Despicable Liars

I want to shine a spotlight on a couple of the lesser players in the Scooter Libby truthiness squad -- two second-string Gollums that slithered across my TV screen this week, defending Libby and Bush with a classic litany of Plamegate lies.

I should be immune by now to this crap. But sometimes I'm still astonished to hear a Republican prosti-pundit explain that Valerie Plame was not covert and that the CIA has never said that she was. Just how dead does your soul have to be to lie on national television about a matter like that? Lies so easily disproved.

The scene was media-whore central: Hardball. The right-wing hacks were two odd little men: Ron Christie, former adviser to Dick Cheney, and David Rivkin, former DOJ official under Bush 41. Both despicable liars.

Ron Christie's appearance on Thursday's Hardball was pretty standard fare for this sad person -- a rote recitation of the usual lies, punctuated by feigned outrage. There was nothing earth shattering or unique about Christie's hackery. The same lies were being spewed all over the place this week. But it doesn't make it any less egregious. Some choice examples:

CHRISTIE: Chris, as you and I have gone back many, many times, the special counsel in this particular case knew that Mr. Libby was not the one who improperly disclosed Valerie Plame’s identity.  It was the deputy secretary of state, Richard Armitage.  This entire process was a travesty of justice that wound its way from Richard Armitage, to Bob Novak, to the trial, to the sentencing.

Liar. Ron Christie knows that Libby disclosed Plame's status to anyone who would fucking listen, including the New York Times' own Little Miss Sunshine.

CHRISTIE: You know, I have listened to this for the last couple of days:  Karl Rove has something to hide.  Scooter has something to hide.

There is nothing to hide here.

How does this guy sleep at night?

But the real piece of work on Hardball that day was the slimy David Rivkin. With the arrogance of Charles Emerson Winchester III, this toad-like man lies as if his life depends on it. (And in the crew he runs with, it's entirely possible that's the case.) This is a guy who can change his story from moment to moment without blinking an eye.

RIVKIN: The reason I personally support the commutation and even a pardon here is I do not believe that this was a fair and just prosecution.  I think it was politicized.  I think the mistake was not made by the jury.  I think the mistake was made by the vindictive and out-of-control prosecutor who aligned the facts in such a way that the jury had no choice...

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS:  What do you think was his motive, since you’ve made the accusation?

RIVKIN:  Oh, his motive is actually entirely non-partisan.  Look, there are prosecutors who are exquisitely non-partisan who are just playing Inspector Javier.  They basically think that they can—that everybody is guilty of something, that if, God forbid, you are somehow not being straight with him, or so he or she believes, that they should prosecute you to the Nth degree.  And Inspector Javier is the right analogy.  It’s not a question of being incorrect as a matter of law.

I see. The prosecution was political, but the prosecutor was "entirely non-partisan." And the jury was left with no choice but to convict, because Fitzgerald was actually correct as a matter of law. He's one of those out-of-control prosecutors who actually thinks he should prosecute people who lie to the FBI and obstruct justice.

Rivkin then went on with a range of diversionary lies about nepotism at the CIA and Armitage being the only leaker. (And kudos to Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, for very ably batting down his lies. With Chris Matthews hosting, somebody needs to serve as a fact checker.) But Rivkin saved the best for last:

RIVKIN:  [Plame] was not a covert—she was not a covert operative.

SLOAN:  The CIA says that she was.

RIVKIN:  The CIA has never said...

It doesn't even need to be pointed out that, of course, David Rivkin knows that the CIA has formally confirmed that Plame was covert, and that she met all of the requirements for that designation. Why do television producers allow such blatantly dishonest character assassins to appear on news programs? Oh yeah, because otherwise the Republican Party and conservative movement would have no representation on TV.

The modern GOP: all lies, all of the time. They're shameless.

•  All shows that pose as News Shows should have

  to implement a policy that states simply this

  If you tell an outright lie on the air, you are barred from ever appearing again on any show until you have publicly recanted the lie and apologized for it.

  How is that for a "Fairness Doctrine"?

  by rontripp on Sat Jul 07, 2007 at 11:57:35 PM PDT

•  Why did they out her at all then?...

  ...If she wasn't a covert operative, why would mentioning her name in public lead to such outcry? If there was "no harm no foul" why did they do it? No, they knew EXACTLY who she was, and they knew precisely that they endangered her life and every single operative whoever knew, or whoever worked with Valerie Plame!

  They accomplished all that they set-out to do, and they deliberately endangered the national security of the United States during a time of war, while exacting their political revenge game. That's high treason in my book.

  And lets' not forget that these "heroes" still have their security clearances and "live to out another day"! Who will be the next covert operative outed that's not really a covert operative? Just how low do they have to sink before we give them all the justice they all desperately deserve in the worst way?

  by ImpeachKingBushII on Sun Jul 08, 2007 at 02:45:33 AM PDT