For President, First a Leak; Now, a Jam
Scott McClellan stonewalls on the leak disclosure
In a leak, the White House says it doesn’t leak
WASHINGTON, April 7 - That President Bush authorized an aide to disclose classified intelligence on Iraqi weapons, as asserted in court papers, comes as no shock to official Washington. The leaking of secrets has long been a favored tool of policy debate, political combat and diplomatic one-upmanship…. But the accusation that Mr. Bush, through Vice President Dick Cheney, authorized the aide, I. Lewis Libby Jr., to fight back against critics of the war by discussing a classified prewar intelligence estimate comes at a particularly awkward time for the administration.
It wasn’t so very long ago that Our Glorious Leader declared that his Administration doesn’t leak, and Scott McClellan declared that a leaker, once discovered, would not be a part of the Bush Administration. Well, guess what? Like so many other things, these protestations were just so much propaganda, designed to throw the American sheeple off the scent and make it look as if this Administration was somehow different, that what mattered to this collection of criminals and thugs was honor and integrity. Yeah, right….
That this Administration selectively leaks information designed to create positive spin is hardly news. That’s how Washington works. No, what’s so thoroughly and disgustingly hypocritical is Our Glorious Leader’s assertions that his Administration is different, that it’s somehow above the fray- all the while engaging in EXACTLY the same practice they public deplore.
Gee, if they’ll lie about this, what else might they lie about? Anything come to mind (WMDs)? What else might they be not quite honest about? Hmm…give me a bit here; I’m sure I think of something….
Honor and integrity? They caught the last train for the coast….
For months, Mr. Bush and his top aides have campaigned against leaks of classified information as a danger to the nation and as criminal acts. A Washington Post report on secret overseas jails run by the C.I.A. and a New York Times report on domestic eavesdropping by the National Security Agency have led to criminal investigations, and scores of intelligence officers have been ordered to take polygraph tests.
In that context, the report that the president was himself approving a leak may do serious political damage, said Mr. Shenkman, who has a blog on presidential politics. “It does give the public such a powerful example of hypocrisy that I think it might linger for a while,” he said.
Scott McClellan, the president’s spokesman, disputed the charge of a double standard on leaks. “There is a difference between declassifying information in the national interest and the unauthorized disclosure” of national security information, Mr. McClellan said Friday. Of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, part of which Mr. Libby shared with Judith Miller, then a Times reporter, Mr. McClellan said, “There was nothing in there that would compromise national security.”
Of course, every Administration engages in strategic leaking. It’s simple PR, and without it Washington wouldn’t be Washington. You want to get your side of a story out, so you find someone trustworthy, give them enough to paint things in a favorable light, and hope they take the bait. This is nothing new and certainly nothing originally. That it’s been employed by an Administration and a President that has taken a very strident and public stance against leaking has got to be cause for concern.
Mr. McClellan’s tone contrasted sharply with that of administration officials after the N.S.A. story broke in December. Mr. Bush told a news conference at the time: “My personal opinion is it was a shameful act for someone to disclose this very important program in a time of war. The fact that we’re discussing this program is helping the enemy.”
Others picked up the theme, including Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and Porter J. Goss, the C.I.A. director. On Feb. 2, Mr. Goss told a Senate committee, “It is my hope that we will witness a grand jury investigation with reporters present being asked to reveal who is leaking this information.”
Translation: These people should be hung by their testicles, because only the President has the authority to authorize playing this game.
Craven? Without a doubt. Hypocritical? Udamnbetcha. This is a President who has tried to build a reputation for being a man of honesty and integrity…while all the while he has been authorizing those working for him to play the same game Washington has been playing since the dawn of time.
And wasn’t this a President who pledged to restore honor and integrity to the White House? How’s that working out so far??
