Cheney-Staffer-Turned-Reporter Now Covering Libby Indictment for NBC

[Douglas Carpenter]

http://www.workingforchange.com/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=42CA4708-D0AB-EDCC-7A5F370C730B573A

Cheney-Staffer-Turned-Reporter Now Covering Libby Indictment for NBC
News by David Sirota

Over at the Huffington Post, Dan Carol asks a great question: how can
NBC's Pete Williams be allowed to cover the Scooter Libby story for
the network, considering Williams was a longtime former staffer for
Dick Cheney?

That's right – according to Williams' biography on NBC's website,
Williams is "a native of Casper, Wyoming" – where Cheney is from. In
1986, Williams "joined the Washington, DC staff of then Congressman
Dick Cheney as press secretary and a legislative assistant. In 1989,
when Cheney was named Assistant Secretary of Defense, Williams was
appointed Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs."

Now Williams is being allowed to report on the indictment of Cheney's
chief of staff for NBC News, as if he was just a regular old
nonpartisan objective journalist. And, as Carol points out, Williams
seems to be using his position on TV in some pretty questionable ways
when it comes to the case.

Sources: Dan Carol's post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-carol/reassign-nbcs-pete-willi_b_9814.html

Pete Williams' NBC biography: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3689493/

[MichiganVote]

1. Free press in the US? Hardly. WIliams is another shill and he

made sure to sound the part on Russert's CNBC program last night. These guys are the epitome of oily snakeoil salesmen.

[goclark]

2. All of them act like they work for Cheney

After looking at the Sunday news shows, it looked like a Party for Scooter and an Indictment for Wilson.


Rove must have really scared them again.

[TahitiNut]

3. Interest (of any kind) is NEVER seen as a 'conflict' in today's media.

The media doesn't even attempt the charade of objectivity. They're only interested in pandering and pimping - it's all about the money.

[peacetalksforall]

8. And that carries over to Washington Journal and C-Span's

non-stop coverage of events and experts of all AEI, Heritage Foundation, and other right wing organization and think tank the right wing puts out there.

[TahitiNut]

9. The media BUSINESS reduces cost and increases net revenue ...

... by using the whole stable of highly-compensated P/R flacks whose appearances on every 'infortainment' program are encouraged. The media get 'free' spewage -- easy to schedule, always available people to fill the time between commercials. For CSPAN, it reduces the cost for production staff - they can use unpaid interns with a small Rolodex of right-wing propaganda outfits that can provide a talking head at any time.

The left wing has absolutely no equivalent operation.

[tsuki]

4. I think it goes deeper than that. How can we expect Russert to

be able to be objective.

[NNN0LHI]

6. He can't be. But he better be careful because I don't think...

...Fitzgerald would hesitate to lock his ass up if he breaks the law.

Don

[tsuki]

21. And I don't think anyone but Judy would deserve it more. n/t

[grasswire]

5. thanks for pointing this out

Williams' bias was evident in Saturday's "Tim Russert" show on NBC. David Gregory, Mrs. Greenspan, Williams, and G.E. Russert. Quite a panel. Russert is a bit muted because of his assigned role in the leak case. But Williams came through for Cheney when it counted, cleverly insinuating that Joe Wilson was a partisan and actually accusing Wilson of lying about the yellowcake.

[dogman]

15. Same lie Snow told on Maher.

No one asks them what lie he told. 9-11 commision did not say Wilson lied.

[FreedomAngel82]

7. They've already begun

getting their next Armstrong Williams.

[Mr_Spock]

10. Another destined to burn in hell.

It's gonna be a happening place before long. Hell, that is :D

[KittyWampus]

11. another mediawhore working for the Neocons... shocking

[Media_Lies_Daily]

12. Wow. What a surprise. Not.

[countingbluecars]

13. Williams was already spouting talking

points at Fitzgerald's conference on Friday. He asked if it would be difficult to proceed at trial with memories of what happened long ago.

[countryjake]

32. And pointedly asked "the word of three reporters over...

our Vice Prez's Chief of Staff's word?" He made sure that the right wing scored that vital talking-point, into the minds of everyone listening to the press conference on Friday. I was surprised that he didn't qualify that by using their favorite old term "liberal media" reporters!

