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Not Knowing When to Quit

Dec 21, 2005

maha

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Bush Administration, Civil Rights, News Media, War on Terror, blogging, criminal justice

This evening on MSNBC I saw the “Clinton did it too” defense of Bush’s secret wiretapping knocked down by Andrea Mitchell, believe it or not, who is guest hosting Hardball, and by Alison Stewart, who is guest hosting Countdown.

Seriously. There were actual experts who patiently explained that presidents Clinton and Carter followed FISA regulations regarding wiretapping, which is way different from what Bush is doing. And for the most part these people were allowed to speak at length without being interrupted by a rightie goon. I was astonished.

This hasn’t stopped the VRWC echo chamber from pumping out the now utterly debunked lie that President Clinton believed he had an “inherent authority” to order warrantless wiretaps of American citizens. Today’s new twist is the “Gorelick Myth,” which Judd at Think Progress takes apart here. I assume the Faux News crew and the radio righties are going along with the program, so that people getting most of their news from O’Reilly, Limbaugh, et al. will never hear the debunking. And, of course, rightie bloggers are obediently falling into line.

And according to Atrios, people watching CNN this evening didn’t hear the debunking either.

This means we’re at Stage 3 of the Daou Dynamics of a Bush Scandal, and we’re rapidly moving into Stage 4.

For the next few days the Right will work hard to continually repeat their storyline, or narrative, or excuse, or whatever you want to call it, over and over, often enough that most people will hear it and believe it to be true. The fact that it’s a flat-out lie will not, of course, discourage them.

However, for the most part, tonight two MSNBC programs got it right. Better than nothing.

Spotlight

11 Comments

10 Comments

The Heretik • Dec 21, 2005 @11:27 pm

I guees there is hope. Um maybe. Because Mitchell didn’t do so well yesterday. or Monday either.
Swami • Dec 22, 2005 @12:25 am

The Righties didn’t think that Valerie Plame was a covert agent either, but that didn’t change her status under the law. And Alberto Gonzales’s interpretation of the presidental wartime powers won’t nescessarily be the final word in what those powers will be. I think Bush is probably going to get some clarification from the courts in the near future because issue too big to overlook.

I was happy to read that the two recent court descisions —intelligent design and Jose Padilla— were exposed by the court for the deceptions that they were.
emel • Dec 22, 2005 @11:37 am

Evidently the FISA court is meeting to see if they have been gamed by tainted evidence being presented. Judge Luttig of the 4th circuit evidently feels he was gamed by one story being presented to him as rationale for Padilla’s incarceration and another being presented to the grand jury in Miami. Sorta like the way this admin plays congress and the press: the use of selective information to manipulate the receiver into acting in the administration’s behalf. About time we all start recognizing this pattern of behavior and rejecting it.
BruceH • Dec 22, 2005 @11:41 am

Maha said, “…tonight two MSNBC programs got it right.”

And that, my friends, is why MSNBC is on O’Reilly’s hit list.
gus • Dec 22, 2005 @11:58 am

And even it were true, it doesn’t make it legal. Bonnie and Clyde robbed banks in the thirties and it’s still illegal today.
maha • Dec 22, 2005 @12:22 pm

And that, my friends, is why MSNBC is on O’Reilly’s hit list.

That, and the fact that Olbermann calls O’Reilly “the big giant head.”
Swami • Dec 22, 2005 @1:46 pm

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11340.htm

Gamed, played, punked, chumped,manipulated or whatever…. this doesn’t help my overbearing feeling of insignificance.
Steve Nichols • Dec 22, 2005 @3:50 pm

I’ve just run into some nonsense about Janet Reno issuing an invalid warrant to search Aldrich Ames’ place.

I now know more about FISA law than I ever desired. Anyone familiar with the Ames case and its implications?
maha • Dec 22, 2005 @4:58 pm

Re Aldrich Ames — In this Washington Times article, Charles Hunt claims “One of the most famous examples of warrantless searches in recent years was the investigation of CIA official Aldrich H. Ames, who ultimately pleaded guilty to spying for the former Soviet Union. That case was largely built upon secret searches of Ames’ home and office in 1993, conducted without federal warrants.”

Judd at Think Progress debunks the hunt article here, but doesn’t mention Ames specifically.

But this document from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence clearly says that the search of Ames’s home and office was conducted in compliance with FISA —

“Under applicable Attorney General guidelines, this meant that the FBI was able to seek authority under pertinent laws and Justice Department guidelines to employ a full array of investigative techniques against Ames. For instance, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court issued orders authorizing electronic surveillance of Ames’s office and residence.”

Hmm, I think I’ll put this in a post.
Rick • Dec 22, 2005 @6:39 pm

As for the “prez’s” confering with some democrats before doing this I like what is said at Wonkette. “down here where the common people are, such actions are called “criminal conspiracy.”