Cronkite Inclined to believe Rove behind Bin Laden Tape

[Geek_Girl]

Last Night on Larry King Live Cronkite had this to say about Bin Laden tape.


Larry King Live Transcripts


KING: OK, Walter. What do you make of this?

CRONKITE: Well, I make it out to be initially the reaction that it's a threat to us, that unless we make peace with him, in a sense, we can expect further attacks. He did not say that precisely, but it sounds like that when he says...

KING: The warning.

CRONKITE: What we just heard. So now the question is basically right now, how will this affect the election? And I have a feeling that it could tilt the election a bit. In fact, I'm a little inclined to think that Karl Rove, the political manager at the White House, who is a very clever man, he probably set up bin Laden to this thing. The advantage to the Republican side is to get rid of, as a principal subject of the campaigns right now, get rid of the whole problem of the al Qaqaa explosive dump. Right now, that, the last couple of days, has, I think, upset the Republican campaign.

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. "A connection failure has occurred"

Do you have another link?

[Geek_Girl]

2. Oops sorry about that

I fixed the link.

[Flubadubya]

3. This was difficult to process...

It seemed that Cronkite was all over the map with this when I first read it, but upon further analysis, I do see his point. ANYTHING in these last desperate moments to take the attention off the miscalculations of this deficient administration (even to evoke Osama) would play in Bush's favor.

Desperate times require desperate measures. I'm not at all surprised at this last-minute "Hail-Mary" pass to get the issues all clouded and the waters muddied again. :shrug:

[Thurston Howell IV]

4. Right instincts, wrong tape

I'm not sure how Rove could be behind this tape, since it came out of al-Qaeda. Is he suggesting the CIA sat on it and then released it on Rove's command? Wasn't it under the control of Al-qaeda operatives? This is just an assumption on my part, based on past tapes. I'm not aware of the details around this specific tape.

The comment about Bush reading "The Pet Goat" while leaving 50,000 Americans vulnerable to death doesn't seem like it works in favor of Bush, although spin can accomplish amazing things. Very risky strategy if Rove was behind it. Someone I know who is a strong Bush supporter saw the story and had the immediate reaction "Bush just lost."

Final point on Cronkite: the Al-Qaqaa story was just beginning to die down -- at least in terms of headline focus. Kerry had stopped hammering Bush on it. The story was starting to get murky -- too much starting to rely on details of the story. I think the damage was done. A specific recovery on the story was needed, not just a change of topic.

The "Azzam the American" tape, released a few days ago, in which someone, previously unknown, whose face was covered threatened "blood in the streets of America" has all the earmarks of a Rove operation. The guy was probably a nephew of Rove's.

Expect two more tapes to come out before the election, from "Alkazam from Kalamazoo" and his side-kick, the Great Kazoo.

[Must_B_Free]

5. Clearly

Nothing in politics happens of its own accord, everything is strategic planning and timing.

That's is what is most disturbing - not that bin Laden is back, but that he pops up EXACTLY when Bush Co. Needs him most as if a puppet on a string.

What he says is basically ties al Queda to the left's position - "don't hurt us and we won't hurt you"...

Plus he points out that we may have actually been the first aggressors in the game of tit for tat - something people are afraid to own up to.

So we have a situation where people who make the money off of bombs guns, training, security - the whole violence industry - is behind unjustified war of agression and they seem to also have a tight hold on the media that cheers on these wars. They use the tragedy they create as further implements psychological manipulation.

Here's the bottom line: what bin Laden said on the tape is an obvious truth. IF you go around with blatant disregard and you hurt people and take away their self determination, you will face terrorism. It doesn't matter who it is - bin laden, Muslims, anyone... So it is Bush Co. policies that are responsible for all that we face now.

All it is is the golden rule - "Do onto others as you would have others do onto you."

So Bush's response is completely inappropriate, as is Kerry's. Neither addressed the substance of what the man said out of fear of political retribution (perhaps rightly so).

But the truth will never go away that we will never be safe until we can build a policy that is fair and inclusive, globally. We can't use %$75 of the earths resources for ourselves any longer, unless we are ready to admit that we live as criminal parasites and are willing to suffer acts of aggression to maintain the unfair balance and strangle hold over the world's populace.

[Beam Me Up]

10. Very well put, MBF. Thank you. n/t

[kittykitty]

12. Excellent analysis, m' boy! n/t

[jean]

6. this is a simple to do - Osama is alive and must have the Explosives

Our media is doing nothing to connect the dots - why don't we via our beloved blogosphere?

Osama shows up in our homes immediately after the Explosives 'R Missing story hits the fan. . .

??? Osama must have the explosives - what is he doing with them?


on edit - 8 Marines were killed today by a car bomb - Osama must be behind this and using those missing explosives at will.

Why did bush let Osama get away? Osama is winning the war on terror!

We don't have to let the media define the discourse and help bush.

[davsand]

7. Was Walter alluding to more than just this tape?

"...Karl Rove, the political manager at the White House, who is a very clever man, he probably set up bin Laden to this thing."

If KKKarl Rove has access to OBL to set this up then WHY is he not is custody?

I have to wonder if Cronkite isn't looking at this whole mess--starting with 9/11 thru this most recent tape-- as being one big operation of the White House. You gotta ask the question, is OBL just a puppet?

NOT that I subscribe to such far flung paranoia, mind you... ::sarcasm off::

Laura

[jean]

8. F 9/11 - bush family loves SAudi Royal family - remember Bandar Bush?

UBL is a wealthy Saudi

[davsand]

9. BFEE has been in bed with criminals for a couple generations.

If it wasn't grand daddy Prescott in bed with the Nazis, it was Poppy and Iran Contra (along with a lot of other stuff like drug running.) The idea that asswipe is in bed with the Saudis really comes as no big shock to anyone who has been paying attention.

What amazes heck outta me is the idea that we have just shy of half the voters in the US who think we need to keep the asswipe for another four years. I realize that Cronkite is a retired journalist and his wits are probably sharper than most folks--but how many times do the dots have to be connected before the general populace "gets" it?

Laura

[Sinnerman]

11. ROVE IS ANTI-AMERICAN

[welshTerrier2]

13. two possibilities

one, it was bin Laden on the tape and two, it wasn't ...

either way, what was said on the tape does NOT sound at all like something that would have been written by anyone in al Qaeda ... no one in al Qaeda has ever made an attempt to enlighten the American people to get them to understand their point of view ...

if they wanted to "teach us a lesson", they would blow something up ...

and just how convenient is it that the "national conversation" has now been changed from discussing bush's failure to secure the explosives to the guy we all hate ... rove needed to change the subject in a hurry over this last weekend of the campaign ... coincidence ??? you've got to be kidding ...

so either bin Laden was on the tape and his script was written for him by rove and co or the actor on the tape was a fake ... and the fact that the tape was broadcast by al Jazeera means nothing ... you don't think it would be possible to fool al Jazeera with a U.S. paid operative ??

i'm not buying any of this nonsense ... the language on the tape came straight out the white house ... and speaking of language, bin Laden speaks excellent English ... why, if he chose to speak directly to the American people would he have not spoken to them in their own language ??? does that make any sense to you ?? the tape is a fake ...