newspaper reporters
12 Jul 2005Just a little tidbit I ran across from a dispatch of Hemingway’s on the Japanese earthquake in 1923 to the Toronto Daily Star that seemed a little timely, given the whole Rove/Plame/Miller/Cooper thing:
“If we talk to you and tell you what you want to know will you promise that you won’t use our names?” asked the daughter.
“Why not just use the names,” suggested the reporter.
“We won’t say a word unless you promise not to use the names,” said the daughter.
“Oh, you know newspaper reporters,” the mother said. “They’ll promise it and then they’ll use them anyway.” It looked as though there wasn’t going to be any story. The remark had made the reporter violently angry. It is the one unmerited insult. There are enough merited ones.
“Mrs. So and So,” he said, “the president of the United States tells reporters things in confidence which if known would cost him his job. Every week in Paris the prime minister of France tells fifteen newspaper reporters facts that if they were quoted again would overthrow the French government. I’m talking about newspaper reporters, not cheap news tipsters.”
“All right,” said the mother. “Yes, I guess it’s true about newspaper reporters.”
Then the daughter began the story and the mother took it up.
It seems clear to me now that despite a brilliant set-up, Rove will emerge unscathed (or, indeed, more powerful than we can imagine) from the Plame controversy. He is focused on victory, and shows every sign of achieving it. And by ‘victory’ I am speaking, of course, of the one thing that matters to Rove, and the one thing that should matter to the Democratic party. Political victory.
As anyone who has been involved with a legal case in this country (and by ‘involved’ I mean ‘has watched one or more episodes of Night Court’) could tell you, the way he ‘leaked’ this info will clearly be enough to keep him from getting into trouble.
Meanwhile the Democrats are doing their best to live up to their reputation for shrill, pointless whining. And worst of all, seem to be working (vaguely) towards some kind of ‘official’ or worse yet, legal resolution to the problem.
Has the Democratic party not learned anything from Iran-Contra? It doesn’t MATTER if your opponent is indicted, or arrested, or put on trial, or even convicted. It. doesn’t. matter.
The Democrats need to get their message together. What are they shooting for here? Impeaching Rove? Hello, McFly! Hello!