A DU FIRST: Why the New York Times HID the Wire Tap Story

[autorank]

HINT:

THE STORY WAS ABOUT TO BREAK
JUST BEFORE THE 2004 ELECTION

Well, Bill Keller did it, he's the "head news guy" at the Times. He wouldn't
run the story.

And why would that the case, you might ask?

It's right here in this snip from the NY Observer. They don't say why but
we can figure it out very quickly.

It was RIGHT BEFORE THE 2004 ELECTION.

From the Observer: "In fact, multiple Times sources said thatthe story
had come up more than a year ago—specifically, before the 2004 election.
After The Times decided not to publish it at that time, Mr. Risen went away on
book leave, and his piece was shelved and regarded as dead, according to a
Times source."

“I’m not going to talk about the back story to the story,” Mr. Keller said
by phone on Dec. 20. “Maybe another time and another subject.”


According to multiple Times sources, the decision to move forward with the
story was accelerated by the forthcoming publication of Mr. Risen’s book,
State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration.

So there you have it! They are covering for the official motivation by saying
they are a bunch of craven, hypocrites not wanting to get scooped by an
ex reporter instead of admitting they held back to save Bush's election.

Heard about the MSNBC Poll last night, 30,000 respondents. 88% say that Bush's
spying on US Citizens is grounds for IMPEACHMENT.

This was more than a third rail...it was political sepaku

That's why Bill Keller, NYT Editor


YOU ARE TODAY'S WORST PERSON
IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!!

In fact, keep the title until
the end of the year. And Bill,
wipe that smirk off your face,
you toad.

You can just hear the spirited dialog:

Bush: Better not publish the damn story. Hrumph...snort...
Keller: But we have an obligation to our readers
(serious tone; he and others hold back uproarious laughter turning
away from the speaker phone).
Bush: Damn it, Poppy said you were OK. You run this and I'm screwed.
Keller: But it's a 1st Amendment issue...(bending over in pain restraining laughter)
Bush: Well, lets talk a little Turkey. How about I lay off Judy Miller, leave
her all to you Mr. Keller (this time Bush feigns one of those "aw shucks" gestures)
Keller: Well, I'm sure we could work something out

[Usrename]

1. This spying thing is over the line for many conservatives.

They know now, after all the other things that have come to light, they know that the spying was not an innocent mistake. They are deeply offended by it. In the same way we are horrified by the renditions and the torture and Katrina, they are horrified by this. Akin to rape or something.

Try talking to Bush supporters about it, I have. It freaks them out. A lot. They try to go into the denial thing but they can't because they know that's what he's up to because they know him. They also (without a lot of prompting) make the leap that dubya is secretly spying on Democrats. Why do they think that?

I admit that I am sort of astonished by it. My current impression is that the spying betrays a weakness or cowardice that is Bush's true nature. We saw it all along but to true conservatives it was easier to believe in him and to view him as a tough Texan. All the other atrocities of his regime fit into that image. I think by spying on us he has crossed some invisible line (I never saw it coming) that he can't make excuses for.

I don't expect much from the DP either. There will be many apologists, and those who will say don't rock the boat, can't afford another impeachment, crisis in a time of war, and all the stuff we've grown to expect. Those in Washington that do not openly and vocally oppose this regime I view as our enemies. Regardless of party. I also see all those that oppose this regime as our allies, regardless of party. That is how dire I believe our situation to be.

[Robert Cooper]

2. "see all those that oppose this regime as our allies, regardless of party"

Exactly the right way to see this, in my opinion.

RW limited government and LW anti-authoritarianism should be working together for a -bi-partisan- effort to remove Bush.

It can be done. It was done to Nixon.

[Tesla]

4. I't's amazing the POWER this guy has, I mean this story...

The CIA briefings we NEVER got to see.
The second round of AbuGarib photos just disappeared.
I thought it was WE THE PEOPLE?????

[Usrename]

8. The urgency of the situation cannot be overstated

These people must be brought to justice and their methods and their message must be thoroughly discredited. The longer that this takes, the more impossible the task will become. They are already formidable. Their control is almost complete. They must be stopped. In a year, it may be too late. Another disaster is all that separates us from complete tyranny.

