Dan Rather, who has been made a laughingstock of serious journalism, now has a chance for a comeback (at least monetarily) through a character defamation lawsuit because of remarks made by Cong. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY). Yes, I know such suits are difficult, except in England, but bear with me. Cong. Hinchey said the following at a community forum in Ithaca, New York re: Rather’s promulgating the forged Bush NG documents:
Probably the most flagrant example of that is the way they set up Dan Rather. Now, I mean, I have my own beliefs about how that happened: it originated with Karl Rove, in my belief, in the White House. They set that up with those false papers.
Hmm… So what you’re saying Cong. Hinchey is that Karl Rove assumed Dan Rather was such a blithering idiot he would be gulled by a forgery so inept it took these gentlemen about five minutes each (probably less) to uncover it.
[Well he was.--ed. Hey, you've got a point there. Scratch the previous post. Hinchley is some kind of covert action genius to have figured this out. Congress, hold the phone on the Negroponte nomination. We have a New Intelligence Czar -- Maurice Hinchey of Ithaca, New York!... Either that or we have one of the bigger dunces ever to walk around live on Capitol Hill. I'm afraid it's the latter.-ed. Spoil sport.]
My personal theory is that Rove has attained a status equivalent to Loki in the left’s internal mythology. He’s the unbeatable trickster, and losing to him is NEVER due to your own failings, but rather his dirty tricks and dishonesty.
Great, yet another psychotic Democrat representative.
From Hinchey’s own website:
“In 1999 Hinchey wrote an amendment to intelligence reauthorization legislation that forced the declassification of documents that revealed the active role the Nixon Administration –especially Henry Kissinger– played in the illegal overthrow of Salvador Allende, the democratically elected president of Chile, in 1973. He was one of the first and most outspoken opponents of the 2003 war in Iraq.”
He appears to be consistent.
Rick Ballard ó He also co-wrote legislation reducing the penalties for selling crack cocaine. Is that anywhere on his website?
Terrye,
See? no hat tip! (sniff)
No – oddly enough.
Just a safe seater singing for the homies. Happens on the other side of the aisle, too (and Karl Rove is also the evil genius behind that). The internet is exposing a race to the bottom (in terms of public respect) between journos and pols and I haven’t a clue as to which will leave the larger crater.
Mostly the website covers his efforts to get all four trotters in the trough along with his snout. I don’t think he’s got enough originality to be nominated for the William J. Le Petomane Award. If nominated, he wouldn’t win more than a Dishonorable Mention.
Roger:
Rove has the left so spooked that they will attribute virtually everything to his evil genius.I understand that kos has cooked some screwy conspiracy that links Rove,the TANG forgeries, and Gannon. Someone should put all the rove conspiracy stories together and title it “The Protocols of Rove”
Okay rick. Ron Paul (R. TX) is a little goofy, but are there any Repub reps out there as goofy as this guy, or Cynthia McKinney, or Maxine Waters, or that woman who beat B-1 Bob Dornan (himself a noted moonbat.)?
Names, man, names.
I agree with the Blogfather on this one:
“If Karl Rove is really this smart, the Democrats are doomed.”
This has been the moonbat subject du jour all this weekend. Did anyone have the misfortune of dropping by Daily Kos yesterday and getting this mindnumbingly dragged out uber-conspiracy of which the Rather/TANG fiasco was just one tentacle? Let’s not forget Guckert/Gannon/Valerie Plame/ whoever those people were in Florida/she was Cuban so she could have posed as “Lucy Ramirez”/ and they were all going to these swinger clubs… it was beyond belief. Not ONE teentsy bit of evidence, of course it was this wildly disjointed conspiracy theory, and the funniest part was reading the comments where the faithful were elated that someone had finally connected all the dots. What was connected were the dolts. IMHO, they’re trying to start a blogswarm, but they don’t understand that such a thing succeeds only if it is based on FACTS.
This is like watching one continuous train wreck. How much longer can it go on?
But it’s just such a comfortable, slow and non-violent train wreck. Think of it as a train of Jell-o falling into warm water.
Probably much longer than a rational person would deem possible. I expect years of entertainment.
The late Democratic senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan is reputed to have said that “everybody is entitled to his own opinion but not to his own facts.”
Where have you gone, Patrick Moynihan?
Your party’s turned its lonely eyes from you…
Scary to think what might have been if Burkett had a grasp of 1970s typewriters and National Guard lingo.
Jorg,
I have to smile every time I see a Frank Herbert reference. That was The Dosadi Experiment, wasn’t it?
