Speaking About Joe Wilson
Two frank assessments about Joe Wilson. God knows we can use the humor:Short and sweet, from Robert Novak's testimony as transcribed by liveblogger Empty Wheel at Firedoglake:
Fitz: [When was your] first meeting with Wilson
RN On MTP. The day of his op-ed.
Fitz You did not become fast friends.
RN We did not exchange words. Most people in the green room quietly read. He was giving his opinion at some length about how things were done in the Clinton NSC, in a very loud voice, I thought that was an obnoxious performance.
And now for the kicker:
Dick Armitage to Bob Woodward, caught on tape:
Here's the link to the audio: Armitage to Woodward
And here is a partial transcript:
Woodward & Amitage Interview 1:14 WOODWARD: ...What's Scowcroft up to?
1:15 ARMITAGE: [ ] Scowcroft is looking into
1:16 the yellowcake thing.
1:17 WOODWARD: Oh yeah?
1:18 ARMITAGE: As the PFIAB
1:19 WOODWARD: Yeah. What happened there?
1:20 ARMITAGE: They're back together. [coughs] They
1:21 knew with yellowcake, the CIA is not going to be hurt by this
1:22 one---
1:23 WOODWARD: I know, that's---
1:24 ARMITAGE: -- Hadley and Bob Joseph know. It's
1:25 documented. We've got our documents on it. We're clean as a
2 3:2 2:1 Woodward & Amitage Interview -
2:1 [ ] whistle. And George personally got it out of the Cincinatti speech of the president.
2:3 WOODWARD: Oh he did?
2:4 ARMITAGE: Oh yeah.
2:5 WOODWARD: Oh really?
2:6 ARMITAGE: Yeah.
2:7 WOODWARD: It was taken out?
2:8 ARMITAGE: Taken out. George said you can't
2:9 do this.
2:10 WOODWARD: How come it wasn't taken out of the State
2:11 of the Union then?
2:12 ARMITAGE: Because I think it was overruled by
2:13 the types down at the White House. Condi doesn't like being
2:14 in the hot spot. But she ---
2:15 WOODWARD: But it was Joe Wilson who was sent by
2:16 the agency. I mean that's just ---
2:17 ARMITAGE: His wife works in the agency.
2:18 WOODWARD: --- Why doesn't that come out? Why does ---
2:19 ARMITAGE: Everyone knows it.
2:20 WOODWARD: ---that have to be a big secret?
2:21 Everyone knows.
2:22 ARMITAGE: Yeah. And I know [ ] Joe Wilson's
2:23 been calling everybody. He's pissed off because he was
2:24 designated as a low-level guy, went out to look at it. So,
2:25 he's all pissed off.
3:1 WOODWARD: But why would they send him?
3:2 ARMITAGE: Because his wife's a [ ]
3 3:23 3:2 Woodward & Amitage Interview -[update: adding in more transcript transcribed by JM Hanes
ARMITAGE: Because his wife's a [ ] analyst at the agency
Woodward: It's still weird.
ARMITAGE: It's perfect. This is what she does. She's a WMD analyst out there.
Woodward: Oh she is. Oh I see.
ARMITAGE: Yeah Get it? [Next couple of lines is my translation of crosstalk]
Woodward: Oh, I see. I didn't think
ARMITAGE: Yeah. See?
Woodward: Ohhh, She's the chief WMD ?
ARMITAGE: No, the chief? No.
Woodward: But INR thought that she could say, oh yeah, I'' be [garbled]
ARMITAGE: Yeah, no exactly
Woodward: Was she out there with him?
ARMITAGE: No
Woodward: When he was -----
ARMITAGE: Not to my knowledge. I don't know. I don't know if she was out there or not. Didn't wife [garbled] wmd analyst. How about that?
Shorter Armitage on Joe Wilson: Wilson turned the Bush Administration upside down in order to satisfy his ginormous ego. He didn't like being designated as a low-level guy.
How much has the Special Prosecution of Scooter Libby cost again?
Of course, no props to Armitage either for shutting his mouth so that others could take the blame for him.
Thanks to Roanoke at Just one Minute for finding the transcript and the audio file.
For even more humbling of poor Joe Wilson's ego, this is FDL liveblogging transcript of Grossman's testimony:
Conversation with Wilson on June 2003.That's what this whole ordeal for the Bush Administration and Scooter Libby in particular has been about. No one was taking him seriously.
Is it correct that Mr. Wilson complained that he had seen Condi Rice on MTP on June 8 and he was very upset about her comments. June 9, which was a Monday, you had a conversation with Mr. Wilson about MTP.
What he told you was that he was furious at the comments of Condi Rice.
Yes sir, he was really mad.
As I recall he told me that he was angry at the way he'd been described and that people weren't taking him seriously. He was angry that he'd been described as some low level person.
Did he tell you he was considering going public.
Yes sir.
For previous posts on this subject, see here and here
Labels: media, narratives, Plame, Scooter Libby, Wilson
posted by Alcibiades @ 6:20 PM
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