Leaks ‘R” Us: Bowed But Not Beaten
Another indication that George Bush is one worn down president:
On February 10, 2004, responding to the news that the Justice Department had launched an investigation into who revealed the identity of Valerie Plame, the president told reporters:
“If there’s a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of. . . . I want to know the truth.”
On December 20, 2006, responding to a question regarding the leak of a classified memo that questioned the ability of Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Maliki to help U.S. interests, the president told reporters:
“You know, there may be an ongoing investigation of this, I just don’t know. If there is, if I knew about it, it’s not fresh in my mind. . . . And we’ve had a lot of leaks, . . . as you know, some of them out of — I don’t know where they’re from, therefore I’m not gonna speculate.”
5 Responses to “Leaks ‘R” Us: Bowed But Not Beaten”
No, it is called hypocrisy.
ES:
Fatigued hypocrisy?
No. The leaked materials were probably a “friendly” leak to help with the “diplomatic” solution to the problem. I will believe in fatigue explanation when they do not crusade against unfriendly leaks showing they either have probably broken a law or make themselves out to be incompetents. According to US media outlets, the Bush administration has been not very happy with the Maliki government for many months – did the leak help or hurt the administration as they went into the meetings with Maliki? I would say the leak “helped” to push the Iraqi, especially now Mookie is Public Enemy #1.
ES:
Good points.
It may have helped a little, but all of these leaks-friendly or otherwise, give the impression of a WH that is totally out of control, which is terrible PR. So, I agree with both of you.