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August 23, 2007
Clinton Lied, Bin Laden Didn't Die
When former President Bill Clinton blew up at Chris Wallace last year over a question about failing to capture of kill Osama bin Laden, many regarded his behavior as overly-defensive. The damning assessment of the CIA's failures leading up to 9/11 also contradicted Clinton's angry assertion that he tried to take out bin Laden.
From the Newsweek article:
Clinton appeared to have been referring to a December 1999 Memorandum of Notification (MON) he signed that authorized the CIA to use lethal force to capture, not kill, bin Laden. But the inspector general’s report made it clear that the agency never viewed the order as a license to “kill” bin Ladenone reason it never mounted more effective operations against him. “The restrictions in the authorities given the CIA with respect to bin Laden, while arguably, although ambiguously, relaxed for a period of time in late 1998 and early 1999, limited the range of permissible operations,” the report stated. (Scheuer agreed with the inspector general’s findings on this issue, but said if anything the report was overly diplomatic. “There was never any ambiguity,” he said. “None of those authorities ever allowed us to kill anyone. At least that’s what the CIA lawyers told us.” A spokesman for the former president had no immediate comment.)
So what did "security hawk" Hillary Clinton know and when did she know it?
Posted by jeffgannon at 08:30 PM | TrackBack
Dems, Old Media: Iraq Not Vietnam
Democrats and their Old Media acolytes are frothing at the mouth today over President George W. Bush's comparison of the bloody aftermath of America's premature withdrawal from Vietnam to the potential consequences of leaving Iraq before security is achieved. The line that really drew their ire:
“One unmistakable legacy of Vietnam is that the price of America’s withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens whose agonies would add to our vocabulary new terms like ‘boat people,’ ‘re-education camps’ and ‘killing fields.’”
This is the legacy of Democrats in Congress who cut off funds to support operations in Southeast Asia, leading to America's defeat and humiliation. This is the legacy of then future members of Congress, especially Sen. John Kerry who walked on the backs of patriots and smeared a generation of America's bravest sons for his own political aggrandizement.
It is also the legacy of the Old Media icons, especially Walter Cronkite, whose flawed and agenda-driven reporting convinced a president and a nation that the war was lost when the enemy was actually on the verge of surrender.
Only a week into the war in Iraq, the White House press corps asked President Bush about comparisons to the Vietnam War. I was there - I remember it clearly. BOOK PLUG: I discuss the White House press corps' anti-war agitation at length in my upcoming book due out in September.
The comparison of Iraq and Vietnam has been a staple of the reporting about the war - the template that the Old Media puts over it - but when Bush usurps what the press must regard as its exclusive franchise all of a sudden Iraq isn't Vietnam.
I expect they will spend the remainder of the week rewriting history and trying to convince Americans that Bush is wrong. It's already begun:
NYT: Historians Question Bush’s Reading of Lessons of Vietnam War for Iraq
Posted by jeffgannon at 07:53 AM | TrackBack
August 22, 2007
White House Press Corps Elites Despise Texas
President Bush once told me that he loved spending time on his ranch in Crawford, Texas and the fact that the White House Press Corps hated being there was an added bonus. ABC News has the report of "What I Did On George W. Bush's Summer Vacation."
Posted by jeffgannon at 10:07 AM | TrackBack
With Surge Working, Dems Move Goalposts
First, two analysts from the liberal Brookings Institute suggested that military progress is being made in Iraq. Then, Democrats recently visiting Iraq, such as Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin and and Washington Rep. Brian Baird have indicated that the Surge is working. However, according to House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) an upbeat assessment on the war from Gen. Petraeus in September "would be a problem for us."
At the beginning of the summer Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared the Surge a "failure" and that "the war was lost." Clearly, such is not the case. What to do?
Move the goalposts! Instead of focusing on the stunning military success of the current policy, zero in on the lack of political progress made in Iraq. Sen. Levin began the mantra, calling for the government of Nouri al-Maliki to be replaced.
My counterproposal: Replace the Congress. Since taking over in January what has been accomplished on Capitol Hill? Not much and the historic low approval ratings prove it.
Here's a gem: According to a recent Gallup Poll, nearly TWICE the number of Americans approve of the job President Bush is doing than they do of the performance of Congress.
Bush: 32%
Congress: 18%
There's a quagmire on Capitol Hill!
Posted by jeffgannon at 08:58 AM | TrackBack
August 20, 2007
Something Stinks At The New York Times
The New York Post highlights a story of corruption at The New York Times in an article Scent of Scandal at The Times. It seems the Old Grey Lady's perfume critic received freebies from the manufacturer of a fragrance he touted. No one should be surprised at such unethical behavior at the newspaper, considering the scandals of Jayson Blair and Walter Duranty.
Looking beyond the obvious, how does The New York Times justify employing a perfume critic at the same time its pages and newsroom are literally shrinking in size and influence? How does the Democratic National Committee mouthpiece that has been talking down the economy for the past seven years, focusing especially on the poor, regale its readers with stories about expensive scents the "victims of the Bush tax cuts" would never even smell let alone own?
