Hatch: and there's a real question whether she even deserved that status.

[maddezmom]

HATCH: Be that as it may, I said from the beginning that I did not think she qualified as a covert agent. First of all, she hadn't been outside of the country in the last five years, and there's a real question whether she even deserved that status. Some out there are political and may have thought that she did, but not under the law does she deserve that status. So that shouldn't even be a question.

But secondly, Rove did not disclose her name. He did not do it with -- he did not say Joe Wilson's wife with malice. He certainly was not trying to break the law. And I don't think he even intended to. And he said it on background to this reporter. But he also gave everybody authority to, through the grand jury process on through, to use whatever he'd said.

So, you know, I think this is a tempest in the teapot. And you know why I think that? I think that a lot of Democrats and a lot of anti-Bush people, knowing that Karl Rove is one of the most effective people we've ever had in Washington, knowing he's an ebullient, straightforward, decent, honorable guy, they want to get rid of him. And they want to damage the president in the process.

And that's what this is all about. It isn't about covert action or the wife of Joe Wilson.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0507/17/le.01.html

Looks like the CIA disagreed with you Orrin, that's why there's an investigation now.

[wli]

1. honorable? try again

Whisper campaigns about Ann Richards being a Lesbian and John McCain fathering a black child are far, far from honorable.

[Blue_In_AK]

4. Bugging his own office and blaming it on democrats

also is far from honorable. As the guest on Al Franken put it "self-buggery." That visual made me laugh.

[blondeatlast]

2. Doesn't matter--she had it. They're playing defense, we can't let

up our offense.

[Missy M]

3. I'm sorry Mr. Hatch but Rove is one of the sleaziest men to...

ever inhabit Washington, right next to Lee Atwater. He doesn't have an honorable bone in his body.

[ToeBot]

5. Only someone as twisted and duplicitous as Orrin Hatch would...

describe Karl Rove as "an ebullient, straightforward, decent, honorable guy".

[CatWoman]

6. Orrin needs to shut his HATCH

Who the fuck asked him?

Obviously, someone with greater authority than him deemed her a covert agent.

[rodeodance]

8. Hatch is playing semantics (saying not actually use Plame name).

......But secondly, Rove did not disclose her name. He did not do it with -- he did not say Joe Wilson's wife with malice. He certainly was not trying to break the law. And I don't think he even intended to. And he said it on background to this reporter. But he also gave everybody authority to, through the grand jury process on through, to use whatever he'd said.......

[Disturbed]

11. "an ebullient, straightforward, decent, honorable guy".

Rove is pond scum and so is Hatch. The RWingers are the enemy of any Amerikan who is not wealthy. Anyone in the Middle Class, Working Poor &/or Poor that supports the RW is not in touch with reality.

[LibDemAlways]

7. Repukes march in lockstep with these bs

talking points that they make up as they go along. If this had happened during a Dem administration, Hatch would be singing a decidedly different tune. Repuke hypocrisy knows no limits.

[Just Me]

9. EW!!! I am actually wishing I were the prosecutor.

I'd pull his ass in so freakin' fast! :grr: He's holding himself out as a person with knowledge, a witness. I'd grab him!!!!

[stevedeshazer]

10. Roy Blunt, R-Idiot (majority whip) said the same on Face The Nation

The spin is getting hysterical.

:popcorn:

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

12. Just imagine the lip-smackin' pleasure when we run these clips

in future election ads as we get to call all these morans "SOFT ON TREASON!!!" because when the idictments come down, that will be the truth of the matter. They are going way out on a very precarious limb. And, of course, as they reverse these untenable positions, they will become (gasp!) flip-floppers!!!! DA-DUM (minor chord)

[bucknaked]

13. I think the CIA's angle isn't her current status, but Ops she was involved

...in, and maintaining the front they established for further operations and operatives who were currently assigned to that detail.

Perhaps she disappeard and somebody else took her place. The marks involved with the CIA front company probably thought she'd been promoted or retired. No worries.

Then all of the sudden, her familiar name gets splashed all over CNN, by Novak, followed by exposure through the other networks.

