MSNBC's Corke claimed "the White House has remained consistent" in criticizing both parties for going to Syria
In an April 4 report on the White House's criticism of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) decision to meet with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, MSNBC correspondent Kevin Corke claimed that "the White House has been fairly consistent on this particular issue." Corke noted that the Bush administration views such visits as sending "sort of a mixed message," adding that "there have been other delegations that have gone there, including some Republicans, and yet the White House has remained consistent." But, contrary to Corke's claim, the White House's public statements have been entirely inconsistent -- initially chiding Pelosi while remaining silent about a Republican-led delegation to Damascus on April 1, and only recently denouncing these trips in general terms without singling out any Republican members of Congress who went on them. As Media Matters for America has noted, numerous news outlets have reported the White House's attacks on Pelosi without also reporting on the GOP-led trip to Syria.
White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino, when asked about Pelosi's trip at the March 30 press briefing, specifically singled out Pelosi, while not naming any members of the Republican-led delegation also scheduled to visit Syria and meet with Assad. From the press briefing:
PERINO: Well, again, I don't know if anyone has spoken to the speaker. I do think that, as a general rule -- and this would go for speaker of the House Pelosi and this apparent trip that she is going to be taking -- that we don't think it's a good idea. We think that someone should take a step back and think about the message that it sends, and the message that it sends to our allies. I'm not sure what the hopes are to -- what she's hoping to accomplish there. I know that Assad probably really wants people to come and have a photo opportunity and have tea with him, and have discussions about where they're coming from, but we do think that's a really bad idea.
During the April 2 press briefing, when specifically asked about the White House's silence on the Republican-led delegation, Perino reiterated her claim, saying that "in general, we discourage members from going to the region." Perino again singled out Pelosi but did not address specific Republicans who visited Syria. From the press briefing:
PERINO: Let me unpack that a little bit. First of all, last week when I was asked about her specific trip, I said in my comments that, in general, we discourage members from going to the region. And that is true. In fact, I looked back, when Tony Snow was asked at this podium months ago, when Senator [Bill] Nelson [D-FL] made a similar trip, he said the same, that this was a blanket policy -- but I was asked a specific question about Speaker Pelosi, which is why I said that.
Speaker Pelosi is a high-ranking United States official. Nothing changes -- nothing has changed in Syria's behavior over the years when high-ranking U.S. officials go to see them. We sent Secretary [of State Colin] Powell early on; the behavior doesn't change. Syria uses these opportunities to flaunt photo opportunities around its country and around the region and around the world, to say that they aren't isolated, that they don't need to change their behavior, and it alleviates the pressure that we are trying to put on them to change their behavior.
At an April 3 press conference, President Bush noted that the White House has "made it clear to high-ranking officials, whether they be Republicans or Democrats, that going to Syria sends mixed signals -- signals in the region and, of course, mixed signals to President Assad." But Bush has yet to publicly criticize any Republicans by name for sending "mixed signals."
From the 3 p.m. ET hour of the April 4 edition of MSNBC News Live:
CONTESSA BREWER (anchor): NBC's Kevin Corke is at the White House now. So Kevin, is Pelosi's message likely to assuage the White House concerns?
CORKE: To be blunt, no. I think the White House has been fairly consistent on this particular issue. Look, there have been other delegations that have gone there, including some Republicans, and yet the White House has remained consistent. It considers Syria a state that sponsors terrorism, No. 1. And No. 2, it considers this sort of a mixed message. The administration has one particular policy vis-a-vis Syria. Look, they consider Syria among the axis of evil, and any trip, whether it be Nancy Pelosi or anyone else going over there, really does not speak to the administration's stand on that particular country and at least the government of that particular country.
Say what?
While Corke has a fairly impressive bio, I think maybe he gave up doing his homework after he got his Masters.
The MSM's (excuse the expression) "coverage" of the Pelosi trip should be sealed in plastic and used in journalism courses as an example of what accurate reporting is not.
Maybe he BOUGHT his masters, like GWB's family bought his MBA. No way an idiot like that got a Masters on his own.
Sorry, MMFA, you're wrong on this one. Corke never claimed "the White House has remained consistent" in criticizing both parties for going to Syria. What he said was "the White House has remained consistent." And he's absolutely correct. They have been perfectly consistent in condemning Pelosi for visiting Syria, and perfectly consistent in never breathing a word about the Republican visits. Come on, MMFA, let's get it right.
Am I missing something? Since when has Syria been on the axis of evil list...? Are they really, or are pundits just stirring up a hornets nest? Can somebody inform me?
Syria replaced Iraq - Duhhbya just hasn't gotten around to telling us.
According to Wiki, Bush did not include Syria in the group of three countries which comprised the "axis of evil". It was John Bolton who created the "Beyond axis of evil" group of 3 other countries which included syria. The new "axis of evil" drops Iraq and Libya from the previous 6 to give us a new group of 4 "axis of evil" countries, once of which is indeed syria.
I've seen axes that wobble like this, right before the top quits spinning and tips over...
That's the "axle of evil," so named by this administration, which can't spin as well as they once could because they've lost their bearings...
Considering how old their act is getting, and how fat the contractors are getting, are you sure you're not thinking of the "axle of elvis" with it's inherent twisting of the facts to justify their global war on tourism?