[autorank]

3. Well, I'm the cynical one...looking at Bush is looking in to the Abyss...

...he is the horror on so many levels I'm surprised
that he hasn't found a way to kill us all.

He is, after all, THE MESSENGER OF DEATH.

The Quisling press should refer to him as just that.

MSNBC ran a poll, 30k so far: 88% say this spying is
an IMPEACHABLE press. What a trip. He's pissed off
everybody...but then again, this is a guy who put fire
crackers in frogs mouths for fun. I guess he's not
a Frist Class weirdo. But he has stepped up to mammals.

The conservatives like Paul Craig Roberts are A OK with me:

September 20, 2003
Neo-Jacobins Push For World War IV

By Paul Craig Roberts

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
If neoconservatives have their way, Americans will soon be
repeating this refrain.

The identical lies used to deceive Americans about Iraq are now being
recycled to justify invading Syria and Iran.

Before exploring this fact, first understand that there is nothing conservative
about neoconservatives. Neocons hide behind "conservative" but they are in fact Jacobins. "

Cheers!

[neoblues]

37. Fooled Over and Over Again... is Foolish.

"There's an old saying in Tennessee--I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once, shame on (pause) shame on you. Fool me (pause) you can't get fooled again." -- George Walker Bush (durhhh)

Alas, it's fool us one, twice, three times, and repeat. He's not fooled us twice, or even three times, he's fooled us dozens of times--not everyone obviously, but definitely his blindly supportive 40-50% of the voting electorate. It's not a case of the blind leading the blind either, rather it's the insane leading the intentionally blind. When faced with the thought of a leader of their very own type, it's as though these people go faint, soft in the head, and lose their sight.

Sadly, for these blind people (fools) the miracle of sight is so close but yet so far. All they need do is open their eyes and to their eternal amazement, their sight will be restored! Patient: "Doctor, please help me, I cannot see/I'm blind!", Doctor: "Well, you know when everything seems to go 'dark', try moving your eyelids to the open position.", Patient: "It's a Miracle! A Miracle! I'm Cured! I can See! I can See! Praise God!". In mere moments you'd see the patient on his knees before the doctor praying to him for truly he must be the somehow a Prophet or Angel of God.

It may seem absurd to think that millions of people cannot see for the simple fact they've not bothered to simply open their eyes, but it's probably closer to the truth than you might think. Perhaps they're fools, perhaps they're imbeciles or perhaps they're just blinded by their fear (and/or their dogmatic thinking styles). Whatever it is, and despite the fact that they cannot admit they're sick, we must find a way to help them in spite of themselves.

[NoFederales]

14. It is incredible how many * supporters are horrified by the "spying issue"

but are otherwise unconcerned by the "other issues." If it's a PERSONAL anger that 'they' are feeling, it makes you wonder what secrets &/or dirty laundry is out there amongst so many? It's not a bad thing for folks to feel that they have been invaded, but goddamn it, there are so many worse things for which this administration is guilty. Will all this outrage get mollified without retributions? Will * continue to stumble along?

(At least I hope my neighbors aren't harboring secret yearnings for barbaric power, greed, and murder.)

NoFederales

[info being]

19. Bush shouldn't have admitted to it

This is the first outrage he openly admitted to. You can't blame the liberals for slander when their guy is slandering himself.

[bush_is_wacko]

22. Something tells me his admitting to it was supposed

to make him "better" than Clinton. Lying under oath and all. This way he has publicly admitted to doing it so they can't get him for that one. He does have legal advisor's and I'm sure they told him what to do about this.

I just don't get exactly how they think he is going to get away with it anyway.
I'm sure they have something up their sleeves though.

Sad to say but this administration has made me so cynical I tend to look for only the ways he can squirm out of something. I'm still looking for that angle on this one.

