I was watching the Chris Matthews show tonight (not Hardball, this is his weekly that typically features four ultra inside he beltway types of the typically mushy center (e.g. Klein), center-right (e.g. Noron) or hard-right (e.g. Brooks) variety (funny how there are almost never any center-left let alone hard left types on it), and the panelists were Norah O'Donnell (aka Noron) of NBC/MSNBC, Richard Stengel of Time, Gloria Borger of CBS/US News, and Patrick Healy of the NY Times.
Yech.
Anyway, the consensus seemed to be that Dems were going after Rove And Gonzales for purely political reasons, not substantial and legitimate ones. No mention whatsoever was made of their being at the center of the US Attorneys scandal and just about every other BushCo scandal from day one. It was merely Democrats trying to make political hay out of some passing White House pseudo-scandal in order to escape having to explain why they haven't yet ended the war as they promised, and get back at their political enemies.
I.e. it's the Plame/Libby narrative all over again: nothing to see here, move on, Dems in disarry, a big to-do about nothing, sour grapes, etc. Same old same old. Control of congress and the national narrative has changed, but the MSM continues to stick to the same tired old narrative.
Note: They haven't put up the transcript yet, which I'll add once it's available, but here's the YouTube:
Update: They posted the complete transcript on the show's web site. Here's the relevant excerpt:
MATTHEWS: Welcome back. The legend of Karl Rove has been over a decade in the making, ever since he teamed up with George W. Bush in 1994 in a down-and-dirty defeat of Governor Ann Richards. And of course, continuing with the wins over Gore and Kerry. The Bush-Rove team has developed a reputation for ruthlessness that's earned them the hatred of a lot of Democrats, and also some grudging respect. When I interviewed Joe Biden on "Hardball" in 2005, he admitted there's envy.
(Clip from July 12, 2005)
MATTHEWS: Do you think the Democrats wish they had a guy as good as Rove?
Senator JOE BIDEN: Oh, yeah. Absolutely. But I hopefully--yeah, yeah.
MATTHEWS: OK.
(End of clip)
MATTHEWS: Joe's honest. Democrats are frustrated that Rove wasn't indicted in the CIA leak case, but now that he's been implicated in the firing of those US attorneys, it looks to some people as though Democrats are smelling blood.
Gloria, are they after Rove?
Ms. BORGER: Sure. You know, he's the cross between Ahab and Darth Vader for them, for the Democrats. And honestly, they would love nothing more than to get him up before a congressional committee.
MATTHEWS: OK, OK.
Ms. BORGER: But they want to change the subject, Chris. They don't want to talk about how they're doing on the war in Iraq or where they're...
MATTHEWS: You're with me on that. They divide over the war and fund-raising, but this makes it simple. It's good for fund-raising.
Ms. BORGER: Right.
MATTHEWS: Guess who's making this case? Chuck Schumer, who's the chief fund-raiser.
Ms. BORGER: Of course.
MATTHEWS: Rick, here's the question. When the dog catches the car, what do they do? They want a confession, like on "Perry Mason," where Rove just says, `You're right, I'm no good.' Do they want him to show his horns and be really nasty? Or do they want him to get into a perjury rap? What're they after with this guy?
Mr. STENGEL: Well, as Joe Biden implied, it looks like the car would run over the dog in that case. And there are no--there are no "Perry Mason" moments except for "Perry Mason." I am so uninterested in the Democrats wanting Karl Rove, because it is so bad for them. Because it shows business as usual, tit for tat, vengeance.
MATTHEWS: (Unintelligible).
Ms. BORGER: Mm-hmm.
Mr. STENGEL: That's not what voters want to see.
MATTHEWS: So instead of like an issue like the war where you can say it's bigger than all of us, it's more important than politics, this is politics.
Mr. STENGEL: Yes, and it's much less. It's small bore politics.
O'DONNELL: The Democrats have to be very careful that they look like they're not the party of investigation rather than legislation in trying to change things.
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
O'DONNELL: But yes, they want a public flogging of Karl Rove up on Capitol Hill, to draw him up there when all of the cable networks cover that live, and to just beat the heck of him out there...
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
O'DONNELL: ...and to put him under fierce questioning. The reason that the White House is resisting is not only on what they believe is grounds of, you know, executive privilege and etc., but also because they believe if they give on this issue, Karl Rove will be up there every other week on Katrina...
