BUZZFLASH REPORT Wednesday July 23, 2003 at 8:14:50 AM

The Integrity and Dignity of the White House Become a Scum Pond of Betrayals and Gutter Smears Under Bush
July 23, 2003

A BuzzFlash Editorial

Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, one of the smartest and most forthright senators BuzzFlash has met, is accusing the White House of trying to smear him as untrustworthy.
What is their goal? Removing him from the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Why are the thugs in the White House upset with Durbin? Because he told the truth about the uranium lie: the CIA had warned the White House that the Niger document was probably forged, but the White House went ahead and included it in Bush's speech anyway. (See Senator Accuses White House of Retaliation)

It doesn't matter that the White House has now been forced to admit that Durbin was right (see Bush Aides Disclose Warnings from the CIA). Durbin embarrassed the White House by exposing their lie, and for that they are wreaking their thuggish revenge.

"Sadly, what we have here is a continuing pattern by this White House," Durbin said. "If any member of this Senate ... questions this White House policy ... be prepared for the worst."

The irony for BuzzFlash is that we had asked David Corn of The Nation, last Friday, what would happen if Dick Durbin had publicly identified a "deep cover" CIA operative as two unidentified senior administration officials had done just last week (see
Some Dare Call It Treason). The action of those two administration representatives, also taken out of vengeance and a desire to intimidate any intelligence officer who might dare to reveal the truth to the American public, effectively destroyed the value of work being done by a CIA intelligence officer who specialized in -- get this -- tracking weapons of mass destruction. Yes, the Bush Cartel enforcers allegedly undermined the national security of the United States just to get even with someone. As BuzzFlash noted, some might dare call it treason.

So, what did David Corn think would have happened to Dick Durbin if he had been the one who publicly named the CIA operative, blowing her cover, and thus undercutting our national security in relation to tracking WMDs? Corn was blunt: the Republicans would have summarily tossed Durbin off of the Senate Intelligence Committee, censured him in the senate, destroyed his career as a senator, and perhaps, BuzzFlash added, tried to expel him from the senate. He probably also would have been prosecuted after being expelled from the senate. Of course, the right wing media shills also would have been instructed by Karl Rove to let loose with an unrelenting tirade against the "traitorous" Democrats and liberals.

But we haven't heard a peep from the highly-paid right wing megaphones about accusations that the Bush administration outed a CIA agent who gathered information on WMDs, thus rendering her work effectively useless, according to her husband. Furthermore, Durbin is being singled out by the White House for removal from the Senate Intelligence Committee for trying to IMPROVE our national security and better PROTECT Americans, while the Bush administration is undercutting our national security for the purpose of revenge and intimidation.

While Durbin acts a true patriot, the Bush administration sells out the war on Terrorism in order to preserve its own power. If confirmed as true, it is a brazen betrayal and treason of the most damaging and cynical kind to "burn" a CIA agent who is working to prevent WMDs from falling into the wrong hands. Yet, the Bush administration, according to Corn, has done nothing to explain this destructive, calculated leak to Bob Novak and other news outlets.

Durbin is showing true grit. Not only is he condemning the efforts to have him removed from the Senate Intelligence Committee for telling the truth, he is calling for an investigation into the Bush Cartel outing of the CIA agent who specializes in WMD intelligence gathering.

According to a Canadian Press wire story:

Durbin demanded a Senate committee find out whether the U.S. administration illegally revealed the wife of former U.S. ambassador to Iraq Joseph Wilson works as a CIA operative. Wilson, who disputed claims Iraq was trying to buy nuclear material from Africa, said angry officials made public his wife's name and occupation.

"It's not only unacceptable, it may be criminal," said Durbin.

"That's about as serious as it gets in this town."

(See U.S. senator calls for probe into White House tactics over Iraq intelligence)

Regular BuzzFlash readers know that we have often been critical of the milquetoast Democratic congressional leadership. But BuzzFlash wants it to be heard loud and clear that Dick Durbin is, once again, telling it like it is, even though the White House is going to continue to go after him with a buzzsaw. The Ashcroft wing of the White House KGB operation probably already has agents snooping into Durbin's private life. After all, we have a Brezhnev style government with a smiling frat boy as its front man. No wonder Bush has such a "soulful" affinity for Putin, the former head of the Soviet KGB.

The White House enforcers have been working overtime to try to smear, intimidate and neutralize any credible person who dares to utter the truth about Bush and his administration. Although not as ominous in terms of its police state implications, while the Bush cartel was trying to get Durbin off of the Senate Intelligence Committee and destroying the career and value of a CIA agent, it still had time to fallback on its sleaziest Internet strategy: leaking gutter level smears to Matt Drudge, the purveyor of raw sewage on the net. (Canadian Reporter Smeared Over Iraq Coverage)

After an ABC News reporter had the "gall" last week to interview American soldiers in Iraq who readily expressed their displeasure for the Bush cartel, particularly Donald Rumsfeld, a White House operative "leaked" a "tip" to Matt Drudge that the ABC reporter for the story was -- hold your breath -- Canadian and gay! As a result, Drudge (who is one of those gays who supports radical Republicans who are anti-gay) highlighted the reporter's Canadian nationality by linking to an article about him in the gay publication, the Advocate. How subtle, Matt!

Of course, neither ABC News nor most Americans believe that being Canadian or gay somehow disqualifies a reporter from talking with disgruntled GIs who think that the Iraq war is not going well. But the Bush White House thinks that this sort of smear resonates with their most extreme right wing base, so they need to toss out a little rotten raw meat now and then for their bigoted -- and fundamentally anti-democracy --supporters to nibble on.

So much for the administration that ran on a platform of bringing integrity and decency back to the White House. In little more than a week, they manage to betray the security of the nation by outing a CIA agent, try to remove a duly elected senator from the Senate Intelligence Committee for speaking the truth, and try and smear an ABC reporter who let GIs talk openly. And that's just the reprehensible, betraying, sleazebag activity that we know of!

Remember that in the 2000 South Carolina GOP primary, Karl Rove spread rumors that John McCain wasn't a hero as a POW and that McCain had a black child. That was disgusting, sleazy, and hypocritical, given that Bush had been a Chickenhawk and let other young men die for him in Vietnam -- and that he tried to position himself as a man of racial compassion. But, as reprehensible as it was, it sill didn't cross the line into undercutting out national security.

This past week, the Bush administration publicly crossed that line.

Dick Durbin deserves our praise for standing up for the truth and having the courage to face everything that the Bush cartel has and will toss at him.

We can only hope that BuzzFlash readers will express their appreciation to Durbin ( Durbin Website). And we can only hope that Tom Daschle will finally find within himself the courage to get his caucus united behind Durbin. To ensure that the American people learn of the perfidious activity of the Bush administration, it is going to take a lot of senators carrying the same message. Durbin cannot do it alone.

A righteous Democratic has stepped forward, knowing that he is up against a ruthless anti-democracy Bush "enforcement" squad.

He deserves our thanks and support.

Remember, it is our very democracy that is at stake.

Now it is time for the other Democrats in the senate to step forward and speak up for their nation.

It is the moment for true patriots to wave the flag of truth and to stand up for our Constitution and our democracy.


A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL


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