[gkhouston]

32. he didn't have a choice

he could deny it, and have the NYT make him out to be a liar, or admit it and try to sell the whole thing as one of the essential tools any president must have in a time of war. Maybe he believes he can play the 9/11/"war on terror" card one more time and get away with it, but I don't think that's going to work.

I think a lot of folks are coming to the conclusion that his people didn't go to the FISA court for warrants they knew they couldn't get. Given how seldom a wiretap request has been refused by the FISA court, it's a safe bet that they weren't snooping on valid targets. Given Karl Rove's history for dirty campaign tricks, I'd been surprised if those targets didn't include the Kerry campaign. Imagine how that revelation would go over with the American public. Watergate parallels, anyone? It's the sort of thing that would be slimy and illegal if one Presidential candidate did it to another when neither were the incumbent; for a sitting President to abuse the power of his office to do such a thing... go to jail, go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

[autorank]

24. I have the same thoughts.

What is it about invading Iraq under contrived pretences and all the consequences that some people don't get. There were and are many paleo conservatives who ojected to Iraq.

Here's the good news. Every * supporter who is offended and fearful in a personal sense about domestic spying is displaying exquisite rationality. Acting in your self interest means that we all can unite on basicsi--living in a dictatorship is totally unacceptable.

Those who support Bush after the revelation of such a direct potential personal threat are the X% of the populace that we will never reach. That's probably 10-15% of the country. The rest of us will prevail.

[electropop]

67. Finally, he's molested the one thing in the world they care about.

Themselves.

[bloom]

55. I wish I could say the same for the Bush*bots that I know.

They are as clueless as ever.

[EFerrari]

5. I wonder if they couldn't report the election theft

because it would lead to this, or the other way around.

Or,is this really the Matrix after all. It's crazy.

[autorank]

25. sfexpat2000, This was a key part of the fraud. It proves our point.

They found this "right before the electoin." They held it until "right before" the reporter who appropriately left the NYT was about to publish. That reporter is a great person IMHO. He left the 'dream job' of journalism because he objected to their ethics. I'm sure he DID NOT get a fat contract for this book, he just had to do it. People like Risen are the reason we will win.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

42. Self delete, reposted to main thread as intended.

[teryang]

6. The parade of horrible men who created dictatorship

...step by step. Another footnote in the decline and fall of the United States of America.

[AtomicKitten]

7. I recall after the Dan Rather "thing"

there was a brief blurb about a couple "big" stories the newspaper's were sitting on because of the huge stink with the AWOL story.

In retrospect, I tend to believe the OP's theory, and it is absolutely reprehensible that a news organization that is supposed to enlighten the masses chose instead to withhold information to influence an election.

[NJCher]

9. my letter to Mr. Keller

Dear Mr. Keller:

I am writing regarding your failure to publish the story about how the Bush administration spied on Americans. Over time, I believe, this will become the final nail in the coffin of the NY Times as a major, credible newspaper. And you, Mr. Keller, will be known as a person who was instrumental in its downfall. Now you join the ranks of such notorious New York Times failures as Judy Miller and Jayson Blair. It is all the more ironic when one considers what you said upon your appointment after the plagiarism scandals:

"This news organization is a national treasure. I will do everything in my power to uphold its high standards, preserve its integrity and build on its achievements,"

People know that you held that story up so Bush would have a greater chance of being reelected. This is the most appalling breach of trust that I have ever seen in the duties of the press.

The New York Times stock performance is down 30.7 per cent. People are abandoning newspapers in droves.

At the university where I teach, the student government allocated funds to put out The New York Times and a few other newspapers to encourage students to read newspapers more. No one read them. The only people who ever picked them up were the professors! Consequently, the student government largely abandoned their idea of providing the newspapers for the students.

In my classes, what topics did students want to talk and write about? Blogs. The failure of traditional media. The rise of Google. Students have their own personalized Google or Yahoo news pages. They customize their own playlists and have no use for radio. They have no use for television, either.

The New York Times has lost its credibility. It has forsaken its duties to the American people for its own selfish, political aims. Combine this with technology that makes your newspaper quite dispensable, and one has paved the way to ignominy and eventually, irrelevance.

