MSNBC reports Dems in Washington are backing off...

[grasswire]

...because of fears they are politicizing the Plame matter.

Look. They are going to win unless Dems can turn the focus to the national security issues.

If the WH can cast criticisim as politics, they will win. This will go away.

This is a raging battle to control the story. Right now. It's happening.

[Speck Tater]

1. Like the Repugs didn't politicize Clinton's indiscretion.

Give me a break. When will our representatives stop acting like a bunch of whipped puppies and show their teeth?

[sybylla]

27. Yep, they did politicize the Clinton affair

And look what happened. The sheeple were turned off by it because they saw it for the partisan hack job it really was.

Dems can't appear too agressive or too happy over the misadministration getting their noogies in a vice. That will just convince the sheeple that it isn't a real story but only a partisan hack job.

I'm convinced the CIA will handle this. We don't need to be on top of it so hard that the general public stops paying attention.

[bamademo]

2. The Dems are just going to sit back and let the CIA do it.

Don't worry. This is a smart move on the Dems part.

[MidwestTransplant]

19. Agreed....

This is not about politics anyway and shouldn't be. The only place for the Dems. is to make sure the DOJ doesn't go easy. You can be sure the FBI will do their job.

[diplomats]

25. This also means they think the story can stand on its own

without being pushed by the Dems.

[Paragon]

3. Duh.

It was about politics when Karl Rove picked up the phone, for Christ's sake.

If the DNC backs off this one, they may as well fold it up and quit now.

[Maple]

4. Then the Dems

will never be able to anything about any subject...for fear of that word 'politicizing'

Of COURSE it's political! It ALL is.

So??

[Media_Lies_Daily]

5. This is really a battle between the CIA and the Bushies...

...and I can tell you right now who's going to lose.

Sometimes it's fun to be a spectator.

[vi5]

6. I hate to say I agree with this but I do.....

I don't think they should all back off, but I don't think it should be a pile on. Schumer seems to have been designated the lead man on this and it should stay as such.

I think a few well thought out and carefully phrased statements about national security and wanting to make sure an investigation is thorough and bipartisan will be enough to keep it in the headlines. That is the key. If it is in the headlines than it will never be good for bushco. But if the headlines are shared with a constant barrage of dem statements on the matter and attacks then it will get clouded.

People keep saying "well the repugs criticized Clinton and politicized that!!".... that is true but let's not forget that they paid the price for it as well. Is that what we want?

[tishaLA]

9. I agree with you 100%

it's easy to pretend dems are sackless because of this....but it is the right tactic at the right time.

[monkeyboy]

11. Paid the Price? How?

They control the Senate, Congress, Whitehouse...

[vi5]

12. Remember the '96 elections?

They suffered substantial losses, and that is what resulted in Gingrich being ousted (I'm sorry...."stepping down for the good of the party").

Also, if the partisan politics and attacking of Clinton worked so well then why did Bush* fail to win the popular vote?

[Classical_Liberal]

35. this isn't a blowjob though

This is endangering a cia operative.

[pa28]

7. Unreal

Republicans grab and hold a whiff of scandal like a pit-bull. There never is an electoral punishment. If our leadership refuses to demand accountability are they depending on the media follow the story through? What has happened in the recent past to make them believe it will happen? Are they depending on the courts? The FBI?Now our party is sliding into the abyss and the band plays on.

[SodoffBush]

8. Why don't some GOP senators jump ship to independent

and wrestle power away from those who are so sated with it? The Bushies are destroying the country. Can anyone imagine another 14 months of this disaster waiting to happen?

[Speck Tater]

10. Is the Bushies that are destroying this country, or...

... the Dems who sit back passively and not stand up to them?

[Marlie]

13. I agree

The past three years the dems have always been too passive. Look
where we are now - that should be proof.

[Section_43]

14. I understand the logic

but will the Dems EVER stand up and see something through to the end!?

[Speck Tater]

15. Will the Dems every stand up?

Ask that question to a Deaniac.

[ShaneGR]

16. Don't Fu** with the CIA, EVER.

Dems don't need to do ANYTHING. Just sit back, make some noise here and there, and watch the spooks eat Bush alive. By the time he gets back to Texas, he's going to need a visit to Cheney's heart doctor.

