hard to deal with over the short run.
Curious about us bloggers.
we like sources that don’t parrot the party line.
Why do you think Robert Fisk is so hated by the neo-cons? Why is Pepe Escobar so hated by the neo-cons?
How about the news from say PTI and The Hindu via Chennai Online? How about The Friday Times, Dawn, Payvand, Xinhua, and Scoop?
If it weren’t for Bloggers and computer geeks with a news fetish these sites would be unknown, and the public would be like Adolf’s little marching jugend. Damn Bloggers! Screwing up perfectly good lies, propaganda, and psychological operations!
So, becoming a conduit for adiministration lies is the equivalent of being responsible? Thanks goodness for the bloggers. Safire should just go back to comfortable retirement, we don’t need another Repug tool. Isn’t that what Fox is for?
Susan, did you see the trailer for Boston Legal this week, it will be about the war, whether it is nobler to call for an end or not….couldn’t think of a good way to say that so hope it makes sense.
Just finished watching Stephanoplis (sp) and the best part was the Sunday Funnies! Although George Will was quite stinging once again and the exact best line he said eludes me at the moment…
Gee I don’t think I am firing on all 8’s this morning perhaps from sitting too long in the draft of the exhaust fumes of the past week in the news.
The Wapo article “A leak and then a deluge” was pretty good today.
While preparing to do a normal Sunday morning chore, not to put too fine a point on it: picking up dog poop, how much blogging is related to that weekly Sunday chore.
Having a dog means feeding the dog and feeding the dog means … dog poop. The last is a necessary consequence of the first and without eliminating the cause it is impossible to eliminate the consequence.
As one who engages all too much in the daily activity of blogging much of what I react to is the nonsense being touted by the 4th Estate. Some of this nonsense is semantically the exact equivilant of dog poop. If one has a 4th Estate one must feed the 4th Estate and feeding the 4th Estate means … 4th Estate poop. There is little one can do, if one wants a 4th Estate, except try, every so often, to clean it up.
Objectively any individual blogger is incapable of cleaning up the entire accumulation of 4th Estate poop just any individual dog owner is incapable of cleaning up the entire American daily production of dog poop. However, as long as each individual blogger toils away cleaning up as much 4th Estate poop as they feel the urge the vast accumulation is reduced one turd at a time.
here’s a Koufax nomination for best post.
Now Safire and Miller have what is known as elephant poops. You need a back-hoe.
Thank you, thank you.
Alas, I must venture forth to ‘do the deed’ but before leaving I would like to thank all the little-brained people who made the post possible.
Boo, will this be BooTrib’s new frame? — er, meme?