Sincerely,




Cher

[autorank]

26. Beautiful letter. Better writing than he sees and much better than

he deserves.

[Pacifist Patriot]

31. Brilliant. Thank you.

[Usrename]

39. Well done!

You give good letter!

They should give people their money back. It's a disgrace and a fraud on their readers.

[JaneQPublic]

41. Brava! Superbly done! (nt)

[Cha]

51. Great letter to bill keller,

NJCher..I agree with autorank..much better than he deserves.

I wish we could all "wipe that smirk off" bill keller's mug.

[Beam Me Up]

66. Hey, NYT: What ^^^^^^^^^^ NJCher said: Ditto and THEN GO

FUCK YOURSELF! We aren't buying you and your top down corporate reality any more. BYEBYE Madison Avenue!!

[Nomen Tuum]

72. YOU GO, GIRL!

I love that letter, Cher!

[fasttense]

10. Your reasoning is good, but there is one thing you are leaving out.

They were spying, wiretapping, on American citizens with absolutely NO oversight. Who were they spying on? We can tell from the recently released FBI files that they were spying on people who oppose them.

The NYT is about to publish this story before the election and low and behold, they don't. Why? Because Brush, Rove, the FBI and NSA had dirt on the NYT editor or publisher. If they published the story before the election, they would send those phone recordings of him and another woman to his wife, or prosecute his teenagers for downloading music, or.... There are many things they could blackmail him or the publisher with. Things that though legal, border that gray area.

They probably targeted the NYT editors and publishers because of the power and influence they hold. Now, since the reporter is publishing the book anyway, the blackmail information is useless. They obviously don't have much on the book publishers or reporter. They probably weren't targeted anyway. You can't spy on everyone. But you can try.....He's making a list checking it twice, gonna find out who is naughty...

[nicknameless]

60. Sadly, that could very well be true. And what about Dems in Congress?

A caller to Thom Hartmann's show pointed out that a lot of the surveillance could have been on Dem lawmakers.
Many times we can't figure out why they voted the way they did. This illegal surveillance poses new questions:

How many are on the take from lobbyists? vs. How many are being blackmailed?

[EST]

73. Pithy.

I find it depressing as well as highly disturbing that, in the final analysis, most, possibly all, of the important decisions in the world are made out unenlightened self interest, with the fate of the world resting on who has a stomach ache or who fucked whom, when.

[Hekate]

11. So--this officially makes the NYT the propaganda organ of the BFEE?

Isvestia
Pravda
The New York Times

Ye gods, that's sad.

What they did is a real two-fer: destroy democracy and the freedom of the press with one blow.

Hekate

[NVMojo]

12. Thanks for posting this, Autorank! Now I know I'm ordering the book!

There's probably even more in it. Shame on the NYTs AGAIN!!!

[autorank]

27. I'm buying it too...as a political statement and a thank you to Risen.

We've heard such dreadful yet true condemnations of the press based on their own performance. Risen reminds us that there area lot of bright, working press folks who do the right thing. I'm hitting Amazon right not. Enjoy your holidays!

[smomfr]

52. The book will make

the nyt´s bestseller list for sure.

[Moochy]

57. Now that's Irony

isnt it?

[NVMojo]

13. this needs to be on the homepage!! Nominate!!!!

[ktlyon]

15. What pisses me off the most is that the media with held

important information before the election and now we are stuck with this bunch of crooks for 3 more years. Everything they are doing will stand, appointing Supreme Court justices, tax cuts, the occupation of Iraq, the threating war on other nations all will have to be endured because the facts were withheld from the people. The election was a sham, our economy is in shambles, hurricane victims are still suffering all because they were kept in power by the money media corporations. PLEASE GIVE ME BACK MY DEMOCRACY.

[uncle ray]

23. it's worse that that i think.

i think this info coming out right now is a sign of "them", whoever is really pulling the strings, restructuring who the visible figures are, they're thinking past the next three years now. * is used up, they are letting this scandal out to iniatiate major change. * is out, Cheney may be bumped up for the time being, there have been multiple soundbites in the news everyday the last week from him, and we NEVER hear from Cheney. it gets scary when you consider who Cheney would appoint to be his veep. though i don't think the transition is going to be via impeachment as so many of us hope.

