Conservative Media (Surprise, Surprise) Trying To Discredit Plame

[JABBS]

Conservatives can't make the "Who leaked Valerie Plame's identity?" story go away.

So instead, they've tried to diminish its importance. They've suggested Plame wasn't covert, but a recently leaked 2003 memo put that falsehood to rest. They've said that senior White House officials Karl Rove and Lewis Libby merely repeated information from reporters, but as more leaks come from testimony given to special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, that argument increasingly lacks credibility.

And of course, they've tried to discredit Plame's husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, though what Wilson said in a 2003 New York Times editorial, or whether he assisted 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, is irrelevant to Fitzgerald's prosecution of White House leaks.

The latest salvo from the conservatives is a New York Post story that made the rounds this morning, and which no doubt you'll be hearing a lot about from talk radio today, and probably from at least one of Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Joe Scarborough, Tucker Carlson and Chris Matthews tonight.

The story, from Hardball favorite Deborah Orin but based on information on Time magazine's web site, offers the following scandal: Plame gave $372 to America Coming Together, an "anti-Bush group," for two tickets to a concert starring Bruce Springsteen.

"It's the first revelation that Plame participated in anti-Bush political activity while working for the CIA," Orin writes.

Oh my goodness!!! Stop the White House leak investigation!!! Plame is a Democrat!!! How scandalous!!!

But, as Orin notes late in the story, "CIA rules allow campaign contributions."

So, maybe it's not so scandalous after all.

But certainly the Wilsons are trying to hide the fact that they supported the "anti-Bush group," right? Nope. Wilson told Time that the anti-Bush concert was "great."

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"CIA rules allow campaign contributions, but the fact that Plame gave money to the anti-Bush effort is likely to raise eyebrows," Orin writes.

Really? Let's see. Plame's career was ruined, and perhaps her life was put in jeopardy, because her cover was blown. Who blew her cover? There's mounting speculation that it was Rove and-or Libby -- two men who continue to work for the Bush Administration.

Would Orin -- speaking on behalf of the eyebrow-raising community -- actually expect Plame and Wilson to continue to support Bush?

And the last time I checked, the CIA was not a political body. As has been made clear in recent days, the Bush Administration has lots of critics in the intelligence community. Seemingly, many of these people voted Democrat in 2004 -- if for no other reason than to protest the administration's handling of the Plame leak.

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Orin has one more scandalous detail in her story -- one that will no doubt be repeated many times in the days to come among the "conservative media."

She writes: "America Coming Together is one of the anti-Bush activist groups bankrolled by Bush-opposing billionaire George Soros."

Scandalous! Plame can be tied to Enemy #1 among conservatives, financier George Soros. Remember, any time a conservative wants to discredit something from the left, they will look for a tie to Soros. Anti-Soros rhetoric increases ratings, and takes people's eye off the ball.

And once again, the story line is that a special prosecutor is investigating White House leaks of a covert CIA agent. The same special prosecutor is likely investigating whether White House officials perjured themselves in their testimony.

Hopefully, the conservative media won't be able to keep the scandalous "Plame Buys Concert Tickets From Soros" story afloat for very long.

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This article first appeared at Journalists Against Bush's B.S.

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Yes, it's only those communists on the left that like Bruce!

[JABBS]

2. Anyone want to take bets on "liberal" Chris Matthews ...

... making this a top issue sometime this week?

[JABBS]

3. blogcritics.org

There's a hell of a debate on this topic at blogcritics.org. Anyone who wants to help battle a raging conservative, be my guest. He's trying to suggest that it's not been proven that Plame is/was covert. Thanks.