WP by way of Atrios:
Memo to Tim Russert: Dick Cheney thinks he controls you.
This delicious morsel about the "Meet the Press" host and the vice president was part of the extensive dish Cathie Martin served up yesterday when the former Cheney communications director took the stand in the perjury trial of former Cheney chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
Flashed on the courtroom computer screens were her notes from 2004 about how Cheney could respond to allegations that the Bush administration had played fast and loose with evidence of Iraq's nuclear ambitions. Option 1: "MTP-VP," she wrote, then listed the pros and cons of a vice presidential appearance on the Sunday show. Under "pro," she wrote: "control message."
"I suggested we put the vice president on 'Meet the Press,' which was a tactic we often used," Martin testified. "It's our best format."
Well, golly gosh dang, we didn't need Cathie Martin to tell us that.
Jack Welch has boasted about how he turned Tim Russert from an alleged lefty into a nice little corporate tool:
In private, Welch was proud to have personally cultivated Tim Russert from a “lefty” to a responsible representative of GE interests. Welch sincerely believed that all liberals were phonies. He took great pleasure in “buying their leftist souls”, watching in satisfaction as former Democrats like Russert and MSNBC’s Chris Matthews eagerly discarded the baggage of their former progressive beliefs in exchange for cold hard GE cash. Russert was now an especially obedient and model employee in whom the company could take pride.
Why do you think I use the phrase "GOP/Media Complex" to describe the American media of the past thirty-odd years?
Why do you think I use the phrase "GOP/Media Complex" to describe the American media of the past thirty-odd years?
ReplyDeleteBecause you've been paying attention?
While it's great to highlight this example of a media heavyweight who is in the pocket of the White House, there is another tidbit in this story that deserves some attention.
ReplyDeleteThe witness cited here, Cathie Martin, is married to the chairman of the FCC, Kevin Martin. How convenient is it that the VP’s director of communications is sleeping with the head of the federal agency responsible for regulating the media companies she has been lying to?
Hey, good catch, Mark!
ReplyDeleteThey're all zampolit, aren't they? Pure political and ideological hacks who not only don't have a scintilla of competence, but are proud that they don't.