Heads up! My local paper will publish my LTE... but I need your help!!!

[brainshrub]

Here is the situation. This morning I emailed the following LTE:

It has been almost two years since Valerie Plame, a covert CIA agent working to prevent terrorist attacks in the United States, was outed by someone in the White House. Today we know that the person who ruined her career, put her assets foreign contacts in danger and compromised national security was none other than Karl Rove, senior adviser and chief political strategist to the Bush Administration. The White House has done nothing except lie to the American people about Rove's involvement in the Plame affair.

Mr. Rove's motivation for committing this crime was strictly one of political vengeance. He wanted to punish Mrs. Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, for proving that President Bush lied to Congress in his January 2003 State of the Union Speech, where he claimed: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

President Bush should keep his word and fire Karl Rove for putting politics ahead of national security. Knowingly revealing the identity of a covert CIA operative is against the law and an act of treason.

I just got the following reply from the editor:

Mr. Brainshrub,
The AC-T needs your phone number to verify authorship of your letter. The second and third paragraph of the letter are fine. However, the wording of the first paragraph will need to be changed if you want the letter printed. MSNBC has a series of articles ("Matt Cooper's Source" http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8525978/site/newsweek/ and "The Rove Factor?" http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8445696/site/newsweek/), indicating the Rove may be the source of the leak, but not that he is the source of the leak. However, if you can provide a link, a source, or documentation to back up the claim that Rove was the specific person that leaked Plame's name, then we can print the letter without any changes.
Sincerely,
AC-T Editorial
XXXX XXXXXX
[phone]

What link, source or documentation should I use to back up the claim that Rove was the specific person that leaked Plame's name?

Thanks-in-advance DU!

[merwin]

1. Don't use 'leaked plame's name', use 'leaked plame's identity'.

Rove didn't ever use the words "Valerie Plame". He said "Wilson's Wife". You can source Matt Cooper's E-Mail for that.

[wryter2000]

2. I'd revise

Today we know that the person who ruined her career, put her assets foreign contacts in

Today we hear from reliable news sources like MSNBC that the person who ruined her career...

[Scout1071]

3. Check MSNBC's website as Cooper just had a press conference

following his testimony today in which he declared Karl was indeed his source.

MSNBC has so far been the only outlet I've seen cover Cooper's mini press conference.

[brainshrub]

7. I don't see a link on the MSNBC site.

Do you happen to have one?

[Scout1071]

14. I cannot find anything on MSNBC, but I did see it live.

He stated Rove was source. Now, we need to find out who the 2nd "senior administration official" who also leaked. I think the man behind the screen is none other than Ch-ch-ch-ch-cheney.

[Scout1071]

15. Holy crap! Here's a link from Faux News!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,162406,00.html

[IndyOp]

4. Or you could say "participated in outing Plame" -

he gave Novak/Cooper enough information that they could follow up with other people to get the name.

[blm]

5. Call the editor NOW and tell them Cooper just had a press conference

and STATED that Rove was the source on LIVE TV.

[skids]

6. What to do after the letter.

Go into back issues of the newspaper, and find a letter that they published that was by a freeper. Look for factual errors. When you find one, call the editor back and ask why your letter was checked for accuracy, while the other letter was not.

Just to give them a guilt trip.

[back2basics909]

9. It's not name...

Send a responce back saying you never said "name". You said outed her. The "name" issue is a legal issue, nothing more and nothing less. While he may not have said her actual name he did confirm to Cooper her identification. He said it today in his press conference.

[Tempest]

8. Don't change anything and demand they print it as it is

It's YOUR editorial, not their's.

They're trying to hijack your letter, and that goes against their integrity. Point that out to them.

[Eloriel]

12. Bad advice -- please don't follow this

They have every right to check for accuracy and require edits. In fact, most of the time they just edit a letter themselves, and they're entirely within their right to do THAT, as well (as long as it's done with intellectual honesty, but even if it isn't, there's no recourse -- it's their paper).

[Tempest]

19. You're wrong on two counts

Letters to the editor are NOT checked for accuracy.

Otherwise most of the letters I see in newspapers all over the country would not be printed.


The only editing done is for spelling and to fit, not for accuracy.

[Norquist Nemesis]

10. Here's my suggestion on the 1st paragraph

They are asking for a change on the wording, specifically to not absolutely state as fact that Rove was the leak. Thus, the "may be the source, but not that he is the source." So...here goes. (changes in bold)

"It has been almost two years since Valerie Plame, a covert CIA agent working to prevent terrorist attacks in the United States, whose cover was blown by someone in the White House. Today we know that Karl Rove, senior adviser and chief political strategist to the Bush Administration, was directly involved in ruining her career, put her assets foreign contacts in danger and compromised national security. The White House has done nothing except lie to the American people about Rove's involvement in the Plame affair."

Great letter and good work, btw! Congratulations on getting it in print!

[brainshrub]

11. Here will be my reply. (Feel free to make suggestions)

Please check MSNBC-tv as Cooper has just had a live press conference following his testimony today in which he declared Karl Rove was indeed his source. MSNBC has so far been the only outlet I've seen cover Cooper's mini press conference. (I am waiting for a link on the MSNBC site, but it isn't up yet.)

In case the video-link is not put up in time, here is a link to the story from FOX:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,162406,00.html

From the above link, ninth paragraph down:

"Cooper confirmed that his source on the leak was Deputy Chief of Staff Rove, one of President Bush's most trusted advisers and the man credited with Bush's four consecutive campaign victories."

By the way, I did not write "Leaked Plame's name", I wrote "was outed". The "name" issue is a matter of semantics that the White House is using to cloud the issue. We may quibble over the meaning of "Mr. Wilson's wife" vs "Valorie Plame", but ultimately the effect was the same: Mr Rove endangered national security in an attempt to cover up the President's lies about the justification for war against Iraq. Thankfully, the controversy of Rove's exact wording is now mute, since Mr. Cooper has just confirmed that he testified before a grand jury that Rove was indeed the source of the leak. You will be able to publish my letter as is.

ON EDIT: Thanks DU!

[nickinSTL]

13. couple of things

You've got Plame's first name misspelled, I think, should be Valerie...

and the controversy is "moot", not "mute"

[brainshrub]

17. Doh!

Can you use a time machine and tell me to correct that an hour ago?

[nickinSTL]

18. heh...sorry

didn't see it earlier

[Laura PourMeADrink]

16. Source link and comment

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,162406,00.html


FAUX News confirms it.


Personally, I don't think we should ask for Rove's resignation. Knowing what he is capable of, he probably won't have any indictment against him and then everyone will look stupid. Why not wait for the conclusion of the investigation ??