[hvn_nbr_2]

34. Who Cheney would appoint as veep

I think we all know the answer to that. "Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm a man of wealth and taste... Pleased to meet you. Hope you guessed my name. But what's puzzling you is the nature of my game." He'll have another outward name and persona, but we know who it will be.

[smomfr]

53. Delay?

[hvn_nbr_2]

59. Google parts of the quote plus the word "lyrics" n/t

[blm]

38. They KNEW Rove outed Plame, too. There is NO LIBERAL MEDIA. Not even

enough OBJECTIVE MEDIA to keep the citizens informed of the most basic issues.

THIS is the real problem for the left and the Democrats. NOTHING else matters, because every other issue is CONNECTED to public perception and public information.

[katinmn]

16. Great post.

The NYT is toast.

[autorank]

29. Thanks! They're done, stick a fork in them.

I lived in NYC for many years. The NYT has a central role in that city, like no other paper anywhere perhaps. People do the x-word puzzles, they read specific reviewers they've grown to trust over years, they follow the news and become knowledgeable on subjects beyond their scope of work. It's a form of voluntary enrichment. These people are almost always open minded and progressive.

Can you imagine the letters NYT is getting (the one above from NJCher would certainly ruin my week if I were Bill Keller). The onslaught will be endless. New Yorkers are too civilized for public executions, but a cottage industry will emerge to dissect the awfulness of the NYT.

Michael Golden, Vice Chairman of the NYT and Publisher of the Times owned International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/pages/index.php is the heir apparent for the leadership of the NYT company.

Watch people demand that the firing of both the tool Keller and Arthur Sulzberger, Chairman of the NYT Co. and Publisher of the NYT. Golden would be the "Golden boy," come in and totally clean house. That's the survival scenario. If this happened, which makes great business sense, then they can roar back. I'll forgive them immediately.

[hvn_nbr_2]

17. It's time for Bill Keller to follow Judy Judy out the door

Don't let it hit your craven ass on the way out, Bill.

If the Times ever wants to be seen as a legitimate news source again, they have to get rid of this guy and anyone else involved in this conspiracy of silence to aid and abet the enemies of the U.S. Constitution. They also have to come clean about it publicly.

[guidod]

46. I agree with you, and

besides being kicked out on his ass he should also be charged for suppressing evidence of a crime. He should be in jail.

[Jamastiene]

18. REMEMBER: Regime change begins at home. n/t

[Kurovski]

20. K&R (nt)

[autorank]

70. Buddy...

Happy Festivus...get that aluminum pole up, prepare for the "airing of grievances" ... it's just two days!

The best of luck to you during the grievance session...I'm already throwing around some cash with mine in return for petty grievances rather than the truth.

:hi:

[Kurovski]

74. Every day is Festivus!

Are you saying you "can't handle the truth?" The overwhelming evidence leads me to believe otherwise!:-)

We're celebrating many holidays hereabouts, seeing as we live in a veritable "Osama's homo-abortion-pot-and-commie-jizzporium." {Thanks to Jon Stewart's crew for giving our home a proper Christian-name.)

And quit throwing around all that cash--you'll put someone's eye out.

I'm busy with holiday doings and guests, but still check in to DU to vote up your threads and the ER threads. (you expert life-savers in the ER will get our democracy back on its feet in no time.) I'm off to make a sweet potato pie...Merry,merry! :hi:

Edit: The official Festivus is today!

[Uncle Joe]

21. Well, with 12% of the American People behind him,

it sounds like he has a neocon mandate.:sarcasm:

[mrdmk]

28. Instead of voting the Bush Jr. Administration out of office(?), we get to

have constitutional crisis. Good going N.Y.T. sitting on a story of that nature. Here is the sixty thousand dollar question, how many other stories are you sitting on?