Oh, and the answer to your question is: there aren’t any. The reason is, Republicans can get thrown out of power over an innocent compliment at a 97-year-old’s birthday party. Democrats can be former Klan Kleagles or drive drunk off a bridge and kill someone (and then hide until they sober up) — and that’s in the Senate.
“are there any Repub reps out there as goofy”
JorgX,
I don’t think I said there were. I also don’t think Ron Paul is nutty – he’s just way out on the edge as a libertarian. JD Hayworth can get out there, too, as could Bill McCollum, James Rogan and Lindsay Graham when they were House Manager’s for Clinton’s impeachment.
But not this goofy, no.
Me too, they’ve lost it. It’s hard to believe but I think the election of 2004 is giving me greater pleasure than the election of 1980. But I don’t understand why.
I may be starting to think like a [gasp]liberal. In 1980 it was absolutely essential to the survival of the free world that Reagan replace that utter nincompoop Carter. Other Americans obviously agreed overwhelmingly. But 2004 on my part it was total rage and anger at their tactics that made me want to crawl on my hands and knees if necessary through a mile of broken glass to vote for Bush. Not very civic-minded to be thinking about myself. Sounds sorta liberalish to me. SEND ME TO A RE-EDUCATION CAMP.
This could be a problem for us.
It’s getting to where these people are impossible to parody.
Richard,
Maybe we should just create a real monthly William J. Le Petomane Award for Meretricious Government Service. Some of these guys would probably hang it in their offices and send out press releases.
Waita minute! JD Hayworth? He’s (unfortantely now with redistricting) my congressman. I can’t understand at all what would be objectionable about him other that that he’s a rigid conservative blow-hard – don’t get me wrong, I’m conservative too – but he’s just mindless, a doll you pull the string on and he says the appropriate comments. I was in John Shaddegg’s district and I truly admired him and I wish I was in Jeff Flake’s district, if not Shaddegg’s.
AZ has a lot of thinking progressive conservatives. Hayworth ain’t one of them. He’s not very bright, frankly.
ëSomeone should put all the rove conspiracy stories together and title it “The Protocols of Rove”í
Kevin,
Donít give them any ideas. Otherwise, your great-grandchildren may still be debunking conspiracy theories involving Rove and his Merry Neo-Cons. The nuttier something is, the longer is its half-life, it seems.
Rick Ballard:
And you’ll be Hedley LaMarr to pass out the awards?
Suburban Guy,
If you can get Hinchey, McKinney, Waters, Sanchez, Rangel, Deutsch, Hastings, Nadler, Weiner, Lee, Sanchez (jr), Stark, Lofgren and Waxman to accept the awards, I’ll be happy to present them.
Can we possibly split up this workload? I mean, we could probably entice some of these people to one of those, you know, they send a letter out to a wanted felon telling him he’s won a prize if he (or she) shows up at a certain place at a hotel reception room and then they put the cuffs on ‘em, but some (not all) of the people you mentioned may be smarter than that.
We’re gonna have to put some thought into this.
It’s doable, they’re idiots.
Are the Democrats really this stupid? No, impossible. This guy Hinchey himself must be a Rove plant.
No, they really are. You have to go to some of the leftie websites, it’s beyond belief, these people are truly living in some sort of alternative universe. I guess the point is more power to us good guys but it’s also quite scary how closely under the pond scum the evil lurks.
A couple of questions:
1. Does Rove have a fondness for carrots?
2. Does his speech have a trace of Brooklynese?
“The greatest trick Karl Rove ever pulled was convincing the world he was the Devil.”
Don’t forget to invite Carolyn Maloney, widely acknowledged by Hill staffers to be the dumbest member of the House. And to make matters worse, her staffers are just as dumb. One Congressional researcher routinely has to read his reports to them in person so that he can explain words they don’t understand. And we’re not talking big words, either…
Roger, Rick, & Katherine,
Thank you each and all. In the abscence of… well, never mind…, there is nothing I like better than to start my day with a laugh.
Katherine:
Life jsut ain’t fair is it?
I wonder if Doug Wead is a Rove plant as well? Now we have Democrats acting as if secretly taping someone and releasing the contents is a public service.
So much for the right of privacy.
But this Hinchey is a dumbass. All the folks at CBS had to do was check out the documents. But then I guess Rove and the Bush the draft dodger knew they were too incompetent to bothering doing that.
More evidence of the left’s pathological transference- Bush must be evil and the inability to prove he is indeed evil incarnate is merely a temporary setback.
Matt,
The inability to prove he is evil incarnate is all the proof they need.