Some say The New York Times reeks of elitism and hypocrisy. Others, like myself simply stop at reeks.
Posted by jeffgannon at 11:05 AM | TrackBack
August 13, 2007
Rove Leaves White House; Not 'Frog-Marched'
Long time Bush political advisor and Democrat nemesis Karl Rove announced that he would leave the White House at the end of August. Rove is credited with Bush's political successes, but there were doubters among my former colleagues in the White House press corps:
As Karl Rove embraced President Bush today following an emotional farewell announcement on the South Lawn, the solemnity of the moment was shattered by Bill Plante of CBS, who bellowed to Bush: "If he's so smart, how come you lost Congress?"
Let me ask you this, Bill: If you are such a good newsman, why are you still at the White House at age 70 and not in the anchor chair at CBS instead of that "tart" (as per Dan Rather) Katie Couric?
BOOK PLUG: My book, due out in September contains several behind the scense glimpses of the cadaverous Plante as well as never before published insider information about the scandal that toppled Dan Rather.
Posted by jeffgannon at 02:29 PM | TrackBack
August 10, 2007
Hillary 'Gannonizes' Reporter
The woman who wants to be president denies that she supports socialized medicine (she does), then takes out after the reporter who dared ask such an 'unfriendly' question at the very friendly forum of the National Association of Black Journalists.
Attacking the reporter is a Clintonian tactic. Remember when Bill Clinton blew up at Chris Wallace?
Let's see what Media Matters and the DailyKos do to this guy, obviously a journalist of color, who left the liberal plantation.
Posted by jeffgannon at 09:11 AM | TrackBack
Daschle Blasts GOP For Running Against Ailing Sen.
Former Democratic Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle is lashing out against Republicans from the state he once lived in for beginning efforts to run a candidate against ailing Sen. Tim Johnson. Johnson has been incapacitated since last December after suffering a devastating brain hemorrhage.
Daschle called Republicans plans to field a candidate and mount a campaign for the November 2008 "sad" and "desperate." National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson Rebecca Fisher responded, “It’s acceptable for Democrats to fundraise for Sen. Johnson but it’s over the line for Republicans to say the seat is a focus? Sounds like the very definition of hypocritical to me.”
What is even more hypocritical is how concerned Senate Democrats are about their brain-damaged colleague so soon after condemning Terry Schiavo to death by starvation and thirst. Perhaps if Terry Schiavo sat in the seat that gave Democrats control of the Senate she'd be alive today and running for re-election!
On a personal note, I have prayed and continue to petition God for Sen. Johnson's recovery. He is a decent man and I wish him a speedy return to good health.
Posted by jeffgannon at 07:36 AM | TrackBack
August 09, 2007
Bush Whacks Liberal Pressies
The Democratic talking points flew fast and furious at President Bush during today’s press conference. The Associated Press presaged the question and answer session in its typical slanted way. Jennifer Loven began her story with: “President Bush, clearing the decks before his August vacation, called a news conference for Thursday.”
The lede implied that Bush would be AWOL on his ranch for the entire month instead of in Washington taking care of “the peoples’ business.” Perhaps Loven did not see the exodus of senators from the Nation’s Capital last Friday or the stampede of House members the day after. Nine days into August, Bush is still at work in the White House – not on vacation. As an aside, even though the President enjoys his Texas ranch, Bush once told me that he goes there frequently because he knows how much the press corps hates being in Crawford, especially in August.
AP’s White House correspondent started off the list of DNC talking points with a question asking if Bush would support a gas tax increase to fix all of the bridges that might be in danger of falling down. The President gently chastised Congress for wasting money (like the $8 million gym for House members, Rep. Abercrombie?) ABC Radio’s Ann Compton gave it another shot with her emotionally charged question about whether Bush would allocate more federal dollars for bridges and housing and less for the war (Build bridges, not bombs, kum bah ya.) Bush swatted that one away with a reiteration about the upside-down funding priorities of Congress.
Jim Axelrod of CBS News moved the goalposts for Democrats and the Old Media on Iraq. When Brookings Institute analysts recently declared that the troop surge showed signs of working it became necessary for the retreat and defeat crowd to shift the focus on the lack of political progress. What will they do if the Iraqi parliament comes back in early September and accomplishes most of the political imperatives?
NBC’s David Gregory asked about the sub-prime loan debacle, casting doubt on the statements the President made at the opening of the press conference about the strength of the economy. Bush began his answer with a knock on economists and then gave an economics lesson to the pressies.
One reporter asked about Guantanamo Bay and torture and received the appropriate standard response. He chided Senators for voting NIMBY on the dilemma over what to do with the enemy combatants held there.
