Lots of left-wing heroes in the news today. First, Joseph Wilson:
To his backers, Joseph C. Wilson IV is a brave whistle-blower wronged by the Bush administration. To his critics, he is a partisan who spouts unreliable information.
But nobody disputes this: Possessed of a flamboyant style and a love for the camera lens, Wilson helped propel the unmasking of his wife’s identity as a CIA operative into a sprawling, two-year legal probe that climaxes this week with the possible indictment of key White House officials. He also turned an arcane matter involving the Intelligence Identities Protection Act into a proxy fight over the administration’s credibility and its case for war in Iraq.
Also beyond dispute is the fact that the little-known diplomat took maximum advantage of his 15 minutes of fame. Wilson has been a fixture on the network and cable news circuit for two years — from “Meet the Press” to “Imus in the Morning” to “The Daily Show.” He traveled west and lunched with the likes of Norman Lear and Warren Beatty.
He published a book, “The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife’s CIA Identity.” He persuaded his wife, Valerie Plame, to appear with him in a January 2004 Vanity Fair photo spread, in which the two appeared in his Jaguar convertible.
Now, amid speculation that prosecutors could bring charges against White House officials this week, Republicans preparing a defense of the administration are reviving the debate about Wilson’s credibility and integrity.
In other news, Mother Sheehan is looking for her 16th minute of fame:
In a week in which the media decided that Judy Miller’s dark-days-of-journalism story is really about Dick Cheney and the Bush administration’s decision to go to war, we also hover around the milestone of 2,000 dead in Iraq.
As the New York Daily News said yesterday, the event will surely trigger the predictable play: A media horde will descend on the hometown of the 2,000th. Pundits and experts will get their 15 seconds. They’ll be “the Cindy Sheehan comeback, the Maureen Dowd column and perhaps an impromptu statement from the First Lady.”
Cindy Sheehan. Could there be a more ineffective anti-war voice?
As soon as the casualty number tops 2,000, the grieving mother says she’s going to tie herself to a White House fence and refuse to leave until President Bush agrees to bring home the troops. “I’m kinda addicted to getting arrested,” she says.
What about Michael Moore? George Soros? Sean Penn? Babs? What happened to the old guard?
Consider this an open flame war thread. And make sure you check out the comments in that second link (Arkin on Sheehan)- it makes the comments section here look downright respectable.
*** Update ***
In other news, George Galloway remains a lying sack of shit, and since perjury is now considered a bad thing again (unless you are Kay Bailey Hutchinson), this should raise some eyebrows on the left:
George Galloway today challenged US senators to charge him with perjury over claims that he solicited money from Saddam Hussein’s oil-for-food programme and lied about it under oath.
The US Senate committee investigating the Respect MP’s alleged involvement in the saga claims to have discovered £85,000 (150,000 dollars) in Iraqi oil money in his estranged wife’s bank account.
And its chairman, Republican Senator Norm Coleman, says this means Mr Galloway lied under oath when giving evidence to the Senate Permanent Sub-committee on Investigations on May 17 this year, when he offered a passionate defence against similar claims.
Vile human being.