Decade [View all]

[H2O Man]

I read the OP/thread started by Will Pitt, about claims this forum is an echo chamber versus a resource for activists earlier today. It got me thinking about how we are approaching the ten-year anniversary of Ambassador Joseph Wilson’s NY Times op-ed, “What I Didn’t Find in Africa” (7-6-03). Just over a week later, the pre-corpse known as Robert Novak published a column that revealed Valerie Plame’s identity. Two months later, a Washington Post article noted that even before Novak’s column was printed, two top White House officials had called at least six DC journalists, and disclosed the name and occupation of Wilson’s wife, Ms. Plame.

Initially, those people who were paying attention to the Plame scandal -- including people here on this forum -- viewed it as a White House effort to punish Wilson for publicly calling the president on his infamous “16-words” lie during his State of the Union address. It was also correctly seen as a warning to others: cross us, and we will crush you. This was directed at more than just Wilson, or even the few journalists who had reported on the investigation he conducted in Niger in the weeks before Wilson’s op-ed.

The Plame scandal was something that a small group of associates and myself found fascinating. We knew, without any question, that there was far more to the scandal than what was being discussed in the corporate media, or even on progressive internet sites. One of my associates -- a relative working in Washington, DC, who is active in the Democratic Party -- would suggest to me that I should join one of those progressive sites. Specifically, the Democratic Underground.

Call it coincidence if you will (I don’t believe in “coincidence”), on the same day that Mr. Pitt published what I still consider to be the best article about the scandal, and that Patrick Fitzgerald was assigned to lead the Plame scandal investigation, I joined this forum.

I knew that the nucleus of the White House cell that pushed Ms. Plame’s identity was the Office of the Vice President. More, it was not simply a case of Dick Cheney attempting to cover his numerous and purposeful lies about the “threat” that Iraq posed to our nation, in order to justify the US invasion. Yet, these outright lies played a role.

There’s a strange documentary that frequently plays on Showtime, titles, “The World According to Dick Cheney.” For some misguided reason, it attempts to portray Cheney in a noble light. Still, it is of some value: for example, it shows how Cheney orchestrated the staffing of the Bush administration, placing the power in foreign policy far above W’s head. And it makes brief mention of how Dick Armey -- hardly a moral man -- had been opposed to the invasion of Iraq. Cheney met with Armey in order to change his mind.

Cheney told Armey that the White House had “top secret” documentation that: [a] Saddam’s family had strong personal ties to Usama bin Laden’s family; and that Saddam was extremely close to the production of “suitcase” nuclear weapons. The vice president explained that these documents were so frightening, that the White House could not show them to Congress -- much less the public -- or they would surely cause a global panic. The following day, Armey came out publicly in favor of the Bush administration’s plans to invade Iraq.

Now, Dick Armey is a fecal specimen who personifies everything that is wrong in the federal government. But by July of 2003, even he was privately complaining about Cheney’s lying to him. And so when Wilson began publicly calling out the president on those 16 words, Cheney was definitely looking to cover his tracks. And those tracks led from the OVP straight to the CIA, where Cheney (along with Scooter Libby and Newt Gingrich) had harassed analysts ….and where Cheney’s demand that CI investigate the “yellow cake” bit resulted in Wilson’s trip to Niger.

There was yet another reason for the OVP’s leaking Ms. Plame’s identity, though. It was, in fact, the very reason that I joined the forum, and was an early participant on the “Plame Threads.” Those threads were, I believe, among the best examples of the DU community’s ability to research and organize the events of that scandal. It truly was, in Mr. Pitt’s words, a real “think tank.”

Those threads reached far beyond this forum’s readership. And well beyond the internet’s progressive and liberal sites. Reporters from one cable television station kept track of them; it was not uncommon to read something here on DU, a couple of days before it was reported on MSNBC or others. I was contacted by a variety of people, including a well-known journalist who wanted access to my “source,” and an aide to a career politician who served in the administration in President Obama’s first term. DU helped shape the larger discussion on the Plame scandal.

I am among those who is disappointed that DU has frequently been more of a heckler’s chamber, or an argument swamp, than a think tank for the progressive left. As I’ve noted before, DU reminds me of an airplane that was found by a tribe of people. Some used the seats for comfortable chairs and couches. Eventually, someone found that its motor ran, and began using the plane for a touring car. But they never realized that plane could fly. And DU could fly, too.

Peace,
H2O Man