Terrye,
I think Wead is already considered part of the web of Rovian lies. If it makes Bush look good (which the tapes, for the most part, do), it must surely be a trick.
It seems quite unlikely that Dan Rather and Cong. Maurice Hinchey will become soul mates anytime soon, as this would require Dan to admit that the documents were fake (as Hinchey calls them).
Dan may believe in “fake but accurate” but hasn’t so far admitted that the documents are fake.
Meanwhile, Karl Rove is out having a “fitting” of his new “Batman suit” that is more “red” than “blue” and doesn’t leave fingerprints behind.
Back in 1985, I read a 1000+ page book called “The Unseen Hand.” It was a compilation of right-wing conspiracy theories that encompassed the Free Masons, the Illuminati, the John Birch Society, the Trilateral Commission, the Council on Foreign Relations, Big Business, Communism, Central Banking systems, the Rothchilds of Europe, McCarthyism, etc. It was skillfully woven into a narrative of an alternative World History.
I was fascinated at the age of 20. But having been a student of history myself, I was also saddened that someone could actually believe the case set forth in the book. I believe conspiracies do happen. But the belief in a grand overarching conspiracy that explains away every politic event or decision that did not go according to your personal proclivities is just insane.
For a religious guy like me, there is a better Grand Conspiracy. It is that mankind is lured by “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” It is that there is a Devil who uses the weaknesses of mankind to lure him into evil. But a human-directed Grand Conspiracy? Nah.
The thinking (using the term loosely) of the left’s lunatic-fringe is now THE conventional wisdom amongst the Democrats. And who in the Democratic party has the cojones to counter it?
Or maybe that’s all part of a master conspiracy, err… plan hatched long ago to manufacture a “moderate” savior for 2008. Like for example, Hillary!
The plan was, no doubt, hatched at a secret meeting in Mena, Arkansas. And, Vince Foster knew about it and was going to blow the lid on it, so he had to commit “suicide”. And then there were some Arkansas State Troopers that were flying to Europe on a 747 to reveal the truth in a secure, undisclosed location, so their plane had to be shot down with a missile.
I like the Rove as Loki observation. Democrat conspiratorialists just don’t understand that getting Hincheys and Kos’s to expose the mean loony streak of the Left doesn’t require supernatural prodding.
In the best of DU tradition, I also have a contradictory theory that says (and Jake just beat me to it!) kooky Kos and his ilk serve a useful function for the Dems. The electorate will be so relieved by a Dem here and there who doesn’t (openly) appear so utterly wacky and bereft of civility that the candidate in ’08 need only feint to the center (Hillary), get voted in on a “it’s time for a change” platform, and then stack the administration with advisors, academics, and pols of the soft Socialist and loony Left who will play to the base.
I live in Cynthia McKinney’s district. Re Rathergate, she probably would skip over Rove and blame Sharon directly.
Charlotte:
Have you ever seen Sharon and Rove in the same room at the same time? The possibilities are endless.
You might have something there, Kevin P. They both like bagels, which I think cinches it.
You’d think it’d be safe to drop out of the loop for a while on a holiday weekend in February, but then you drop back in and not only are Sandra Dee and Hunter Thompson dead, but yet another Democrat has earned his moonbat wings (and in one of my favorite old stomping grounds to boot).
Everyone knows that George Bush is just a hand puppet. Sometimes the hand inside is Dick Cheney/Halliburton’s. Sometimes it’s Richard Perle’s (or one of the other Neos). Somtimes it’s his daddy’s. But most of the time, the hand inside the puppet belongs to the puppet master himself, the eeeevil Karl Rove (haha, tachyonshuggy).
Well living in the bay area I hear this nonsense on a daily basis. When challenged there is a momentary shock that you don’t agree, some stammering and then a weak concession that what is being said is BS but justified because the current administration ias lying about Iraq, Social Security, gravity etc. I chalk it up to having argument muscles going weak and flabby from group think than malice. The people I see mouthing this nonsense are generally bright, hold jobs, have ecclectic interests etc. but have not been exposed to any new ideas since the late 70′s.
Charlotte:
Rove is balding, Sharon is balding, Gannon is bald. I bet if you got close enough you could rip Bush’s wig off and uncover the great balding zionist conspiracy!
And they, and they distributed those out to elements of the media. And it was only, what, like was it CBS? Or whatever, whatever which one Rather works for.
So, we’re supposed to lend credence to this man’s wild accusations, which given their gravity you would expect to be based on months of in-depth research, and he isn’t even sure what network Rather works for?
Typical.