This not only ruins her cover but shuts down any CIA OP ever associated with Plame. Doesn't matter if it was days ago or years ago. The mention of her name and the possiblity of putting her name to her face tainted anything, and everything she did for the CIA.

This exposure put lives at risk!

[emulatorloo]

14. Let's ask McCain's "illegitimate black baby" for a character reference

for Mr. Rove.

[La Coliniere]

15. Lock step defense, repugs are masters

Hopefully, Orrin will wind up regretting his character appraisal of the master of gutter politics. Orrin, climb back down that hole from whence you came, and don't forget to close the hatch behind you.

[Lucille]

16. I wonder how Fitzgerald kept his grand jury working for two years

It would seem his first act would be to have Plame's superior state before the jury whether or not she was a covert agent. If she was not, no crime was committed. If no crime was committed, he would have dismissed the grand jury.

Instead, we know that the CIA asked the doj under John Ashcroft to open a criminal investigation. The doj investigated for 2 months and then refered the case to a special prosecutor. Do these numnutz think ashcroft would have done this is there was no evidence of a criminal act?

These people are not even making serious arguments, in fact their contempt for the intelligence of their audience rings through loud and clear. They're just trying to keep the rubes down on the farm for a little bit longer. They also hope to create enough of a haze that, when the going gets tough, these same rubes tune the details out. After all, how many of them to this day think that Iran-Contra was no big deal but the stained blue dress was the greatest crisis this country faced since Vietnam?

[Raksha]

19. Eventually it will bite them in the ass.

Re >>These people are not even making serious arguments, in fact their contempt for the intelligence of their audience rings through loud and clear. They're just trying to keep the rubes down on the farm for a little bit longer. They also hope to create enough of a haze that, when the going gets tough, these same rubes tune the details out.<<

I agree that they are just trying to buy time with this pathetic obfuscation, because that's ALL they can do at this point. But it won't take long for even the most preoccupied rube who watches 15 minutes of corporate news a day to figure out that anyone who shuts down a network that tracks WMD proliferation for political reasons is endangering them and their loved ones. That's when they realize that neocons don't give a damn about America's security, and when that happens it's all over. The rubes might not even know what "neocon" means, but that doesn't matter. It will still be all over.

[Justice]

17. Biden's brilliant point about Rove, and Hatch's other bombshell

Like it that in pseudo compliment to Rove, Biden slams him -

Biden: But with regard to Karl Rove, I mean, one thing no one has ever argued, starting with John McCain and what happened in South Carolina, is that Karl Rove doesn't play the hardest hardball attack politics of anyone that I have known in my 34 years of elective office.

He's entitled to do that, but let's not turn this guy into the honorable, straight-shooting, you know, guy. This is the guy's job. The guy's job is to torpedo the opposition. He did it with John in South Carolina, and he tried to do it with Joe Wilson here.


What about Hatch saying at the end that Rove didn't do anything wrong even if he disclosed a covert action person -- b/c he did it on background only.

Hatch: But, you know, they can't make a case, in my opinion, that this was a covert action person who was disclosed. And even if they could, it was on background that he gave this information, to try and get the reporter to not misreport. And last but not least, there certainly was no intent to disclose an agent at the CIA. And I think it's an over-reach for the Democrats to try and make that case.

BIDEN: Middle-class people can smell a phony when they see it. This is phony.

HATCH: Well, he's not one of them, I'll tell you that.

[leftchick]

21. I watched and I think Biden was WEAK!

No where near the spitting yelling usually pissed off Biden of yore! AND... he Never refuted the number 1 RNC talking point of Hatch's . And it is easy as cake as maddezmom pointed out. WTF? Why is there an investigation if Valerie Wilson was a pencil pusher??/

Shame On Joe... :mad:

[indepat]

18. Anything the neocons do is excusable and excused: they are all without

fault and have absolutely no accountability.

[Straight Shooter]

20. From the mouth of a man who didn't know his office used software illegally

That's rich, Orrin. You didn't even know what's going on in your own office, but you deign to tell us what Plame's status was?

(Referring to incident some time ago where a software developer accused Hatch of using software without consent, and the charge was proved to be true.)

[Stirk]

22. Well meet reality, Mr. Hatch. She *had* that status.

We in the reality-based community look forward to seeing you.