I was late watching Bill Mahr's Real Time this week, but I found at least one part of the show very interesting. More below the fold.
Jeremy Scahill was the extra panelist that Bill calls "Real Time Real Reporters." The topic was Scahill's newest article in The Nation regarding Blackwater's abuses. Chuck Todd was on, and Jeremy gave him a peice of his mind. A disclaimer first, though. The clip is long, over eight minutes, but it's worth the watch if you've got the time.
Watch it here:
About halfway in you see Jeremy point out Chuck Todd specifically and slam him for calling for Bush-era investigations "political catnip." Chuck then rebutted with the most wet-noodled of arguments. "But what if you do it and nobody gets convicted?" Basically saying, what if you fail and look politically stupid? Ah, the old politics argument. Except that you must understand that politics has nothing to do with Blackwater or the Bush-era war crimes. Politics is simply doing what is best for your political career. Kissing butts. Making nice with corporate lobbyists. Not going out on a limb for any reason whatsoever.
But what Jeremy is talking about goes beyond politics. Politics does NOT undermine the rule of law. Rule of law is a simple premise: "You do the crime? You do the time." That's over simplifying it, I know, but it fits well here. And I love the fact that there is at least ONE reporter in this country who takes on wet-noodles like Chuck Todd and Chris Matthews, who can take on the crazies with the best of them, but who allows Tom Delay spew all he wants about "Gift certificates." Chris Matthews also thinks that bloggers don't fact check, which is, of course, ridiculous, seeing as how Chris has used information from Think Progress and other outlets before to counter right wing arguments.
All in all, I think the moral is that we need more Jeremy Scahills.
Update: A link to the article on this peice: Huffington Post
Update 2: from joanneleon: UPDATE: According to Scahill (via email), Todd approached him after the Maher show and the following occurred:
Right as we walked off stage, he said to me "that was a cheap shot." I said "what are you talking about?" and he said "you know it." I then said that I monitor msm coverage very closely and asked him what was not true that I said on the show. He then replied: "that's not the point. You sullied my reputation on TV."
Referenced at salon.com. http://www.salon.com/...