With all of the furor over the water boarding torture tactics, we have seen the emergence of the world's greatest liar Ari Fleischer. For those of you that don't know, Ari is the man who convinced America for George Bush that we should go to war in Iraq. From 2001-2003, Bush used Ari, the greatest White House Spokesman of all times, to convince the American public that the attack on Iraq was a necessity. Most people don't realize that Bush conducted very few press conferences during his first four years, he just gave speeches that did not allow follow up questions, and when he did, the questions were preselected so he could have Ari tell him what to say. This was vital to Bush's war and his chances for re-election. Just look at what happened to the administration when Ari left. Bush started holding his own press conferences and the rest of America started seeing how big an idiot they had elected. You can see Bush's popularity numbers begin to drop with the resignation of Fleischer.
Well now Bush and Cheney are in deep trouble over the water boarding torture tactics and we have seen "Cheney the Invisible" more in the last week than we did in eight years. Since George can't talk for himself, we have also seen the emergence of Arrogant Ari. Every time I know this guy is going to be on TV I have to watch him. He is the master of misdirection, never answering an incriminating question and diverting attention away from the issue at hand. As long as Ari was doing the talking, the Bush camp was solid and reporters were scared to ask Ari any questions that disagreed with the war policies. Any reporter that asked such a question would be ignored or banned from future press conferences. Ari controlled the media.
Think back to what happened to the man who followed him as press secretary, Scott McClellan. His conscience wouldn't allow him to continually lie, and he wasn't good at it, so he resigned and later wrote a book about the experience. This was the first time Ari had to appear to do damage control for Bush and try to discredit McClellan. It worked and now he has appeared again to deflect the attention away from the real criminals, Bush and Cheney, and onto the congress members that knew and went along with it, in particular, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. No matter who else knew about these tactics, their role cannot be bigger than the people who perpetrated this act. As one reporter put it, if you see someone committing a crime and do nothing, you are guilty of a crime as well, but you shouldn't receive a harsher penalty than the ones who committed or ordered the act.
Don't get me wrong, I have no love for any democrat who voted for this war. At the time the republican party had the same control as the democrats do now, majority in the congress and the senate, so it was easy for the democrats to be outvoted on every issue involving the war. In fact, the republicans called anyone who opposed the war unpatriotic. Well one of the brave few who opposed this senseless unnecessary war from the beginning is now the president. While all the other democrats tucked their tails between their legs to protect their balls, Barrack Obama was one of the few that stood up for what they truly believed and voted against the war. It doesn't matter what party you represent, any politician that backed this war should not be in office. More on that later, back to the subject at hand.
Just before Ari left the Bush administration, he was starting to enjoy a surge in popularity for the way he handled the press, and had been voted by one media outlet as the sexiest man in America. But shortly after that he was implicated in the Valery Plame incident and resigned from office in July of 2003. He even worked out an immunity deal in 2007 that allowed him to lie without repercussions. Just read the Wikipedia account below of Ari's role in this incident and you will will understand his power to manipulate any situation.
In January 2007, during the first week of Scooter Libby's trial, it was revealed in court proceedings that former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer was granted immunity from prosecution by Patrick Fitzgerald in February of 2004. Fleischer reportedly acknowledged discussing Valerie Plame with reporters, but promised to cooperate with Fitzgerald's investigation only if granted immunity. Once the deal was struck, Fleischer told Fitzgerald that he had discussed Plame with David Gregory of NBC News and John Dickerson of Time in July 2003, days before leaving his job at the White House. Fleischer testified that he first learned about Plame and her CIA affiliation during a July 7, 2003, lunch with Libby. Fleischer also testified that four days later, while aboard Air Force One and during a five-day trip to several African nations, he overheard Dan Bartlett reference Plame. According to Fleischer, Bartlett stated to no one in particular "His wife sent him...She works at the CIA." Shortly after overhearing Bartlett, Fleischer proceeded to discuss Plame with Gregory and Dickerson. According to Fleischer, neither Gregory nor Dickerson showed much interest in the information. Dickerson has denied Fleischer's account. Gregory has declined to comment on the matter. With regards to the immunity deal, Fitzgerald told the court "I didn't want to give [Fleischer] immunity. I did so reluctantly." Libby's attorney, William Jeffress, sought to learn more about the deal, telling the court "I'm not sure we're getting the full story here." According to Matt Apuzzo of the Associated Press, "Prosecutors normally insist on an informal account of what a witness will say before agreeing to such a deal. It's known in legal circles as a proffer, and Fitzgerald said [in court] he never got one from Fleischer."
