"Mr. President, prior to 7/14/2003, were you aware that Valerie Wilson....

[Gabi Hayes]

...was a CIA agent?"

see Aug. 18 Salon article based on this premise, and WHY the media has refused to entertain this possiblity, which means that he knew about it before the Novak column, and, therefore should be forced to talk about what he knew and when he knew it

Reporters have asked President Bush if he believed the Justice Department could conduct an independent investigation of the Plame leak. They've asked him if he believed any of his staffers would be found guilty of a crime in the affair. They've asked him if he would fire anyone found to be involved. And they have repeatedly asked him about Rove's role.

In response to all of these questions, Bush has deferred giving complete answers until the conclusion of special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's criminal investigation.

But the media refuses to ask two questions that President Bush could not delay answering until he "finds out the facts": Mr. President, prior to July 14, 2003 (the day Robert Novak's column appeared), were you aware that Valerie Wilson was a CIA agent? And did you discuss her role with any other member of your administration?

The media is so far sticking with the idea that President Bush was an innocent bystander. Fitzgerald doesn't seem to share its perspective. Bush was interviewed by the special prosecutor for more than an hour. Floyd Abrams, an attorney who represented Time magazine in the case, said, "It's hard to believe the special prosecutor would be burdening the president with an interview unless they had testimony to the effect that the president had information."

cached
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:2dJjwaUK0QQJ:www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2005/08/17/bush_plame/print.html+salon+the+president+always+knows&hl=en

regular
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2005/08/17/bush_plame/index_np.html

also good history on super loyalty to both Bush juntas...not new, but puts this fiasco into perspective

[Gabi Hayes]

1. this goes to heart of media sycophancy, at best, complicity, at worst

take your pick; does it matter?

has this been discussed here? I don't remember seeing anything about it

also discussed on the show during which I learned this was that maybe Plame was outed because her group was hot on the trail of the Niger document forgeries....read Michael Ledeen, maybe?

[Captain Hilts]

2. His father would have known. And perhaps mentioned it. (nt)

[seemslikeadream]

7. Niger forgeries

yep

[blm]

3. The media ALWAYS acts like Bush is an innocent bystander in his own WH.

He is the one with the three decades of experience as a political strategist working alongside Atwater and Rove, yet the media RARELY even mentions that part of his past, if ever.

Does anyone think Bush just woke up one day and decided not to pull his political dirty tricks anymore?

And, no doubt, his old man knew EXACTLY what Valerie Plame was doing.

[autorank]

4. "When did I know? Hell, I planned the damn thing!" Correct answer.

Great post. Why is CM (corporate media) such an easy target). Dumb & Dumber is about as high as they get on an objective rating scale.

How about, "Mr. President, when did you know that there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction"

How about, "Mr. President, at what point prior to election day did you know that you were going to win, without any doubt?"

How about, "Mr. President, at long last, have you no sense of decency."

[cdeca2005]

5. Amen and Amen...NT

[autorank]

8. Welcome to DU!!! (forot to say that earlier)

[Cha]

6. We need to have an ad

that has Harry Truman with his famous "THE BUCK STOPS HERE." and bush with a "WHO ME?.. I KNOW NOTHING." ..CONTRASTED!

[grasswire]

9. a King Street kick!

Keep it coming.