Matthews on Rove: "It looks to me like he walked out like a gentleman"
During the August 13 edition of MSNBC Live, while discussing Karl Rove's announcement that he is resigning as White House deputy chief of staff, MSNBC host Chris Matthews noted that Rove had disclosed then-CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity "to two different reporters," while NBC News Justice Department correspondent Pete Williams said that Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, "issued a statement today, saying ... this will forever be a black mark on the Bush presidency. That not only was Karl Rove never summarily dismissed -- which Joe Wilson thinks he should have been -- but that he's been able to leave on his own terms to praise from the president." Matthews added, "That's true. Joe Wilson has said something that cannot be debated at this point. I think right, left, and center will agree that Karl Rove is leaving on his own two feet." Matthews continued: "[I]t looks to me like he walked out like a gentleman, with the full embrace of our president." But while reporting that Wilson "thinks" Rove should have been fired, neither Williams nor Matthews pointed out that the White House itself had previously pledged to fire anyone involved in the leak of Plame's identity.
As Media Matters for America has repeatedly documented, then-White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters on September 29, 2003, that the president would fire anyone who leaked Plame's identity: "The President has set high standards, the highest of standards for people in his administration. He's made it very clear to people in his administration that he expects them to adhere to the highest standards of conduct. If anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this administration." Indeed, according to the MSNBC's First Read, Wilson cited the White House pledge before noting that Rove "was not summarily dismissed": "Karl Rove's resignation signals the final chapter in the Bush administration's betrayal of the identity of a covert CIA officer. When this breach of national security occurred, the President promised the American people that anybody in his administration responsible for the leak would be removed. Rove, identified by the prosecutors as one of the leakers, not only was not summarily dismissed, but has been allowed to leave on his own terms, to praise from the President."
In recent years, Wilson has repeatedly called on Bush to "keep his word to the American people and fire Karl Rove." For instance, on the October 31, 2005, edition of CNN's The Situation Room, Wilson said, "I think that Karl Rove should be fired. I think that this idea that you can, with impunity, call journalists and leak national security information is repugnant." More recently, during a March 6 interview on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, Cooper asked: "Does the president of the United States have some answering to do? Earlier he had said -- years ago, he had said that anyone caught leaking would be dealt with." Wilson responded: "Well, I'd like the president to live up to his word, yes. I think the one person who remains employed by the U.S. government, who was a leaker, known to be a leaker was Karl Rove. So I certainly think that he should be fired."
From the 11 a.m. ET hour of the August 13 edition of MSNBC Live:
MATTHEWS: I remember former Ambassador Joe Wilson saying how he expected Karl Rove to be -- what was it? -- frog-walked --
WILLIAMS: Frog-marched.
MATTHEWS: -- frog-marched --
WILLIAMS: Frog-marched. Right.
MATTHEWS: -- the way you are when you're in shackles and yellow-suited. Do you think that there'll always be a question as to why he was not indicted, but Scooter Libby was, when the record has shown that he did leak to two different reporters, Matt Cooper and I believe to Bob Novak, of course, or at least he supported a leak if you want to put it that way.
WILLIAMS: And Judith Miller of The New York Times. He talked to her, as well. But, I guess the answer is that nobody was ever indicted for leaking the name. What got Scooter Libby in trouble was the allegation that he lied to the grand jury about what he did.
By the way, Joe Wilson has issued a statement today, saying that this is a black -- this will forever be a black mark on the Bush presidency. That not only was Karl Rove never summarily dismissed -- which Joe Wilson thinks he should have been -- but that he's been allowed to leave on his own terms to praise from the president.
MATTHEWS: That's true. Joe Wilson has said something that cannot be debated at this point. I think right, left, and center will agree that Karl Rove is leaving on his own two feet, and I didn't see any shackles today, Pete.
WILLIAMS: No frog-marching.
MATTHEWS: So, it looks to me like he walked out like a gentleman, with the full embrace of our president.
One, he hasn't 'walked out' yet, he quit effective in a few weeks.
Second, his LIFE has not been led "as a gentleman". His life has been that of a win-at-any-cost politican, smearmonger, and dirty trickster. His pursuits and his tactics have not been those a "gentleman" would associate with.
Third, his ONLY job has been to PROMOTE the Republicans, to gain them power and KEEP that power. At this, he has failed utterly. He does OK exploiting negative politics, the politics of personal destruction, and successfully engineered a massive assault on America's electoral process (disenfranchising likely Dems, pushing "friendly" voting machinery, gerrymandering districts, and other "mechanical" riggings) and that gets some GOPers in office. But to KEEP them there requires skills that Rove obviously lacks.
