GREAT VIDEO - Callers to CSPAN DEMOLISH GOP talking points on Plamegate!

[Nothing Without Hope]

In a C-SPAN interview, a former Asst. Attorney General to the Bush Administration (2001-2003), Mr. Viet Dinh, begins spouting the current GOP talking points on Plamegate: "criminalization of politics" and so on, including what may be his own special twist, the idea that Patrick Fitzgerald is so overburdened by his responsibility as prosecutor that he feels he MUST "find" something even if nothing really exists. (!!??!!!) Steam started coming out of my ears.

Ah, but then the call-ins began and I started LOVING IT. The VIDEO RECORDING, from Can-o-Fun today, is a bit over 7 minutes long, and it contains a montage of multiple calls from a wide variety of people. They are powerful, they are knowledgeable, they are full of outrage, and they are utterly convincing. The GOP mouthpiece, who sat squirming in his chair while these statements rolled in, could only manage some half-coherent mumblings at the end, he could not rebut the truths of the callers.

This is an absolute must-see, especially on Fitzmas Eve. It will lift your spirits.



Windows Media (streaming, a bit over 7 minutes): http://www.canofun.com/blog/videos/vietdinhoct2705.wmv

America is finally waking up!!!

[ThoughtCriminal]

1. I love it that GOP keeps pushing "Criminalization"

and "Politics" next to each other when talking about themselves. Another great idea from what must be the same focus group that brought us "New Coke".

[aquart]

4. Answer? Yes! We need to get the criminals out of politics!

Thanks, Dr. Dean.

[Nothing Without Hope]

9. Yes, it's hilarious! And no wonder why they think of "criminals" and

"politics" in the same sentence - it's their life's work!

[drm604]

25. The response should be...

The response to the claim that the Democrats are trying to criminalize politics should be something like: "No, we're trying to de-criminalize politics by removing the criminals."

[pilgrimsoul]

52. Not only that, but I would add....

The Bush administration itself criminalized politics when they committed crimes. We're just calling them on it.

[Maraya1969]

63. The Bush Administration is not above the law! That needs repeating

They used it against Clinton for a sexual indiscretion. Now we're talking treason. No one is above the law.

[Uncle Joe]

71. I agree,

the problem is not the "criminalization of politics" rather it is the "politicization of crime" which brought Bush to power to begin with and has sustained him ever since.

[KurtNYC]

26. The GOP has to avoid using the phrase "politics of personal destruction"

because that is their MO. So they have come up with this which ironically acknowledges that they are guilty of another one of their imaginary crimes: "playing politics" In effect they are saying 'we are playing politics and the dems are trying to criminalize that'.

The outing of Valerie Plame potentially:
- put her life in jeopardy
- put her contacts lives in danger
- destroy her career and destroyed an asset of U.S. intelligence gathering
- demoralizes others who work in similar circumstances
- makes current and future sources less willing to cooperate

That ain't politics - that's treason!

And btw, calling this a "leak" is like calling what OJ did a "marital dispute."

[JDPriestly]

2. THanks.

[Lasher]

3. You're right, it lifted my spirits

I wish I would see a lot more of that - people like him being directly confronted for mindlessly repeating the talking points of the day.

[Wilms]

5. Must Watch TV!

The host looks like she's holding back smiling as these callers shred him.

[ginnyinWI]

31. I have long thought that she is a Dem. n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

6. At the end, he's reduced to trying to claim that he didn't get the talking

points by reading the papers. If he weren't a GOP tool, I'd almost feel sorry for him. But as it is....NAHHHH!!! :evilgrin:

[sepia_steel]

7. Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh the the the uh uh uh I'M A LIAR.

kicked and nominated.

[flygal]

53. Uhh uuhhuu huuhh I don't watch faux news

He was cold-cocked hard :rofl:

[Fridays Child]

8. He had to be completely humiliated by his own performance.

Gosh, I came up with "criminalization of politics" all by myself. It's just an amazing coincidence that it's also a GOP talking point.