[Douglas Carpenter]

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[glitch]

16. Not just a regular whore. An incestuous whore. And that goes for whomever

hired him as well.

[MelissaB]

17. From the Huffington Post: Reassign NBC's Pete Williams

Reassign NBC's Pete Williams

11:53am today Dan Carol

Ok, so it's weird enough to see Tim Russert acting as prosecutor and witness-in-waiting in the CIA Leak case, but I think it's time to ask former Bush 41 DOD chief press flack Pete Williams to take a bow out from actively covering the story which involves his old boss Dick Cheney and former DOD colleague Scooter Libby. It is past absurd isn't it -- to see him grilling Patrick Fitgerald on Friday wondering...

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/

[NVMojo]

18. the never-ending story of the Bush administration cesspool ...

[NoodleyAppendage]

19. Well, that explains why he was a complete Cheney whore last night on CNBC

Must be nice having a cheerleader in on the inside when one's in trouble...the duplicity and tentacles of the BFEE never cease to amaze me.

B

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. Just like Carl Cameron and FOX

He was allowed to work as a reporter assigned to the Kerry campaign while his wife worked for bush's campaign.

You expect this kind of nonsense from Faux. It is disappointing to see that NBC does it as well.

[Festivito]

22. Anti-gay party with all these Stonewall-HS '69 era guys.

Rove and Libby both unmarried. Pete Williams was out/outed a few years back. Rush with his muliple-marriages after being outed as Jeff Christie. Condi all alone. Drudge. I'm sure there's more. It's like they have a bed-post underground. Gannon.

Are all these guys High School grads just as Stonewall happens? Or, right there at that time.

(Stonewall, as I understand it, was a bar in NY where gay men met, and when raided by police one time too many revolted and won respect. In about '69. Pardon me if I've stated this wrongly, I just hope I'm close.)

Maybe it's not the gays these CONS hate, they hate marriage, for themselves.

[Gildor Inglorion]

25. What? "It's like they have a bed-post underground."

Being unmarried does not mean one hates marriage. I wouldn't dream of defending any of these maggots, but being gay does not INTENSIFY the evil that is present within them. I hope and pray NONE of them are gay, but if they are, they're evil DESPITE being gay, not because of it. I hope, too, that I misunderstood your meaning completely.

[Festivito]

28. I agree, but being hypocritical might intensify evil.

For the record, I said nothing against gays, nor anything that deserves your summary of my post. The subject of the last sentence was CONs for Conservatives. CONs hate. CONs hate gays. Not all CONs hate, but the party they support shows hatred in my view. The CONs I listed were suggested, by me, to hate marriage. In no way, at no time did I indicate that their situation or implied attitude should in any manner be representative of unmarried people either in part or in general.

[Catfight]

26. Rove is married. The other's I'm not sure about but I've always

contested Condi is a lesbian.

[Festivito]

30. It's that turdblossom in WH with a pee-for-pay Gannon..

That makes me question it. Rove has a powerful chip on his shoulder.

[Palladin]

29. Williams' tendencies - and Rove's

Interesting. It is a fact that Richard Cheney and Lynn (nee' Vincent) Cheney graduated from Natrona County High School, Casper, Wyoming, in 1959. Cheney got a leg up to go to Yale from Tom Stroock, a Yale alumnus and oil landman who had moved into Casper in the 50's, with the intention of establishing himself as a Republican kingmaker and the eventual goal of getting elected to Wyoming office himself. Stroock was always seen as an EastCoast carpetbagger, and never succeeded in getting elected to anything in Wyoming, but he did eventually get appointed Ambassador to Guatemala in the 80's. Cheney dropped out of Yale after one year, but while he was there he met many prominent influential EastCoast Republican pols through Stroock's introductions. He came back to Casper, where Stroock helped him to get into Wyoming Republican politics.

Pete Williams graduated from Natrona County High School in 1970. He was a forensics and debating whiz. Influential politicians, whether it was Stroock or not I don't know, helped him to get into Stanford. It might even have been the local Democratic bigwigs. He came back to work as news director for KTWO, the (only) local TV station, from 1974 to 1985. Casper is a bleak, even dangerous, place for homosexuals. By the mid-eighties, Cheney was well established as Wyoming's sole Congressman. It was an easy connection for the two NCHS grads, and Williams was probably glad to get out of Casper to more hospitable Washington, D.C.