A useful assassin is one who can kill, and get away cleanly. Rove has proven he can get the political kill, but like the dog who finally catches the car he's been chasing, Rove has no idea what to do with his "victory." Actually governing with Rove's peculiar set of rightwing values is a clear LOSER in America, and the Republicans will learn how bad in 2008 much worse than the lesson they were given in 2006.
In military terms, Rove has shown he can win a few battles, but ultimately has lost the war ... and badly. If the GOP were a product, one would ask who was the "architect" of the PR and promotion, because a product doing so badly can only be discontinued. Rove is that failed architect.
Spot on, TEX.
The only things you left out in your near-perfect description of Herr Karl were the appropriate adjectives that wouldn't have made it though MMFA's obscenity filter.
Its possible to learn how to look and walk like a grentleman. Karl Rove is no gentleman.
Media Matters conveniently left out the fact that Matthews opened Hardball last night by asking, "Can President Bush think without the man they call his brain?"
Matthews then called Karl Rove a "bum." ("It was almost regal today, like [President Bush] was knighting the guy. And, and he said he was going to take care of this bum, anybody that leaked in the CIA case. Well this is how he took care of him. He knighted the guy.") Does Matthews really envision Rove as a "gentleman"? Not at all, as you can see.
If Media Matters has to scrape this low to come up with a borderline out-of-context post like this, how bad can "conservative misinformation" really be? Not that bad at all, apparently.
My two cents. Thank you.
Of course. All you're going to see here are the bits and pieces of a very few comments about Karl Rove that even hinted at anything complimentary. Out of context is an understatement.
I watched several news pieces on him last night from various sources and by and large they were anything but flattering. They showed him to be near a failure, for not producing what he wanted - a permanent Republican majority. That he was a divider and has done more damage by far than any good. That he basically is leaving in shame and defeat.
But you won't see that here. And that's the real misinformation.
Just because Matthews might have said something derogatory about Rove in another place, or just because others have come down hard on Rove, doesn't mean that they get a get out of jail free card when they pass on misleading information.
Sue, Considering your warden credentials are suspect at best, this is not misleading information. It is Matthews' opinion.
Darn you liberals, just because it's something you don't agree with doesn't make it misleading......when are you going to get that?
Perhaps a little incarceration near a blackboard is in order for you, writing "It's only an opinion", a hundred times. GO!
And when will you conservatives GET that it being an opinion is not mutally exclusive to it being misinformation? Boy my nieghbor John is a good husband, WHAT, you left out the part where he beat then shot and killed his wife. So? I still think he was a good husband.
Matthews take on Karl's resignation: "It looks to me like he walked out like a gentleman".
My take on Karl's resignation: "It looks to me like Karl scurried out like the lying rat (sorry to the rodent population) that he is".
rove did what joe wilson said he had done. leak valerie plame's classified identity to reporters.
TWO WORDS, Good Riddance, and I hope the door does hit him in the ass of the way out. Praise the Lord, it doesn't get any better than this.
What you see transcribed above, is pure spin and deflection and distraction, put forth as quickly as possible, on the matter of karl rove's resignation.
"Leaking names" and scooter libby and Joe Wilson?
Gee, I'd have thought that stuff to be nothing right now, compared to the two extraordinary elephants sitting right there, on the living room couch.
1. karl rove is at present, a key element and part of the focus, of two separate Congressional inquiries, one by the Senate's Judiciary Committee, and the other by the House Judiciary Committee.
In the Senate, that inquiry is officially called "PRESERVING PROSECUTORIAL INDEPENDENCE: IS THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE POLITICIZING THE HIRING AND FIRING OF U.S. ATTORNEYS?"
In the House, the Judiciary Committee's inquiry is called "The Continuing Investigation into the U.S. Attorneys Controversy and Related Matters"
And you know what the second extraordinary (but apparently invisible) elephant sitting right in front of chris matthew's and pete williams' (and everybody else in the "media" right now) blind eyes?
2. karl rove resigned, while the Congress and the Committees conducting these inquiries are in recess.
Boy, I'll tell you, those two giant things right in front of our faces, seem a lot larger and more pressing and more important right now, than anything "leaking" or scooter or Joe Wilson...
karl rove resigns his office, in the midst of two separate Congressional inquiries into his actions in the White House, and he resigns while those two investigating authorities are in recess...
That's the story to me, about karl's resignation; not the bend-over-backwards ignore those two elephants right in front of your face deflectionary and distractionary spin nonsense, transcribed above as spoken by an apparently blind chris matthews and pete williams...
It's about as spinning and deflecting and distracting, as the other item I see here at MMFA, on this matter, about cavuto on Fox, asking if karl's resignation shall boom or bust the capital markets.