Eh, what the heck, here’s my full posting on the topic:
http://shortfinal.blogspot.com/2005/02/another-dem-congressman-off-his-rocker.html
Kevin,
Stop it right this minute! Somebody is reading your posts right now and vigorously nods his head. When we next hear about Vast Right Wig Conspiracy we will know whom to blame!
Well, here’s my claim to fame: this IDIOT is MY Congressman. Yes, I am in the 22nd district!! I actually voted for this moonbat scumbag in 1996 (I didn’t see the light and turn Right until 1998). Now who else here can say that? I didn’t think so.
To my eternal shame, of course.
Please, please, please! can the blogosphere beat this senseless twit to a bloody pulp! (Hinchey, not me.) I am loving every minute of it.
Roger — you, PowerLine, Charles and the rest are making my week start off great!
A poster on KOS’s site had this to say about it.
“He’s absolutely correct that the TANG docs were planted, and no, he doesn’t need proof. The burden of proof is on the Republicans to prove that they didn’t plant evidence or rig the elections both here and in Iraq.”
Speechless.
Its my personal opinion that the far left has access to far better pharmacudicals then anyone on the right could possibly imagine.
Give up, foolish Democrats!
Darth Rove’s Jedi Mind-Control powers are far too powerful for you!
If you can get Hinchey, McKinney, Waters, Sanchez, Rangel, Deutsch, Hastings, Nadler, Weiner, Lee, Sanchez (jr), Stark, Lofgren and Waxman to accept the awards, I’ll be happy to present them.
No, Rick, you can’t. They’ll never believe the package is ticking because it’s a testimonial gold watch anyway.
Katherine:
I would like to stop but I can’t. I keep getting calls from someone named Karl who asks me to play solitare and then I wake up days later in a strange hotel room and the tab has been picked up by CBS News.
Scott Harris: no one mentioned Opus Dei as part of that conspiracy? Look what they did with Catholic vote in 2004. QED.
One of the most entertaining things to me about the implosion on the left is that after years of talking about what a moron Bush is, the left would have to concede that he would have to be a supergenius just to keep track of the mere number of conspiricies attributed to Rove! LOL!
Charlie,
Sure they will, after all, I have credentials from Acme Political Consulting – signed by Arlie K. Evor, the CEO. They’ve been the DNC primary consultant since ’98. Everyone trusts Arlie.
Matt, I don’t think pharmaceuticals alone can explain the moonbattitude. I’ve had some experience with the recent “research chemicals” and was actually having a wee taste of Northern California kind bud the night the memo story broke. I was still able to conclude that as much as Karl Rove was enjoying the situation he would not have been so reckless as to have created it.
Charlie (Colorado) ó Ticking? How old-school. What’s wrong with a nice acid-based timer/detonator? (Although I did some fine Darwinian work with the old Timex watch trick…)
Katherine ó Yes, but they aren’t nodding too hard…
Don’t forget Karl Rove’s commercials that are running late at night on Fox right now…
“Hairclub for Conspirators! I’m not the President *wink*wink* but I’m also a member…”
Why on earth would Rove want to sue this moonbat? The guy is basically claiming that Rove was so smart he could manipulate and out-think CBS, the DNC and the Kerry campaign – all without leaving any evidence!! Hell, based on this Rove ought to double his consulting rates immediately!
If the Dems are so frickin’ stoopid that they want to believe that all their problems spring from Rove’s forehead in the manner of Athena’s bith, let them. If they keep this up, rational folks like Lieberman and Hillary will leave and start their own party (and no, I don’t like Hillary, but I do respect her, the same way I respect a hooded cobra or a Mac-10 with a filed-down trigger sear.
Besides, even if Rove did do it, was it really wrong? It’s more like a practical joke that only became serious because CBS was so wilfully blind.
There is no doubt that Rove is using Dark Side of the Force. See how it works:
Rove: ìThese are the memos you are looking for.î
Rather: ìThese are the memos we are looking forÖ..î
Rove: ìMove alongî
Rather: ìMoving alongÖî
Message to Kevin: whatever you do, RESIST THE SOLITAIRE!!!!!
Out.
Robert Crawford ó Hey, let’s at least be multiculturally sensitive about this. Rove is Anansi the Spider.
*I’ve had some experience with the recent “research chemicals” and was actually having a wee taste of Northern California kind bud the night the memo story broke.*
ha so essentially, its that the democrats can’t handle their own illicit substances ? Maybe the initiation koolaid puts them over the top ?
And what is this “bud” you speak of ? And even if I knew what it was, I, uh, never inhaled.
Of course, that all depends on your definition of “never”…