Eventually Pete Williams became the voice of Gulf War I, as press secretary to Defense Secretary Cheney in that conflict. With Bush I's defeat in 1992, Williams moved on to become a regular newsman, taking some time off after being outed. Cheney went on to roost at the American Enterprise Institute, and through that connection, Halliburton. He never was an oilman himself, nor did he know anything about oilfield equipment and drilling, which are Halliburton's lines of business.

Since all these facts are well known, it's doubtful that Williams can do much good for Cheney in his present role as a talking head. There are going to be many other reporters who will be taking Cheney apart, and Pete Williams can't do much about that. He can only stir up memories of the past, and the past glories of these two are that, definitely past. Nowhere to go but downhill, right to Hades.....

[Festivito]

40. Oh, Pete can do good for Cheney.

The CONs alter perception by getting their memes out early. Pete could be helpful for inciting the right perceptions as are Rush, Hannity, anyone at Fox, et. al.

Thanks for the info on Pete and Dick. Makes Dick sound worse than I first thought. Pete seemed a decent guy for a while. He impressed me as smart enough. He doesn't seem to fit the CON overlord routine.

I understand Rove left college early. Cheney too!? Interesting.

They're in hades, and the heat's just starting to climb.

[Garbo 2004]

38. Rove's on his second wife (she looks like his twin sister) & has kids.

Libby's married with kids. Just a couple factoids since you said they aren't married. They are.

[Festivito]

39. Somewhere, I gathered bad information.

I just hope those factoids weren't special gifts.

[UrbScotty]

23. Darn 'liberal' media (nt)

[happydreams]

24. This goes into the Censorship file w Gannon, the other Williams, et.al

Excellent topic. recommended.

[Hubert Flottz]

27. The Office of Strategic Influence...strikes again............

The Office of Strategic Influence, or OSI, was a department set up in the United States Department of Defense in late 2001 or early 2002, to support the War on Terrorism through psychological operations in targeted countries. The closure of the office was announced by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld soon after its existence became publicly known.

The OSI would have been a center for the creation of propaganda materials, for the stated purpose of misleading enemy forces or their civilian populations. After information on the office spread through US and foreign media in mid February 2002, intense discussions on purpose and scope of the office were reported. The discussions culminated in a public statement by Rumsfeld in late February that the office has been closed down.

Some argue that due to its nature and stated purpose, the (non-)existence of such an agency would be hard to determine. In fact, in November 2002, Rumsfeld stated in an interview that only the name of the office was abolished, that it further exists and that it fulfills its original purpose. MORE...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Strategic_Influence

Edit: to add link below.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5224341

[Neil Lisst]

31. And Pete Williams has been pushing "nothing else is coming"

He has been a talking point for Cheney and Bush the past 3 days. EVERY time I've seen him, he's selling it hard that this is over, that this is only about the narrow issues defined, and that none of this touches Cheney.

[Little Star]

33. Don't they all work for this administration? N/T

[cassiepriam]

34. Bingo, They are work for BushCo anyway.

[BrklynLiberal]

35. Thanks for posting this. I have forwarded all the above info to all

on my email list...hopefully they will forward it...and so on and so on and so on. In this way we can try to get the truth out there.

[ClassWarrior]

36. Call NBC and demand full disclosure!!

NGU.

[ginnyinWI]

37. Well I saw him on CNBC's Tim Russert hour long program

He was discussing the CIA Leak case with Russert, David Gregory, and Andrea Mitchell. I didn't see anything wrong with what he said. :shrug: It seemed like they were all on the same page, and that page was not sympathetic to the WH.

[Carolab]

41. I caught his bias IMMEDIATELY three days ago.

Right before and right after the indictment he was trying to spin it as no big thing that Cheney and Libby were discussing this and trying to say it would essentially lead nowhere. I said to my boyfriend: "who is THIS shill?" He couldn't be MORE obvious.

He should be taken off this beat.