[Pryderi]

19. Well, at least he's a bad liar, which is a sign of a conscience. :P

[Kurovski]

10. K & R. I loves me my Cspan.

Outrage is a proper response to the transparent whining of the maladministration and its band of marauding cry-baby bullshitters sent out like a plague on our land.

[Peace Patriot]

11. "...like a plague on our land." Nicely said!

[Tennessee Gal]

12. Yes, indeed!

They are a "plague on our land" and we have to fight like hell every day to rid this nation of them!

[whyzayker]

13. Viet Dinh

Author of the Patriot Act.

'nuff said.

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,62388,00.html

[Nothing Without Hope]

14. Wow, I didn't know that. Author of the Patriot Act!!! No wonder he's no

friend of honest quest for truth!

[lapfog_1]

42. Given his background, I'm sure he has an ingrained hated

of Communists... and, likely, anyone that the powers that be tell him
are "pinkos".

Of course, Fascists do indeed hate communists.

[Stil]

15. Talking out the side of his mouth

It is really perverse when an former Asst. Attorney General says its Okay to lie to a grand jury and perjure oneself. I guess for anybody in a court room is okay to lie. (RW'er talking to son, "See its okay to lie, as long as you are a Republican Politician." ) "Moral" majority my ass.

[insane_cratic_gal]

16. Now that's a thing of beauty

he sure does stutter over the talking points at the very end lol

[underpants]

21. Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio -it came from all over

very good. These people know there stuff though one guy did say it was the "Independent Counsel" when it really is a "Special Prosecutor" but that pales in comparison to the orchestrated lies coming from the other side.

[converted_democrat]

17. You are correct, that's some great stuff!!! K&R n/t

[0007]

18. Thank you very kindly for sharing this with us all.

It was put together very well.

[understandinglife]

20. Excellent!! Recommend # 5.

Peace.

[Senator]

22. But who started this dreaded "criminalization"? >>

Federalist Soceity Lawyers Behind Bush's Attacks On Civil Liberties

Viet Dinh, an assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy, is without question the leading figure in laying the legal fretwork for the war. Dinh graduated from Harvard Law, clerked for U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge Laurence H. Silberman and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and now teaches at Georgetown University. He was associate special counsel to the U.S. Senate Whitewater Committee, which fought unsuccessfully to bring down the Clintons.

-----

"Polly Want a Criminalization? Squawk!"

[SaintLouisBlues]

23. Why can't the "liberal" talking heads in the media make these points

half as well as these callers?

[glitch]

33. They can, but only once. Then they don't get asked back. nt

[MadisonProgressive]

24. duh duh duh duh duh duh - cat got yer tongue?

[redacted]

27. thank you hope and liveoaktx. excellent; recommended.

[Nothing Without Hope]

34. If liveoaktx is responsible for Can-o-fun, he/she is doing us all a major,

major service. That site gets great clips, and puts them up so quickly, that we can all discuss and share them while the memory is still fresh. For people like me, who don't have cable, some of the clips are available in no other way. But even for the ones for which I CAN see the original broadcasts, being able to re-watch and share makes all the difference.

For those who have not yet discovered it, this amazing political video site is Can-o-fun, which is here:
http://www.canofun.com/blog/default.asp

Where, I note, the statement of Rove's attorney from about an hour ago is already up:
CNN- Rove's Attorney Statement at 9:00 CST Oct 28 05



Windows Media: http://www.canofun.com/blog/videos/cnnearlyoct2805.wmv

Another great and generous sharer of video and audio files is DU's dzika, who posts them here or at Crooks & Liars, or at BradBlog under his own name, David Edwards. There are a few other people who supply videos, but the fact is, there ARE only a few. It's a hell of a lot of work, it takes expensive equipment and web space, and we'd be much less well-informed without them.

