Desultorily interested in the Oil-for-Food Scandal, the NYT has a report on the Volcker/Parton contretemps in their paper today. It is written by one of their star reporters, Judith Miller, but does not contain much information beyond what readers of this blog have known for some time. The named sourced of much of my OFF material, Paris lawyer Adrian Gonzalez-Maltes, is also quoted in this article. We now wait to see if either the Coleman or Hyde committees will call his client, Pierre Mouselli, to testify.
Take a look at what the Washington Post has on its front page. This is also most interesting:
ìThe documents outline a trail of oil and money that leads directly from Iraq to the Kremlin and the former chief of staff to Russian President Vladimir Putin and former president Boris Yeltsin. The report said Iraq sought to influence and reward the Russian government because it sits on the powerful U.N. Security Council that oversaw sanctions against the Hussein government. Russia repeatedly sided with Iraq on issues before the Security Council.î
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/15/AR2005051501024.html
Last graf – “nothing improper.” That’s what Judith Miller and the NYT wants to stick as the takeaway. Dull stories like this about minutae show the NYT using their Sominex strategy to reporting inconvenient political stories.
The Daily Kos is today making a big deal about David Chalmers Jr. and his Houston based company, Bay oil:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/5/16/33630/4540
There is no doubt in my mind but that Chalmerís ìHouston connectionî is going to be repeatedly mentioned. And if he donated even a dime to President Bushís presidentail campaign or ever shook Dick Cheneyís hand—we will never hear the end of it. Chalmers may become the poster boy of this scandal.
Yup, Judith Miller is a star reporter. She’s the one who published a dozen stories on WMDs in iraq before the war, all of which turned out to be false. Precisely the sort of reporter that Simon respects.
I believe the Phantom Stranger above is irony-challenged.
Phanton Stranger,
Harry, is that you? Still irony-challenged I see.
If Miller had even a single bogus story that was anti-Iraq war, Simon would have ranted and raved about the Time’s bias.
Now, we have a reporter who goofed up so badly and published a dozen inaccurate stories that support the administration on the beat, and Simon confines himself to a so-called ‘ironic’ comment.
That is what is ironic.
I don’t recall Roger “ranting and raving” about much of anything. One way or the other. The only one ranting and raving around here is Phantom Stranger.
Why, on the previous post, do you need all the “wingnut” and “right-wingers never let little things like reason and logic get in their way” invective when trying to make a point. I’m more than happy to listen to what you have to say, especially if you have things to say that I don’t agree with, but a little wit and elegance please. Only the potty-trained, please. We could have a long discussion about irony now, but maybe for another time.
(The way you go about making your point, certain phrases, and your style, or lack thereof–it must be Harry. Or Harry was merely a type, and Phantom Stranger is but a copy. Harry-esque.
“”Now, we have a reporter who goofed up so badly and published a dozen inaccurate stories that support the administration on the beat, and Simon confines himself to a so-called ‘ironic’ comment.”"
Now we have Phantom Stranger who has joined the “it’s Miller’s fault” media insider rumor mill scapegoating one reporter when numerous have written similar since the mid-90′s fed by world intelligence agencies who all believed Hussein possessed WMDs only to disagree on their extent.
Why not blame George “Slam Dunk” Tenet? The blame Miller lib-stream is silly.
Yama,
If I recall correctly Soros purchased a rather large quantity of defective memebots prior to the elections. He got taken by a Thai factory that (correctly) determined that faulty logic circuits made no difference for the intended usage. Obviously someone has found one with a battery pack with a little charge left and flipped the switch. The battery pack is non-rechargeable so it will run down in due course. Based on previous experience we should be seeing something about WMD’s shortly.
Doesn’t matter what you call it – the chipset generates a new name when the power is turned on.
Shoot, I missed the fact that it had already descended to WMD – sorry about that.
You can actually get some entertainment from trying to guess which tu quoque ad hominem argument will be generated next. The defective logic circuit can’t discriminate in the application of the memes.
Judith Miller???
The Valerie Plame Judith Miller who the NYT is going to the court mat for to protect sources????