[autorank]

30. Great question...how many other "special" holds are there...

This story wasn't "spiked" just held for whatever reason. I think that the Keller smirk in the picture above will turn to some real agida when he gets about his 100,000th letter in the next few days...letters demanding his resignation, at least.

Keller should be exiled to Staten Island forever, not allowed to leave, and only be able to read news papers where any mention of NYC has been cut out. He could work at a 1/2 way house for the intellectually lazy and dishonest. It would "be a good thing."

[Leilani]

36. Exiled to Staten Island!!!

That's hysterical.

:rofl:

[autorank]

69. How about tied to the mast of the Ferry!

The Staten Island Ferry...:evilgrin:...with Jeff Gannon Captaining the vessel.

[Norquist Nemesis]

33. Pretty much debunks the NYT Liberal paper, doesn't it! n/t

[newspeak]

35. yeah, and that's why the media

stalled the S&L story until after Poppy Bush's election. Don't tell me the media is liberal!!! It's BS!!!

[Catherine Vincent]

40. kick!

Oh that "liberal" New York Times. And to think republicans whine to the moderators at cspan's Washington Journal that they continue to start off with the "liberal" New York Times instead of the Washington times. It's just not fair I tell ya! :eyes:

[ChiciB1]

43. So Where ARE The Whistle-blowers???

It would seem that at least SOME decent journalists would have the the decency to GET THIS STORY totally COVERED!!

I noticed quite a while back that the NYT was NOT what it used to be. And neither is the Washington Post either! I'm not just crying boo-hoo because it's not left leaning, I'm disgusted that The Fourth Estate seems to have VANISHED!!

Oh, for the wont of a wee bit more of the GOLD!

[bleever]

44. Same story with our friend Bob Woodward: he knew, before the election,

information about the Plame leak and the WH involvement, but he chose to sit on it because a) it might affect the election, and b) he was saving the news for his book.

Good God, wouldn't want to have news affect an election, would we?


:mad:

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

45. I'm a little confused here re Risen "quitting".

Risen wrote the article that broke the story:

"Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts By JAMES RISEN and ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: December 16, 2005
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15"

and authored another one 5 days later:

"Spying Program Snared U.S. Calls
By JAMES RISEN and ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: December 21, 2005
WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 -"

and will author the book about the CIA and Dub.

Am I missing something, some article, that says he quit the NY Times permanently?

:shrug:

[autorank]

50. "Mr. Risen went away on book leave" NY Observer (around 10/04)

[fishnfla]

76. I'd like to hear what he has to say

about the story being shelved.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

77. Me too. And the reason for his book leave, which isn't an unusual

thing to do under normal circumstances.

[understandinglife]

47. K&R.

Peace.

[novak goes postal]

48. How Disgusting these people are...

:puke: How much are they still hiding about the Chimp "??? :shrug:

[mom cat]

49. Nice Fetch!

:bounce:

[Dunvegan]

54. Great post...

...autorank.

K & R!

[Blue_Tires]

56. ttt n/t

[FogerRox]

58. K N R dude-

[autorank]

71. Dude....

...way at!

[Blue_Tires]

75. ttt one more time

[Hyernel]

61. Kerry SHOULD have known about this during the campaign...

...Why the fuck didn't he use it?!?!?!?!

[nicknameless]

62. Another kick

Mighty big can of worms ...

:o

[ms liberty]

63. K&R - I agree 100%

I can't say I'm totally surprised that the Smirkster has done this; but even knowing he's gotten a pass from day one by the press didn't stop me from being shocked and angry that they had this story more than a YEAR ago and held it.
I wish we could prosecute them for raping the first amendment.

[ddeclue]

64. It's over 116000 now,

[depakid]

65. The Times may be unredeemable at this point

After Judith Miller and this, it'll take years at best, starting with a major change at the top.

It's almost gotten as bad as the Post in terms of credibility- and that's pretty low.

Seems as though the two are in a race to the bottom of the heap. It's getting so that I don't bother much with them anymore.

[katejones]

68. I could never trust the NYT

Ever again.