A month ago, Fouad Ajami, a prominent neocon at Johns Hopkins, wrote a bizarre op-ed for the Wall Street Journal in Scooter Libby’s defense. “In ‘The Soldier’s Creed,'” Ajami wrote, “there is a particularly compelling principle: ‘I will never leave a fallen comrade.’ … [Libby] can’t be left behind as a casualty of a war our country had once proudly claimed as its own.”
Yesterday, David Shuster, guest hosting MSNBC’s Hardball, took Ajami to task for comparing Libby to American troops. Take a few minutes and watch the clip. You’ll be glad you did.
For those who can’t watch video clips online, Shuster hammered Ajami relentlessly, not just for the comparison, but for repeating false claims about the Libby case. As TP noted, “When Ajami tried to claim that Libby wasn’t a leaker of Plame’s identity, Shuster quickly debunked him, noting that it came out at trial that seven different people in the administration revealed Plame’s identity in a concerted campaign to out her. ‘Why did Libby lie to the FBI?’ Schuster asked. A flummoxed Ajami could only falsely claim, ‘I don’t know that he did.'”
Just as importantly, Shuster invited Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), to appear via phone during the segment. Rieckhoff said of Ajami’s comparison, “I think it’s absurd. It’s a new low and an act of desperation here to defend a man by comparing him to fallen soldiers…. Part of the soldier’s creed is to uphold the Army values and live the Army values. Those values include honor, integrity, and personal courage. They don’t include lying and breaking the law. So I think it’s really an absurd analogy.”
But beyond this just being a compelling moment of television journalism, it’s worth taking a moment to note the sense of excitement surrounding the MSNBC segment.
In one sense, this should be routine. A marginal neocon appeared on MSNBC to talk about a column he wrote a month ago. A professional broadcaster, who knew what he was talking about, pointed out the guest’s errors of fact and judgment for the benefit of the television audience. At the risk of sounding ridiculous, this is what TV shows are supposed to do. It should barely cause a ripple.
But exchanges like the one between Shuster and Ajami are so rare, that we see them and can barely contain our excitement. What should be routine has become extraordinary — a TV host effectively articulating a progressive approach with facts and reason.
I particularly enjoyed Digby’s take.
If you get a chance, watch David Shuster turn Fouad Ajami into a blubbering puddle of melting playdough on Hardball today. It is an awe inspiring performance by a reporter who knows the facts and refuses to let these neocon liars bluster and bloviate about irrelevancies. […]
Made me almost feel like the world is setting itself back on its axis — at least for today.
I suspect that conservatives would find all of this rather odd. Far-right TV personalities spout off conservative ideas on the air every day; why would all these lefties get so excited about one on-air smackdown?
It’s because we’re left with a media environment in which segments like Shuster’s are the exception to the rule.