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
O'DONNELL: ...on CIA leak, on a whole number of other things.
Mr. HEALY: And they've also had several years out of power, where they saw, you know, Dick Cheney come swaggering onto the Senate floor and cuss out, you know, Democratic senators, swear in their faces. This is their time for levers of power, and the Democrats say they want to use them.
MATTHEWS: What do they want?
Ms. BORGER: They want the American public to see their public enemy number one. You know, Karl Rove is one of the people, like the guy pulling the strings, the wizard, you know, and...
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
Ms. BORGER: And the American public doesn't really know Karl Rove, and for some reason they think that it would help the Democrats to get him out there. I'm not so sure.
MATTHEWS: I think we're all on--we're not sure of the Democrat strategy here once again. We put it to the Matthews Meter, 12 of our regular panelists. Will the attorney general Alberto Gonzales keep his job? This one's close. Seven say he'll stick to his job, hold on to it, and five say he's on the way out. Gloria, you say he's toast.
Ms. BORGER: Eventually. Not now.
MATTHEWS: After he testifies?
Ms. BORGER: After he testifies and maybe a little bit while after that. Little bit longer after that.
MATTHEWS: That's what I think. I think they're going to let him skewer for a while.
Ms. BORGER: Yeah.
MATTHEWS: Norah, you say he's not toast.
O'DONNELL: Well, I think that the president wants him to stay on in the job. I think that they realize replacing him would be just as difficult because then he'd have to be confirmed by a Democratic Congress, and I think that there is a degree of loyalty to this man that has worked with the president for a long time.
MATTHEWS: I think there's going to be some sympathy for this guy, he's Latino, he's not a real politician. If those guys trash him up there, it's going--it could backfire.
Also--Kagro X just posted a front page diary on this clip here, and Glenn Greenwald wrote on it as well here, here and here.
Ok, color me a conspiracy theorist, but there is simply NO FUCKING WAY that these people can be so unimaginably stupid, uninformed and naive, and have been working in DC or so long, and have so many inside connections, that they don't realize that Rove is one of the most sickening, criminal, despicable people ever to work in the White House (and there have clearly been more than a few) who has been at the CORE of every single BushCo scandal and crime, that there HAVE been massive crimes committed by BushCo, of which Rove and Gonzo were a key part of, and that whatever political advantage there is in going after them (and, I'll admit, there is), this in no way takes away from the fact that they DESERVE to be called before congress to testify under oath and then frog-marched to the nearest federal penitentiary for a very long time.
To be a loyal Bushie wingnut diehard from the sticks who gets all his news from Rush and Bill O' and the local pastor is one thing, but to be one of these veteran MSM beltway insiders and say such a thing is not about being stupid, uninformed and naive, but rather being willfully and intentionally dishonest in order to please some higher power, be it their bosses in whatever media outlet they work for, or the administration itself. The consensus that they all seemed to share (including Matthews) was simply unreal, something that you might have expected to have heard 2-3 years ago, but NOW? Unreal, simply unreal.
One way or another, be it financially, materially, in terms of protecting or advancing their careers, socially, or some other way, these people are on the take. I.e. they're deliberately covering for Rove, Gonzo & BushCo for god knows what reasons. I can only hope that it's worth it. Does Rove have some dirt on them? Are they having trouble affording their new yachts and mansions? Would they hate to lose preferred tables at all the "in" DC eateries? Do they not want to be snubbed by Lynne Cheney at the news black tie affair? Do they not want to lose their exclusive access to the WH? Are they so tied into the existing power structure in DC that they simply will not buck it, even if it means lying?
These people are dirty, the way that cops on the take are dirty. And after we take down BushCo and the GOP (and we will), I would absolutely LOVE to see some of these people discredited and their careers ruined, because they are directly responsible for all the crap we've had to put up with these past 6/12/26 years--including soldiers' lives.
Shame on them. What horrible human beings, to reduce an attempt to bring to justice the most criminal, corrupt and destructive administration in US history to mere partisan revenge and petty witch hunts. I have nothing but contempt for these frivolous little cretins who simply do not and will not recognize that there's a world outside their precious little bubble that has been and continues to pay an enormous price--some the ultimate price--for this maladministration's massive crimes.
This is SO Colbert.