We owe these people our gratitude. :patriot:

[danalytical]

28. WOw that was awesome

It's nice to see American finding their brains.

[Catherine Vincent]

29. Thank you for this.

And you're right, it is a picker upper. I am an avid listener of WJ but didn't really listen much this week because of all that's going on. I love those liberal callers and I do hear that first caller often (I believe he is from Harlem, he knows his stuff!). It was also nice listening to liberal callers only and no whacked out conservatives whining. LOL!

:thumbsup:

[Rose Siding]

30. Dinh's a bad actor. He wrote the Patriot Act

Viet Dinh has been called a "political pit bull" and "a foot soldier" for Attorney General John Ashcroft. But the 36-year-old author of the Patriot Act prefers to be called an "attendant of freedom."
.....
WN: In October 2002 you told The Washington Post that civil liberties were not being compromised. Do you still feel that way even after the Jose Padilla case?

Dinh: I do feel that way. I think right now at this time and this place the greatest threat to American liberty comes from al-Qaida and their sympathizers rather than from the men and women of law enforcement and national security who seek to defend America and her people against that threat. That doesn't mean that each and every single one of us agrees with everything that is done in the name of the fight against terror. While I would do things somewhat differently in minor aspects in the war on terror, I do recognize that our Defense Department officials have an awesome responsibility to play in not only prosecuting the war in Afghanistan and Iraq but also continuing to protect the American homeland.

WN: Is there anything that you would change about the Patriot Act in light of how it's been implemented?

Dinh: I think the overall answer is generally no. I do, however, recognize that the act has been mischaracterized and misunderstood and has engendered a lot of well-meaning and genuine fear, even if that fear is unfounded. The issue is not one of substance but one of perception. But perception is also very important because we do not want the people, however many of them, to fear the government when that fear is unfounded.

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,62388-2,00.html?tw=wn_story_page_next1

[SoCalDem]

36. Shame on him.. I always hate it when people who SHOULD

appreciate what freedom realy is, go the other way. At 36, he was damned lucky to be raised in the US, instead of Viet Nam. His parents brought him to America so he could have opportunities, and we all know damned well, that as a vietnamese kid during the glory days of affirmative action, he benefitted greatly from programs intended to help immigrants. Apparently he saw that he had more "value" as an oddity...a republican who could be trotted out to show how "diverse" the party was. He's right there to accept offers of equality & fairness, and yet eager to trash the people who spend lifetimes trying to preserve those options for the ones who will come along later..His kind are the "I got mine, so screw YOU" types......

[wtmusic]

32. Porky Pig! LMAO!!!

So there's some freedom of speech left in this country. How refreshing.

[lumberjack_jeff]

37. Uhb' the.. uh.. b'the..uhh... b'the..uhh... That's all, folks! n/t

[lutefisk]

35. Thoughtful patriotic outrage vs. fascist rote talking points

Nice to see, while it's still allowed.

[wryter2000]

38. OMFG

The last caller reduced an assistant attorney general to babbling. Amazing.

I adored the first guy, too. Henry Cisneros! Man, that man was on top of things!

Were all the callers like that? Every last one was brilliant.

[Carolab]

66. Henry Cisneros? He's famous...was he on too?

I just read his name somewhere the other day.

On edit: Henry Cisneros served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1993 to 1997, under President Clinton.

[wryter2000]

69. Sorry not to be clearer

I was commenting on how knowledgable the caller was about Cisneros and the investigation of him. He remembered more than I did.

[slutticus]

39. This is fantastic. Highly recommended

:thumbsup:

[Blue_In_AK]

40. Was he stammering there a little bit at the end? LMAO.

[Metta]

41. Everybody but * will be taking heat for this.

Look for * to support Fitzgerald and give lots of lip service.

[Lochloosa]

43. Kick...MUST WATCH...they are waking up....

[Nothing Without Hope]

44. kick - this needs to be SEEN - many thanks to Can-o-fun! n/t

[WritingIsMyReligion]

45. K&R.

"I can understand what your marching orders are, sir."

