I saw two interesting articles today about how the Bush administration reacts to those who undermine its agenda. Both are disconcerting, but when taken together, the stories seem even worse.
We begin with Ambassador Joseph Wilson, whose now-famous op-ed in the New York Times helped kick Niger-gate into high gear.
The White House began attacking Wilson’s credibility almost immediately, concluding — incorrectly — that his report simply revealed that Niger had denied selling Iraq uranium ore, despite the fact that the report explained why the transaction did not and could not have happened.
Since then, the White House has stepped up its attacks on Wilson. As Time magazine reports this week, “administration officials have taken public and private whacks at Wilson,” even outing Wilson’s wife as a CIA agent who monitors the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Wilson, understandably, is fighting back and is displeased about the White House dragging his wife into this.
“I will not answer questions about my wife,” Wilson told The Nation. “This is not about me and less so about my wife. It has always been about the facts underpinning the President’s statement in the state of the union speech.”
And then there’s the White House’s tactics with ABC News’ Jeffrey Kofman, who did a story this week for “World News Tonight” about the plummeting morale of U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq. Kofman, who is in Baghdad and has been traveling with the 3rd Infantry Division, reported on widespread disappointment and frustration among the troops, some of whom said — on the air — that they’d like to see Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld resign.
So how does the White House respond? By attacking Jeffrey Kofman, of course.
Angry White House officials leaked word to Internet gossip-monger Matt Drudge on Wednesday, two days after the ABC report aired, that Kofman is not only gay, but also (gasp!) a Canadian. Drudge told the Washington Post that he was unaware of the ABC story until “someone from the White House communications shop tipped me to it” along with information about Kofman’s sexual orientation and nation of origin.
(The White House couldn’t leak this info to a legitimate news outlet because real journalists wouldn’t publish a story like this. Of course, by leaking it to Drudge, who has no journalistic standards, they could be sure the story would get out without pesky editors and professional ethics getting in the way.)
Drudge, naturally, ran with the story and used a banner headline to announce: “ABC NEWS REPORTER WHO FILED TROOP COMPLAINT STORY IS CANADIAN.”
Just when I thought the Bush White House couldn’t stoop any lower, they surprise me. As one network insider told the Post, “Playing hardball is one thing, but appealing to homophobia and jingoism is simply ugly.”
After all, who has its grip on the White House, the Bush family or the Corleone family?
I mean really, didn’t Nixon leak information about his political enemies when they made him angry? Shouldn’t Republicans find these tactics at least a little distasteful?