Atrios throws down the gauntlet...WH Official should reveal leaker

[Junkdrawer]

Plenty of people have said that Bush could end this any time he wants to, and of course he can. He went on the record today as saying he doesn't know who jeapordized national security by outing a covert CIA operative. The journalists who were on the receiving end of this information could of course put the information out there, either on the record or anonymously. I'm hearing rumors that if subpoenad, some wouldn't put up a fight.


But, there's also one more person who could end this - the senior administration official who pointed his finger at two White House officials in the WaPo article 8 days ago.

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2003_10_05_atrios_archive.html#106546843566113001

Digby comes up with...Andy Card???

But, I think it's somebody else. Somebody who has voiced concerns in the past about the political operation of the White House. Somebody who expressed alarm in Ron Sisskind's seminal Esquire article that Karl Rove would have unfettered power with George W. Bush after the resignation of Karen Hughes:


"I’ll need designees, people trusted by the president that I can elevate for various needs to balance against Karl. . . . They are going to have to really step up, but it won’t be easy. Karl is a formidable adversary."


That, of course, was Andy Card.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2003_10_05_digbysblog_archive.html#106547388703715631


BTW: The Ron Suskind article is a good read...

"There is no precedent in any modern White House for what is going on in this one: a complete lack of a policy apparatus," says DiIulio. "What you’ve got is everything—and I mean everything—being run by the political arm. It’s the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis."

In a seven-page letter sent a few weeks after our first conversation, DiIulio, who still considers himself a passionate supporter of the president, offers a detailed account and critique of the time he spent in the Bush White House.

"I heard many, many staff discussions but not three meaningful, substantive policy discussions," he writes. "There were no actual policy white papers on domestic issues. There were, truth be told, only a couple of people in the West Wing who worried at all about policy substance and analysis, and they were even more overworked than the stereotypical nonstop, twenty-hour-a-day White House staff. Every modern presidency moves on the fly, but on social policy and related issues, the lack of even basic policy knowledge, and the only casual interest in knowing more, was somewhat breathtaking: discussions by fairly senior people who meant Medicaid but were talking Medicare; near-instant shifts from discussing any actual policy pros and cons to discussing political communications, media strategy, et cetera. Even quite junior staff would sometimes hear quite senior staff pooh-pooh any need to dig deeper for pertinent information on a given issue."

http://www.ronsuskind.com/writing/esquire/esq_rove_0103.html

[diplomats]

1. I just read this a few minutes ago

Those quotes from the Esquire article were incredible. I had no idea that when Karen Hughes left Card and others were that worried about Rove being Bush's Rasputin.

[Junkdrawer]

2. A good morning read...

:kick:

[July]

3. DiIulio -- I've asked this before, anyone know?

What has happened to this guy? I tried a google search and the sites of some of the orgs./universities he's been affiliated with -- nothing since the Esquire article, if I remember correctly. Has he dropped off the earth?

[Junkdrawer]

4. I found this on whitehouse.gov...

Q Ari, Muslim leaders representing more than -- American Muslims in this country were invited to a meeting here at the White House yesterday with the community and faith-based initiative. However, they walked out of that meeting because one of their members was expelled and accompanied by security after being allowed in and cleared for security reasons.

Now, this member is the son of Dr. Samuel Arian and his uncle is Dr. Mazen al Najjar Mr. John DiIulio, the director of office, he described it as guilt by association. I hasten to add, neither of these two men were found guilty by any court in this country of any wrongdoing. Now, David Bonior has protested very strongly and issued a statement on the subject. Would the White House apologize to the American Muslim community?

MR. FLEISCHER: Mr. Bonior is right to complain. The President is very upset about this. The President is very concerned that an action was taken that was wrong and inappropriate, and the President apologizes for it on behalf of the White House.

I want to say that the Secret Service has one of the most difficult jobs in the government, and they do it on an extraordinarily sound and good basis. And everybody who works in this White House is grateful to the Secret Service for the good work they do. In this one instance, the Secret Service made a mistake. They've acknowledged it; they have said so. They will continue to say so. And the President is concerned about it to the point where he does apologize.

Q Ari, on that same subject, some of the Muslim leaders complained that what they sense as snubs or insults to them have begun with, I guess, the cancellation of an Eid holiday observance, cancellation of Vice President Cheney's briefing last Friday for the American Muslim Council, as well as Dr. DiIulio's failure to appear at this briefing, at which the person was ejected. Is there a pattern of snubbing Muslim leaders for perceived or unperceived reasons?

MR. FLEISCHER: No. And there have been many other meetings that have gone forward just as planned. But in the case, for example, that you mentioned about the Vice President's meeting, I think everybody understood that that was a matter dealing with airplanes and logistics and travel time that were beyond the control of the Vice President. And so he was not able to make that meeting, and he wishes he could have.

But this White House has engaged in extensive outreach, all part of the faith-based and community initiative that I began this meeting with. I said that the President was very pleased that the House took the action it did to support a program that can help the nation's mosques, receive help from the federal government to help them complete the good works that they do on behalf of people in their community.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/06/20010629-5.html