Bush nailed one of the grandstanding “reporters” who asked about a familiar Democratic talking point: accountability. He brought up Iraq, Scooter Libby and Alberto Gonzales. The President bristled at the accusations and slammed the operative saying, “I know you are a kind, open-minded fellow,” (meaning precisely the opposite.) Bush pointed out that Congress conducted over 600 hearings since January, but passed little legislation.
CNN’s Ed Henry continued his quest to become the Democrats’ point man in the White House press corps. Henry’s question about Pat Tillman came directly from the gibberish at DailyKos. Then he pulled a stunt trying to get a pledge from Bush to find the truth about whether the former NFL star was murdered in Afghanistan. (The moonbat conspiracy theory says that the Neocons in the Bush administration ordered Tillman’s murder because he expressed opinions against the war and that Rumsfeld had covered it up.)
BOOK PLUG: I worked “behind enemy lines” in the liberal White House press corps for two years. In my book due out in September I “name names” of the political operatives among my former colleagues who pose as objective journalists.
Posted by jeffgannon at 12:34 PM | TrackBack
August 08, 2007
The New Republic's 'Fake But Accurate' War Stories
The United States Army and the rest of the sane news consuming public have concluded that John Kerry wannabe Scott Thomas Beauchamp, the "Baghdad Diarist" who accused American troops of minor atrocities in Iraq, fabricated the events he wrote about. The New Republic, publisher of the tripe (also the enabler of journalism fraud Stephen Glass) admitted that Beauchamp's "melted ledy" story took place in Kuwait, not Iraq as originally reported. Otherwise, the magazine is standing by the stories. Howard Kurtz has more: Army Concludes Baghdad Diarist Accounts Untrue
There you have it! A Dan Ratheresque defense of the indefensible: fake but accurate. The logic? Beauchamp got the facts wrong, but got the story right. American troops are committing atrocities, but since we can't actually factually report any, we'll make some up that are representative of what we think they might have done. This is what the Old Media foists upon the American public as objective news reporting.
Journalism elites, so blinded by left-wing ideology that they would destroy a basic democratic instition that is, the free press is disturbing. Kurtz quotes one of the propaganda professors:
Mark Feldstein, a journalism professor at George Washington University, called the Army's refusal to release its report "suspect," adding: "There is a cloud over the New Republic, but there's one hanging over the Army, as well. Each investigated this and cleared themselves, but they both have vested interests."
The New Republic prints lies, but the U. S. Army has a cloud over it? This is right out of the Left's its well worn playbook. A former KGB agent describes their tactics during the Vietnam War, Propaganda Redux and shows how the useful idiot John Kerry swallowed it whole:
"During the Vietnam War we spread vitriolic stories around the world, pretending that America's presidents sent Genghis Khan-style barbarian soldiers to Vietnam who raped at random, taped electrical wires to human genitals, cut off limbs, blew up bodies and razed entire villages. Those weren't facts. They were our tales, but some seven million Americans ended up being convinced their own president, not communism, was the enemy. As Yuri Andropov, who conceived this dezinformatsiya war against the U.S., used to tell me, people are more willing to believe smut than holiness."
Here's some real reporting from Iraq:
Matt Sanchez With The 1-4 Cavalry In Dora, Baghdad
More on the "Baghdad Diarist":
Taking Issue With Private Scott Beauchamp
Posted by jeffgannon at 08:35 AM | TrackBack
August 03, 2007
Bush Slams Impudent Pressie
The Old Media activists go bonkers when the target of their vicious and biased "reporting" fights back. Editor & Publisher records this "outrage" from the joint availability with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President George W. Bush:
At a recent press conference at Camp David, President George Bush insulted BBC political editor Nick Robinson, the Daily Mirror reports.
Robinson, who has asked Bush pointed questions in the past such as whether the president was “in denial” over the Iraq war, posed a question to Bush about whether he could trust visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown not to “cut and run” from Iraq.
Bush replied with a dismissal: “Are you still hanging around?”
Later on, Bush poked fun at the bare-pate of Robinson, joking, “You’d better cover up your bald head, it’s getting hot out.”
The respected British reporter shot back, “I didn’t know you cared.”
Bush responded with a cool, “I don’t.” The Mirror reports that Bush then “snorted disdainfully” and “walked away to laughter.”
You never know what those lame ducks with low approval ratings might say. You're next, Helen.
Posted by jeffgannon at 11:41 AM | TrackBack
The Left's Fantasy War
The surge is working and Democrats in Congress fear Gen. Petreaus delivering a positive report on progress in Iraq. Despite the efforts of the Old Media and a John Kerry-wannabe from The New Republic, the truth about Iraq is becoming impossible to hide. American troops have won every battle in which it engaged. There has never been any question about that. However, the motivated, brave and compassionate members of the U. S. military have also won the hearts and minds of the people of Iraq.
Read what a courageous patriot reports about Iraq:
Meanwhile, The Washington Post provides cover for the The New Republic: Editors Confirm Soldier's Claims
Except that they didn't Mr. Kurtz.