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RoveGate, Watergate and Lessons for the White House

By Jeralyn, Section Valerie Plame Leak Case
Posted on Thu Aug 18, 2005 at 02:18:35 PM EST
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Marvin Kalb, senior fellow at the Shorenstein Center at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, has an excellent take on RoveGate in the Financial Times, in which he brings the lessons of Watergate to the White House.

The investigation appears now to be heading towards rapid conclusion. If the prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, finds that either Mr Rove or Mr Libby or both violated the law, they would face criminal charges, and the Bush administration would find itself enmeshed in a scandal of dimensions that are already being compared to the Nixon-era Watergate scandal.

....Much is still not known about Mr Fitzgerald’s investigation – he has insisted on absolute secrecy – but what is known suggests that the Bush administration is engaged in a two-front war: one to cover up its blunders in the lead-up to the Iraq war based on the mistaken assumption that Saddam Hussein’s regime possessed “weapons of mass destruction”, and the other to protect the leaker. The two fronts are now unmistakeably linked.

It became painfully clear in the war’s aftermath that Iraq had no such weapons and that Mr Bush’s justification for war was wrong. Therefore, it was “no accident”, as the Soviets used to say, that when Joseph Wilson, a former US ambassador, wrote a comment article in the New York Times on July 6 2003 accusing the administration of “twisting” intelligence to justify the war, the White House fumed – and struck back.

[hat tip Patriot Daily.]

As an aside, it was Mr. Kalb who initially sparked my interest in politics and defending the underdog. He taught a special class at my high school in the '60s in political science. He taught us about the "haves and have nots" and about people's often unconscious racial prejudice, using vivid demonstrative exhibits. Our parents were very impressed that "Bernard Kalb's younger brother" was our teacher. He definitely got me hooked. I wrote him a thank-you letter about five years ago to tell him what a big effect he had on me, and I got a letter back from his secretary essentially saying he barely remembered teaching the class. What a let-down that was. I guess sometimes it's better not to let our heroes know they are heroes.

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    RoveGate, Watergate and Lessons for the White House | 9 comments (9 topical)
    Re: RoveGate, Watergate and Lessons for the White (none / 0) (#1)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:29 PM EST
    Therefore, it was “no accident”, as the Soviets used to say, that when Joseph Wilson, a former US ambassador, wrote a comment article in the New York Times on July 6 2003 accusing the administration of “twisting” intelligence to justify the war, the White House fumed – and struck back.
    Okay, sure, their motives were terrible and their actions equally bad. But they may have fallen into a gray area of one particular law! Moral clarity!

    Re: RoveGate, Watergate and Lessons for the White (none / 0) (#2)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:29 PM EST
    I do not agree that it's better not to let our heroes know they are heroes. It is certainly better to not imagine that they care about who they may have touched. No loss in that, although disappointing, I've been there.

    Re: RoveGate, Watergate and Lessons for the White (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:29 PM EST
    "one to cover up its blunders in the lead-up to the Iraq war based on the mistaken assumption that Saddam Hussein’s regime possessed “weapons of mass destruction”," Kalb has apparently not read the PNAC paper. Mistaken assumptions is the polite terminology for OUTRIGHT KNOWING LIES. *Please make a note of it*

    Re: RoveGate, Watergate and Lessons for the White (none / 0) (#4)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:29 PM EST
    Paul, the weird thing is, if you mention to the PNAC papers to the wingnuts they call it a "conspiracy theory." I'll never understand it. As I've said before, it's like if you tell your neighbor that you're going to steal his car tomorrow and then the next day his car is missing and turns up in your driveway. And you say it's a freak coincidence and he's a tinfoil hit conspiracy nut who hates America.

    Re: RoveGate, Watergate and Lessons for the White (none / 0) (#5)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:29 PM EST
    From the post:
    What a let-down that was. I guess sometimes it's better not to let our heroes know they are heroes.
    No, I think that merely defines the over inflated ego this fellow has. As for his comparison to Watergate, I would love to be able to ask him what itsy bitsy piece of proof that Bush knew anything about any of this that he has, or knows about. The answer of course, is none. He knows that but it doesn't stop him from trying to make an awkward attack.

    Re: RoveGate, Watergate and Lessons for the White (none / 0) (#6)
    by Repack Rider on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:31 PM EST
    I would love to be able to ask him what itsy bitsy piece of proof that Bush knew anything about any of this that he has, or knows about. If Bush doesn't know anything, more than two years after the event, it must be through willful ignorance, wouldn't you say? Why would a president NOT want to know the facts about a crime committed by a member of his administration? After all, he could have, um, ya know, called some people into his office and asked them whether they knew anything about the leak. Then when the Grand Jury devloped facts showing that these people lied to the president if they claimed not to have any knowledge, he could, as the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, order them arrested and tried. Right? Since no one except the Grand Jury and a few judges know what evidence Fitzgerald has, it seems a little premature for you to dismiss it. There is a precedent for identifying Bush's participation if there was any. Remember that even though Nixon was not indicted, the Grand Jury referred to him as an "unindicted co-conspirator." In other words, while they did not issue a warrant, they considered him a participant in the crime.

    Re: RoveGate, Watergate and Lessons for the White (none / 0) (#7)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:31 PM EST
    Repack Rider - Make that itsy bitsy teeny weenie. But, let's wait and see. Let's see now. You would have the Chief Law Enforcement Officer engage in entrapment? And then, of course, the Left could claim that he already knew and was just protecting himself.

    Re: RoveGate, Watergate and Lessons for the White (none / 0) (#8)
    by theologicus on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:31 PM EST
    He barely remembered teaching the class. Yes, sometimes it's the little things, and even the things we don't remember, that end up touching people's lives in ways that we will never know. I can see why the reply was deflating, but with a bit of reframing it's not uninspiring.

    Re: RoveGate, Watergate and Lessons for the White (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:32 PM EST
    Jim, showing his Swiss cheese holes: "But, let's wait and see. Let's see now." I choose number two. Let's see NOW what is obvious. Jim's nictitating membrain, in action.

    RoveGate, Watergate and Lessons for the White House | 9 comments (9 topical)