Know Your Shill

November 23, 2005
Andrea Mitchell, Take Two

Is Andrea Mitchell sitting on a Bob Woodward style revelation that she had received an early leak that Ms. Plame was at the CIA?
Twice now, Don Imus has asked Andrea Mitchell to explain why she said, back in October 2003, that among reporters probing the story of the Wilson trip to Niger it was "widely known" that Joe Wilson's wife worked at the CIA.
Andrea Mitchell, who caught the eye of the Huffington bloggers recently, tried to explain herself to Don Imus for a second time on Wednesday morning, and she managed to deliver a Thanksgiving turkey. Crooks and Liars was there with the video. [And oh, my - Pants on fire, Ms. Mitchell - see UPDATE].

On misinformation channel one we've got Tucker talking to Arnaud de Borchgrave, editor in chief to UPI and editor at large for the Washington Times (racist, sexist, war mongering rag owned by the Moonies), which should tell you where he's slanted. Except for the fact that he's got specifics. Watch it.
NBC news and Mitchell provide some very rare push back on the White House bluster. Watch it.
We don't know anything for sure. Oh, except that Mr. Bush has put Admiral Fallon in charge and sent carrier groups to the Middle East, all to watch Iran. Whether watching turns to reach out and touch Iran we'll have to wait and see. And though there will be no boots on the ground, everyone is speculating about bombs overhead.
One thing we do know is that the language coming out of the White House sounds eerily similar to something we've heard before. Cue the video...
BUSH: The Iraqi people cannot flourish under a dictator that oppresses them—threatens them.
Our struggle is not with the Iranian people. As a matter of fact, we want them to flourish.
Iraq is land rich in culture and resources and talent.
"Countdown" with Keith Olbermann


Fast forward a few years, cue Bush video on Iran...
And the Iranian people are proud people, and they‘ve got a great history and a great tradition.
If we fail to act in the face of danger, the people of Iraq will continue to live in brutal submission. The regime will remain unstable. The region will remain unstable, with little hope of freedom and isolated from the progress of our times.
One of the things that the Iranian government is doing is they‘ve begun to isolate their nation, to the harm of the Iranian people.
Hopefully this can be done peacefully.
I believe we can solve our problems peacefully.
All options are on the table.
All options are on the table.
"Countdown" with Keith Olbermann




Now let us compare, with analysis and a little reality, please.
OLBERMANN: The accusations are well known, but does it shock you to hear just how close the president‘s rhetoric about Iran is compared to his past rhetoric about Iraq?
LEVERETT: No, because in many ways the rhetoric in the run-up to the war on Iraq worked. The president singled Iraq out to justify military action there on three particular issues, Iraq‘s links to terrorism, including what were alleged to be direct links to al Qaeda, its weapons of mass destruction capabilities, and it‘s regional meddling, that was making the region unstable.
And if you look at the rhetoric on Iran right now, Iran is being singled out for basically the same things, its links to terrorism. The president basically, in the State of the Union Addressee, equated Iran as a Shia version of al Qaeda. Of course, there is the nuclear issue and concern about the Iran‘s weapons of mass destruction ambitions. And then the president is accusing Iran of regional meddling, being the principal source of instability in the region, much as he did with Iraq in the run up to the invasion of Iraq in 2005.
"Countdown" with Keith Olbermann



The rhetoric has been unleashed. The stage is set. When will the bombing begin?
Congress, you out there? Or can't you do two things at once.

Excerpted and catapaulted from:

http://www.taylormarsh.com/archives_view.php?id=25108
http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2005/11/andrea_mitchell_2.html
http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=091106C