[diplomats]

20. I'm with you on this one

[ShaneGR]

33. It seems pretty simple to me

Let the Repugs defend a treasonous act, and watch the CIA destroy them slowly. Imagine what it's like to be a CIA undercover agent who actually knows this Plame woman. Do you think you're going to think the gloves are off and it's go-time?

I know I would.

[Skittles]

17. so what if it WAS f***ing political?

LET THE GAMES BEGIN.

[AngryWhiteLiberal]

18. First and foremost...Why are you paying attention to MSGOP for news?

Take a look at their "Question of the Day" and tell me why you would believe anything coming out of this Faux-lite "news" network.

No matter how the corporate fascist media tries to spin this...the fact remains A TREASONOUS ACT WAS COMMITTED and a Federal Law was broken. PERIOD.

JB

[CBHagman]

21. I always hear the same variations on a theme.

When the U.S. went to war with Iraq and those weapons of mass destruction didn't turn up for the first month or so, I kept hearing that critics of the administration were going to be very humiliated when all the evidence, weapons, and so forth came to light.

Well, we're still waiting, and it appears that that prediction was a bust.

Now I'm hearing that the Democrats are "hypocritical" for asking for a special counsel (in a NATIONAL SECURITY CASE, for crying out loud!!!) when they objected to having additional independent counsels during the Clinton(Remember, there were a number of them, and they got...a plea of guilty to a misdemeanor out of Henry Cisneros).

Yes, everyone's singing the part designated.

But I don't put much stock in predictions at this point.

[Classical_Liberal]

22. It's not possible to let it go

The leaker compromised a cia operative, and all those cia operatives she is associated with.

[demnan]

23. The Democrats should pound this thing

especially the ones on the intelligence committee. They should all demand an independent council. Unless there's an independent council this dog won't hunt.

[janekat]

29. The CIA is going after him... It's better if it looks non-partisan

n/t

[Classical_Liberal]

Unfortunately if there is any truth to the story, it is probably

Dems on the intelligence commitee, who are backing off. The dems there tend to be neocon inclined. Tom Lantos, who recently chided dems on Fox news for questioning Bush's truthfulness on the Iraq war, is the ranking dem on the intelligence committee.

[JanMichael]

24. WTF is WRONG with THEM? It's TREASON!!!!

Politicizing it is "bad"? No, um, TREASON is BAD!! Idiots!

What the hell have they been smoking?!

[no name no slogan]

26. Buncha worthless f*ckwits

Dammit, WTF is wrong with the Democratic (lack of) leadership in DC? If we ever had a ready-made excuse to hold the GOP's asses to the fire, THIS IS IT!

The whole situation is beyond political now-- somebody in the Bush admin committed a treasonous act by knowingly leaking the name of a CIA operative, which has led to the deaths of other CIA operatives. Most Americans, regardless of political stripe, would want those responsible for this "slip" to be held accountable for it!

"Oh, but we don't wanna rock the boat!" THEN WHAT GOOD ARE YOU AS AN OPPOSITION PARTY???? The Democrats need to start acting like the opposition party, or another one will surely come along and handle the task for them, and the Dems will become as relevant as the Whigs.

:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[janekat]

28. This can't go away - the CIA has enough dirt to last for YEARS

n/t

[DrBB]

30. It's a political hatchet job for cripesakes

How the hell do you NOT politicize it--that's what the story IS, a slimy underhanded attempt at political damage control that overstepped the law. Can someone explain to me what the NON-political component is, here?

Sheesh!

[leftchick]

31. I Saw Sen. Tom Daschle today and he sure was not backing off....

interestingly he was interviewed by that new boy-toy whore on MSRNC this morning. Good old Tom was adamant about the need for an Independant investigator and was not backing down.

[Starpass]

32. Hold the phone---you don't know the whole story

What was cancelled this morning was a meeting between Wilslon and Democratic Congressmen on the Hill. They realized that if this took place that that gave fodder to the administration to yell that this incident never took place, it was planted by the Dems or it is a conspiracy between Wilson and the Dems. That's what this 'news' is all about. They are still on this and doing it the usual way they have for days BUT this meeting would have been just what Herr Rove ordered.

[SoCalDem]

34. Remember who controls the media, folks

If the dems are too "aggressive", it will be magnified a THOUSAND percent by the loonies with all the ink and microphones..

They are probably wise to sit back a bit.. They can ramp it up if it appears to be rceding :)