Richard Reeves: Fitzgerald "a lunatic," leaks are "white corpuscles"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

The truth about those leaks
Richard Reeves
Columnist

http://www.joplinglobe.com/print.php?story_id=200561&PHPSESSID=2763160d32b2aaa78bb7aea6b06552e8

WASHINGTON — Far be it from me to defend Karl Rove, but give the guy a break. He was only doing his job, which is character assassination. He’s not the first, and he won’t be the last.

There is little new about Leakgate, or whatever name is best used for the current games being played here. In the 1790s, Thomas Jefferson was considered quite the leaker by his boss, President Washington. These days, a lot of people would like to hurt Rove because he has made a career of hurting others. What gives the ordinary the patina of something original is the fact that a lunatic prosecutor has put a New York Times reporter in jail for no particular reason.

And there is the fact that we have a president who may be so far removed from the reality of Washington life and his own White House that he actually meant it when he said that he would punish whoever was leaking “national security” information. Who did he think does that, the tooth fairy? Try the White House, the State Department, the Defense Department, the FBI and the CIA! That’s where the best information is, and that’s where the leaks come from.

Leaks are the white corpuscles of Washington. They fight infection, the many kinds that breed and grow in this steamy built-over swamp. Leaks are essential to the health of the body politic, fighting the arrogance of power.

[Stand and Fight]

1. Puke Fest -- Coming to a Computer Near You!

August 2005... :puke:

[BlueEyedSon]

2. What the f...?

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

3. I know, I kept looking to see if it was published by "The Onion"...

...or maybe "Weekly World News"...

:toast:

[JDPriestly]

4. Some leaks are treasonous. Others are not.

The Plame leak may have been treasonous. It could have, indeed, may have cost lives. That's why it is being investigated.

[wtmusic]

5. Thank you

leaking a CIA agent's identity "fights infection"? This guy is batshit crazy.

[DefenseLawyer]

6. No, apparently Karl Rove

is just a fat male Karen Silkwood. How can we not see that?

[seemslikeadream]

7. Mr. Reeves get a clue

KKKarl will be resigning soon and then he will be indicted.

[senseandsensibility]

8. What do you know about this columnist?

Isn't he supposed to be liberal? I think he is the one that I had a run-in with a couple of years ago. Buzzflash published an article by him that I saw as anti-public schools. I objected to the Buzzflash administrator, and the man assured me that Reeves was a good liberal. I think it's the same guy.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

10. From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Reeves

Richard Reeves is a writer and syndicated columnist.

Reeves received his M.E. from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1960. After graduating, he spent a year working as an engineer for Ingersoll-Rand, after which he moved to journalism. From 1961-1965, Reeves worked for the Phillipsburg Free Press (New Jersey), the Newark Evening News, and the New York Herald Tribune before being assigned the post of Chief Political Correspondent for the New York Times in 1996. In 1971, Reeves left the Times to lecture at Hunter College.

Reeves' opinions generally have a liberal bent--he opposed the war to topple Saddam Hussein as "stupid and unnecessary" (column, March 19, 2003)--but shuns "extreme" leftist positions. He pays close attention to happenings overseas and often fills his columns with explanations of current trends based on history. Many of his columns focus on the world's reaction to the United States' political actions.

He has also published nine books, mostly about American politics.

Reeves' weekly column, carried by Universal Press Syndicate, has appeared in more than 160 newspapers across the United States since 1979. He is married to Catherine O'Neil, founder of the Women's Commission for Women and Children Refugees. Together they have five children, and divide their time between Los Angeles and New York.

Published books

* President Nixon: Alone in the White House, Simon & Schuster, 2001
* What The People Know: Freedom and the Press, Harvard University, 1998
* Do the Media Govern?, Sage, 1997 (with Shanto Iyengar)
* Family Travels -- Around the World in 30 Days, Andrews and McMeel, 1997
* Running in Place, Andrews and McMeel, 1996
* President Kennedy: Profile of Power, Simon and Schuster, 1993
* The Reagan Detour, Simon and Schuster, 1984
* Passage to Peshawar, Simon and Schuster, 1983
* Jet Lag, Andrews and McMeel, 1982
* American Journey; Travelling with Tocqueville, Simon and Schuster, 1981
* Convention, Harcourt Brace, 1977
* Old Faces of '76, Harper and Row, 1976
* A Ford, Not a Lincoln, Harcourt Brace, 1975

Awards

* 1998: Lifetime Achievement Award, National Society of Newspaper Columnists
* 1998: Carey McWilliams Award (distinguished contributions to the understanding of American politics), American Political Science Association
* 1997: Goldman Lecturer on American Civilization and Government, Library of Congress
* 1993: Non-Fiction Book of the Year, PEN
* 1993: Book of the Year, Washington Monthly
* 1984: Peabody Award, Columbia University
* 1984: George Foster Peabody Award, for Red Star over Khyber, PBS,
* 1983: Columbia-Dupont Award, for Struggle for Birmingham, PBS,
* 1983: Book of the Year, Christopers
* 1982: Christopher Award
* 1980: Emmy, for Lights, Camera, Politics!, ABC News
* 1978: Silver Gavel, American Bar Association
* Literary Lion, New York Public Library

Honorary degrees

* Stevens Institute of Technology
* Drew University
* St. Joseph's College

[senseandsensibility]

11. Thanks for the info

His resume looks impressive, but his ability to understand basic facts, as shown in that article, doesn't.

[AValdoux]

9. He is missing the point

It stopped being a common political smear when the CIA asked for an investigation and has so far been treated as a crime. I don't recall any grand jury testimony over Rove's previous smear campaigns. This one crossed the line. He finally went too far.


AValdoux