GOP Chairman then, from
Hardball:
Quote:
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Don't you think it's more serious than Watergate, when you think about it?
RNC CHAIRMAN ED GILLESPIE: I think if the allegation is true, to reveal the identity of an undercover CIA operative -- it's abhorrent, and it should be a crime, and it is a crime.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: It'd be worse than Watergate, wouldn't it?
GILLESPIE: It's -- Yeah, I suppose in terms of the real world implications of it. It's not just politics.
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GOP Chairman now:
Quote:
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The bottom line is Karl Rove was discouraging a reporter from writing a false story based on a false premise and the Democrats are engaging in blatant partisan political attacks.
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the GOP spin on the Rove story is either inane (see above)...or irrelevant (questioning Wilson's activities, which have no actual bearing on the case at hand)... or simply false (that Valerie Plame was not covered by the disclosure laws - obviously untrue, since the CIA asked for the investigation in the first place).
but the Prez is not the man his father was. Bush Sr. has been down this road before with Rove and dealt with it quite differently:
Quote:
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During George H.W. Bush's second presidential campaign, Rove was fired from the campaign team because of suspicions that he had leaked information to columnist Robert Novak — the same columnist who first reported Plame's CIA role in 2003, citing anonymous administration sources.
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this is how honorable Republicans used to react to stuff like this:
Quote:
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"Even though I'm a tranquil guy now at this stage of my life, I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious, of traitors." - George H.W. Bush, April 26, 1999.
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and this is how they react
now:
Quote:
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Listen, maybe Karl Rove was not perfect. We live in an imperfect world. And I give him credit for having the guts.
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the GOP credits Rove with having the guts to end the career of a CIA officer who's husband proved the administration was lying about Iraq. hmmm...they don't make Republicans like they used to and the apple has obviously rolled far from the Bush family tree.
the obvious question at this point is this: When did the President first learn of Karl Rove's involvement in this case?