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Would that be the thin or fat axle of Elvis? Or perhaps the axle of Levis...
They are the "axis of Levis" only when they're in Crawford. In DC, they're the "vials of Exlax".
Speaking of Bolton, did anyone else see him with Jon Stewart last week? I'm just amazed that no one has covered this. He outed, to Stewart's amazement, the Bushevick philosophy of government. "Our job is to represent the people who voted for us." You gotta love him. He doesn't even pay lip service democracy.
So there are four "axis of evil" countries now? We had better get on the ball and attack somebody soon and take them off of the list. For propaganda purposes, lists of three are always more effective.
P.S. Is the other country on the list France? Just guessing.
yep
I work for a credit unoin and the US has economic sanactions on these regions/countries: Cuba, Ivory Coast, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, and the UNITA faction in Angola, Syria and Burma
I'm sure Bush doesn't have all of these countries on his axis list, but I'm sure we cannot do transactions with these places becasue of terrorism or similiar reasons.
Going to cancel my subscription to the NYT right now. Thank you MMFA
I doubt they will miss you.
Ummmm....This item is about MSNBC. Not the NYT. Maybe I missed what you are getting at.
concerning the republican delegation that preceeded Pelosi's meeting with Assad.
" Gabe Neville, Pitts' chief of staff, said Monday the conference between Assad and the three Republicans was intended to be "low profile."
"It was done in cooperation with the administration," he said."
http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/202433
good catch! you got the accredited original, rather than the iterations of other blogs who merely credit your source.
So?
Just that I sort of dislike having to chase a story through 17 links, that don't always get me anywhere close to the appropriate posting, in order to determine what was said, by whom, and when. Soros made that unnecessary, since his WAS the same source I had seen creditied on Buzzflash, Progressive Daily Beacon, and I think on ThinkProgress. I hope to encourage such integrity, if I can.
OK?
Your post lacks links. If it is indeed true, then the link below shows that the Bush Administration has in the past opposed congressional junketss like the Pelosi trip to hostile states, specifically Syria, as in the case of the Specter trip of December 2006.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/12/15/224339.shtml?s=ic
Do any of you liberals ever do any research, or do you simply suppress information that doesn't agree with your position?
My comment lacks links? Did you even read it? See the HTTP colon slash slash part, that is a link and I included one.
Concerning the "link" (url) that you included in yours. As a general rule I do not click urls pointing to NewsMax. If you would like to point me to a credible source of information as an alternative, I would be more than happy to visit.
The story he linked to on Newsmax was a verbatim story taken from the AP wire. Here is the same article on the Washington Post's website.
NL207 should have known better than to post from newsmax, but this time the story looks legit -- i.e. the story did not originate with newsmax themselves.
NL207 complains about MMFA not doing any research. He seems to conveniently forget that the original argument was Corke's and it was Corke's job to bring up evidence to support his own argument, which he didn't.
That said, I do not think it is as much a slam dunk as NL207 would like us to believe. In that instance as in the current one, the administration only publicly mentioned criticism of Specter after they spent a good deal of time criticizing Sen. Nelson for his trip to Syria. The WH did not criticize Specter until the next day when Specter's name was included amogst a list of people who were going to Syria and Snow had no choice but to be consistent when asked about it. -- Kind of like the way things have happened recently. One thing appears to be constant. No matter which political party goes to Syria first, the Democrats are always the first ones to be publicly criticized for it by this WH.
I am sorry, Richard Mellon Schiafe funded Newsmax has ZERO credibility if thats all you have then its nothing. If your information is valid you OUGHT to be able to find it at a credible site Newsmax doesnt qualify.
I don't think it can be said enough. Just because the White House says it doesn't mean it is best for America. I think Syria feels the same way.
In my opinion, MMFA did a good job here of creating a "sensational" lead to a story that, in reading through the post several times, does not live up to the headline. Has Bush specifically critized Pelosi personally? Is Corke referring to consistency in the criticism of "unofficial" envoys to the area or to the message the Administration has conveyed to the leaders of the area? I believe that Pelosi gets named because of her status and the fact she has gotten most of the "facetime" and media coverage. Can you name the Rs that have visited the area? (and what about the other members of Congress flitting around the world at taxpayer expense during their "downtime"? Fact finding at posh resorts? Both parties should be deeply ashamed of themselves! (Oops, I think the word shame has been banned from the English language, too hard on self esteem.)
Hmmm actually I can name at least two of the Republican Reps and take a stab at the third. They are Frank Wolf from Virginia I think, Pitts of Pennsylvania, and Something Holtz or something like that.and I think he may be from Alabama but not sure. So what does not knowing the names have to do with the decidedly uneven White House nag about Pelosi and nothing about the Republicans or even the Democrats with her or the above mentioned Representatives who went the few days before she went. The White House's disgusting statements and then the far right wing lemmings who repeated their screed almost verbatum shows very partisan, disgusting behavior. As the Republican Representative said, Bush can just accept their trip wheather he likes it or not since they alone asnwer to the Congress and their constituants. Howeever, expect this news guy and others tocontinue to pack the water for this White House that deals in hateful statements about anyone who has brains enough to think for themselves. I am a Republican and I am proud of all those in both parties who made the trip. Their effort just shows how dismal the effort of this administration has been in trying to settle the mess they have made of the Middle East.