For any and all who don’t care much to go on the deflection and distraction ride about karl’s resignation, the ride where the driver of the dialogue keeps directing you to look out the window at scooter and Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame and “leaks” everywhere…
If you’re more interesting in the extraordinary fact that karl not only resigned amidst two separate Congressional inquiries into his part (if any) in the firings of the U.S. Attorneys, but that he resigned while Congress and those investigating authorities are out of town on vacation, then consider these statements from the Senate’s hearing (titled “Hearing: Preserving Prosecutorial Independence: Is the Department of Justice Politicizing the Hiring and Firing of U.S. Attorneys?”
Again, from a transcript of that Hearing, with that title, of the statements of the members of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee:
Sen. Schumer: “…in Arkansas, where U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins was forced out, there is not a scintilla of evidence that he had any blemish on his record. In fact, he was well respected on both sides of the aisle and was in the middle of a number of important investigations.His sin? Occupying a high-profile position that was being eyed by an ambitious acolyte of KARL ROVE, who had minimal Federal prosecution experience, but was highly skilled at opposition research and partisan attacks for the Republican National Committee.Among other things, I look forward to hearing the Deputy Attorney General explain to us this morning how and why a well-performing prosecutor in Arkansas was axed in favor of such a partisan warrior. What strings were pulled and what influence was brought to bear?In June of 2006, when KARL ROVE himself was still being investigated by a U.S. Attorney, was he brazenly leading the charge to oust a sitting U.S. Attorney and install his own former aide? We do not know, but maybe we can find out.”
Sen. Whitehouse: “Mr. McNulty [Paul J. McNulty, Deputy Attorney General], what value does it bring to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arkansas to have the incoming U.S. Attorney have served as an aide to KARL ROVE and to have served on the Republican National Committee?”Mr. McNulty: “Well, all experience is—“Sen. Whitehouse: “Has he learned anything useful there to being a U.S. Attorney?”Mr. McNulty: “I don't know.”
Sen. Schumer: “Let me ask you this: Can you give us some information how it came to be that Tim Griffin [appointed Interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas] got his interim appointment? Who recommended him? Was it someone within the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arkansas? Was it someone from within the Justice Department?”Mr. McNulty: “I don't know the answers to those questions.”Sen. Schumer: “Could you get us answers to that in writing? And I would also like to ask the question: Did anyone from outside the Justice Department, including KARL ROVE, recommend Mr. Griffin for the job? Again, I am not saying there is anything illegal about that, but I think we ought to know.”
And of course, I quote these statements here, from that Hearing, to show you the nature of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s interest in karl rove: an interest made more compelling, by karl’s resignation ahead of any conclusion to that Committee’s inquiry, and during that Committee’s recess.
Rove walked out LIKE a gentleman...
Also, Madonna released a hit song called "Like A Virgin".
Yeah, Karl Rove is a gentleman in the same way that plastic horse you put a quarter in outside the Safeway is a Triple Crown winning Thoroughbred
I think a "gentleman" in Republicanese is one who made money and got away with a lot of crap.
Like a typical crybaby fascist, Karl Rove cut and ran. Too bad he won't be able to outrun the contempt citations he's got coming.
SAVE DEMOCRACY, VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT!!
So, it looks to me like he walked out like a gentleman, with the full embrace of our president.// MATTHEWS
Under supeona, with a 25% approval rate, an illegal war in Iraq to get his candidate elected, a completely politicized and demoralized Justice Dept, a crumbling military, Abramoff scandall looming, Cunningham scandall looming, and a Constitution they swore to uphold shredded beyond all recognition!!
Republican Party's idea of a Gentleman!!
Happy Thoughts are the Rove crew to re-elect being "frog marched" to a federal prison!;
Dan Grady
Dan,
Time to updat your talking points buddy.
;-)
SAVE DEMOCRACY, VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT!!
Dan,
Time to updat your talking points buddy. ;-) - anotheramerican / Tuesday August 14, 2007 01:29:50 PM EST
When Republicans are an insignificant minority, the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeldt/Rove crowd are on their way to prison, and our civil liberties are restored, and democracy is restored, maybe!
Happy Thoughts;
Dan Grady
Chris can't see for the flies circling his excreta talking ways.
Hmm...I also seem to remember Rove called a "journalist" and told him Wilson's wife is "fair game." Now who was that guy? Rhymes with "Ass Chews."
Yes, the very definition of a "gentleman." One who attacks other men's wives when they have a political disagreement.
Just like Libby Gonzales, and Cheney, they are covered and shielded from justice, as long as "W" is in office and can pardon them. That's the plan.
They can screw us with a dry hump and this emperor King will say that's okay.
So much for our fearless leader. They all should be hung by their thumbs till they fall off from the scandals and weight of their bloated evil bodies.
I have no comment on this sleazy liar, who engineered this whole spin on the integrity of the (CIC) Clown In Charge. They are all traitors for 30 gallons of oil. the Judas's.