Monday, February 06, 2006
The Proof Is In The Picture
Democrats were asking questions about the President's illegal wiretapping long before it became public.
As the GOP continues to cover their collective asses and defend the President's illegal spying, they continue to advance the idea that Democrats are only now making noise about the issue.
As usual with GOP claims, the opposite is true. Senator John D. Rockefeller (D-WV), Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, sent Vice President Cheney a letter in 2003 (some two years before public disclosure of the spying) outlining the senator's concerns with the practice. You can download a copy of the letter for yourself.
The so-called liberal media is also ignoring this fact.
The International Herald Tribune, and it's parent paper, the New York Times, have both published articles that ignore the letter (which, as any reporter should know, is a part of the public record).
The New York Times, meanwhile, is also ignoring evidence that communications between Americans with no terrorist ties are also being spied on.
Over at NBC, "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert is bending his own network's poll results to make the President look better.
While the allegedly liberal press is kissing Republican ass (pardon the pun), "Fox News Sunday" will not be outdone. On this past weekend's edition of the talk show, host Chris Wallace let the general in charge of the illegal spying speak using both sides of his mouth.
That was preceded by another Fox News blunder. Friday's edition of "Special Report with Brit Hume" saw correspondent Jim Angle and pundit Charles Krauthammer actually pull fiction out of thin air. The two claimed that Democrats are changing their position on the issue. Naturally, they have no proof. Like the papers cited above, they also ignore the facts.
That lie followed another by Angle the day before in which he claimed the illegal spying had stopped a terrorist attack. This time the lie was actually reported correctly by the New York Times.
As the lies continue to mount across the media, we're also seeing a new version of the name game. Illegal wiretapping has become "domestic surveillance" which has become a "terrorist surveillance program." Perhaps I should call my blog an "updated directory of multimedia resources and commentary."