Well now Bush and Cheney are in deep trouble over the water boarding torture tactics and we have seen "Cheney the Invisible" more in the last week than we did in eight years. Since George can't talk for himself, we have also seen the emergence of Arrogant Ari. Every time I know this guy is going to be on TV I have to watch him. He is the master of misdirection, never answering an incriminating question and diverting attention away from the issue at hand. As long as Ari was doing the talking, the Bush camp was solid and reporters were scared to ask Ari any questions that disagreed with the war policies. Any reporter that asked such a question would be ignored or banned from future press conferences. Ari controlled the media.
Think back to what happened to the man who followed him as press secretary, Scott McClellan. His conscience wouldn't allow him to continually lie, and he wasn't good at it, so he resigned and later wrote a book about the experience. This was the first time Ari had to appear to do damage control for Bush and try to discredit McClellan. It worked and now he has appeared again to deflect the attention away from the real criminals, Bush and Cheney, and onto the congress members that knew and went along with it, in particular, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. No matter who else knew about these tactics, their role cannot be bigger than the people who perpetrated this act. As one reporter put it, if you see someone committing a crime and do nothing, you are guilty of a crime as well, but you shouldn't receive a harsher penalty than the ones who committed or ordered the act.
Don't get me wrong, I have no love for any democrat who voted for this war. At the time the republican party had the same control as the democrats do now, majority in the congress and the senate, so it was easy for the democrats to be outvoted on every issue involving the war. In fact, the republicans called anyone who opposed the war unpatriotic. Well one of the brave few who opposed this senseless unnecessary war from the beginning is now the president. While all the other democrats tucked their tails between their legs to protect their balls, Barrack Obama was one of the few that stood up for what they truly believed and voted against the war. It doesn't matter what party you represent, any politician that backed this war should not be in office. More on that later, back to the subject at hand.
Just before Ari left the Bush administration, he was starting to enjoy a surge in popularity for the way he handled the press, and had been voted by one media outlet as the sexiest man in America. But shortly after that he was implicated in the Valery Plame incident and resigned from office in July of 2003. He even worked out an immunity deal in 2007 that allowed him to lie without repercussions. Just read the Wikipedia account below of Ari's role in this incident and you will will understand his power to manipulate any situation.
In January 2007, during the first week of Scooter Libby's trial, it was revealed in court proceedings that former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer was granted immunity from prosecution by Patrick Fitzgerald in February of 2004. Fleischer reportedly acknowledged discussing Valerie Plame with reporters, but promised to cooperate with Fitzgerald's investigation only if granted immunity. Once the deal was struck, Fleischer told Fitzgerald that he had discussed Plame with David Gregory of NBC News and John Dickerson of Time in July 2003, days before leaving his job at the White House. Fleischer testified that he first learned about Plame and her CIA affiliation during a July 7, 2003, lunch with Libby. Fleischer also testified that four days later, while aboard Air Force One and during a five-day trip to several African nations, he overheard Dan Bartlett reference Plame. According to Fleischer, Bartlett stated to no one in particular "His wife sent him...She works at the CIA." Shortly after overhearing Bartlett, Fleischer proceeded to discuss Plame with Gregory and Dickerson. According to Fleischer, neither Gregory nor Dickerson showed much interest in the information. Dickerson has denied Fleischer's account. Gregory has declined to comment on the matter. With regards to the immunity deal, Fitzgerald told the court "I didn't want to give [Fleischer] immunity. I did so reluctantly." Libby's attorney, William Jeffress, sought to learn more about the deal, telling the court "I'm not sure we're getting the full story here." According to Matt Apuzzo of the Associated Press, "Prosecutors normally insist on an informal account of what a witness will say before agreeing to such a deal. It's known in legal circles as a proffer, and Fitzgerald said [in court] he never got one from Fleischer."