Yee-HAAAW!

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

46. Uhh uhh ahhh hmm-aahhh. Did I stutter muthafucka?!

Did you see him at the end there. Fucking pathetic.

[buddysmellgood]

60. Wow. He stammers like dubya blinks.

[FreedomAngel82]

47. Very great!

I loved the first caller! The second caller is dead on! There's that freakin phase again! Wow all these callers are truly great! Thank you for sharing this. And yes one caller said "can we trust you to investigate yourself?" Yeah really! That caller is the best! LOL I love how the guy at the end is stuttering around to save his ass about the talking points. :eyes: Boy he was truly stuttering around. Wow.

[SupplyConcerns]

48. Look at the coward stutter!

I have never seen a talking head so DIRECTLY confronted with his own evil that he could barely talk by the end. He looked ashamed. Good. Lucky for him, his enemies (I consider myself one of them) will give him due process of law (and not the anti-Geneva convention/Patriot Act imperial abuse) if he's ever brought to trial for his crimes.

[Nothing Without Hope]

50. Since apparently he WROTE the Patriot Act, due process is more than he

has claimed is necessary - but ALL must have it under the Constitution no matter what he wrote in that rush-passed legislative horror.

[Nothing Without Hope]

49. kick n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

51. kick - this is still well worth seeing n/t

[Cha]

54. AWESOME!

That last guy who was saying he "saw on Bill Maher last night the republican talking points from fauxnews .. "criminalization of politics" ..and for, you sir, to come on here and repeat those talking points is an Insult to the American People!"

SCORE!

[gulfcoastliberal]

55. K&R, NT

[Nothing Without Hope]

56. kick - I want as many as possible to see this n/t

[Clintmax]

57. I freakin' LOVE it!

They just slaughtered him! :rofl:

[blue neen]

58. I watched a lot of good coverage today, including Keith Olbermann, but

this by far is the best I saw all day. It shows that everyday Americans are informed...far more informed than the Bush administration ever gave us credit for.

Kicked and recommended.

[Tight_rope]

59. Kick!

[upi402]

61. politicization of criminality, more like

Great link!

[Nothing Without Hope]

62. kick n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

64. kick n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

65. One more kick for the night - this really is a wonderful video and I hope

you all check it out. It's encouraging.

[Nothing Without Hope]

67. SPIN & LIE ALERT: The 10/29 WaPo has a column full of LIES and an op/ed

that is nothing but a recitation of the GOP talking points on the Fitz case. I urge you to read this thread - you will be SHOCKED, it's that bad. This requires activism, in my opinion, because the articles will be quoted as gospel on the floor of Congress and all over the country. They cannot remain unchallenged.

Here's the thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5216379
thread title: WaPo 10/29: a column of LIES and an op/ed of GOP talking points (SHAME!)

(The contrast with the balanced, thorough treatment by the LA Times is remarkable. Here's a thread on the 10/29 LAT articles:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all=104x5216210
Thread title: LA Times: EIGHT News articles plus TWO op/eds on the Fitz case! 10/29)

[Nothing Without Hope]

68. another kick n/t

[graywarrior]

70. Stutter stutter stutter....duh duh duh

Made my day. Thanks.

[helderheid]

72. I just saw that - WOW!!!

[flyarm]

73. who has the email address to jon stewart?? daily show??

jon has got to have this!!!!!!!!!!!

ppppppleeeeeaaaaassssseeeee get this to him someone!!!!

i am spitting on the key boarddddddddddddddd!!!!


the the the the the the the daily showwwww needs this!!!!!!!!!!!

flyyyyyyyyyyyy

[helderheid]

74. That is a great idea!!!!

[Nothing Without Hope]

75. kick n/t

[texpatriot2004]

76. Thank you for this link. nm

[Nothing Without Hope]

77. This one is so important and such a lift, I want to keep it visible n/t