The self-debunking MSM
It's another typical day for the MSM.
First the breathless headline, implying that something is afoot:
Documents Show Gonzales Approved Firings
Then the opening paragraph, which makes an anti-administration claim.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales approved plans to fire several U.S. attorneys in a November meeting, according to documents released Friday that contradict earlier claims that he was not closely involved in the dismissals.
Contradicts? Oh, really?
Well, that's not even what the rest of the article says.
The Nov. 27 meeting, in which the attorney general and at least five top Justice Department officials participated, focused on a five-step plan for carrying out the firings of the prosecutors, Justice Department officials said late Friday.
There, Gonzales signed off on the plan, which was crafted by his chief of staff, Kyle Sampson. Sampson resigned last week amid a political firestorm surrounding the firings.
The five-step plan involved notifying Republican home-state senators of the impending dismissals, preparing for potential political upheaval and naming replacements and submitting them to the Senate for confirmation.
The documents indicated that the hour-long morning discussion, held in the attorney general's conference room, was the only time Gonzales met with top aides who decided which prosecutors to fire and how to do it.
Justice spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said it was not immediately clear whether Gonzales gave his final approval to begin the firings at that meeting. Scolinos also said Gonzales was not involved in the process of selecting which prosecutors would be asked to resign.
So...it doesn't contradict what Gonzales has been saying. Of course, the AP knows that most people only scan the headlines, and a few people will read the opening paragraph...and that is all they want you to know.
What Gonzales has been saying is indeed consistent with the above information.
On March 13, in explaining the firings, Gonzales told reporters he was aware that some of the dismissals were being discussed but was not involved in them.
"I knew my chief of staff was involved in the process of determining who were the weak performers - where were the districts around the country where we could do better for the people in that district, and that's what I knew," Gonzales said last week. "But that is in essence what I knew about the process; was not involved in seeing any memos, was not involved in any discussions about what was going on. That's basically what I knew as the attorney general."
They think you are too stupid to come to your own conclusions about whether one meeting constitutes "closely involved" or not, so they make that decision for you.
Democrats, of course, worked hand in hand with the MSM and were quick to follow up this deceptive news report with their own deceptive statements.
"Clearly the attorney general was not telling the whole truth, but what is he trying to hide?" said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
"If the facts bear out that Attorney General Gonzales knew much more about the plan than he has previously admitted, then he can no longer serve as Attorney General," said Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, who is heading the Senate's investigation into the firings.
Added House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers:
"This puts the Attorney General front and center in these matters, contrary to information that had previously been provided to the public and Congress."
Luckily for society, just because the Democrats claim someone is a liar it does not make them one.
When are people like Conyers, Schumer and Reid, who are clearly bad for America, going to resign?
A question for the Bush-hating Democrats: Gonzales had one meeting on this. How is it possible for him to be less involved while still doing his job? Admit it, if he hadn't approved this in that meeting you would all be calling for his resignation because he wasn't doing his job.
It's pathetic.
Update: AP has rewritten the story!. The lead paragraph now makes no claims about this information "contradicting" Gonzales but still suggests it:
WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales approved plans to fire several U.S. attorneys in an hourlong meeting last fall, according to documents released Friday that indicate he was more involved in the dismissals than he has claimed.
AP also added another paragraph directly below this one.
Last week, Gonzales said he "was not involved in any discussions about what was going on" in the firings of eight prosecutors that has since led to a political firestorm and calls for his ouster.
Also rewritten is the section describing how Gonzales (apparently) only met that one time to discuss the matter.
The AP cleaned up an unsupported allegation that a question about his schedule was "sidestepped", which made it appear that Gonzales and his staff were indeed being deceptive.
Well, well, well.... I bet AP hates that Al Gore took the initiative to create the Internet all those years ago. (That was before he realized all the viruses on the internets would cause the Earth to catch a fever!)
First the breathless headline, implying that something is afoot:
Documents Show Gonzales Approved Firings
Then the opening paragraph, which makes an anti-administration claim.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales approved plans to fire several U.S. attorneys in a November meeting, according to documents released Friday that contradict earlier claims that he was not closely involved in the dismissals.
Contradicts? Oh, really?
Well, that's not even what the rest of the article says.
The Nov. 27 meeting, in which the attorney general and at least five top Justice Department officials participated, focused on a five-step plan for carrying out the firings of the prosecutors, Justice Department officials said late Friday.
There, Gonzales signed off on the plan, which was crafted by his chief of staff, Kyle Sampson. Sampson resigned last week amid a political firestorm surrounding the firings.
The five-step plan involved notifying Republican home-state senators of the impending dismissals, preparing for potential political upheaval and naming replacements and submitting them to the Senate for confirmation.
The documents indicated that the hour-long morning discussion, held in the attorney general's conference room, was the only time Gonzales met with top aides who decided which prosecutors to fire and how to do it.
Justice spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said it was not immediately clear whether Gonzales gave his final approval to begin the firings at that meeting. Scolinos also said Gonzales was not involved in the process of selecting which prosecutors would be asked to resign.
So...it doesn't contradict what Gonzales has been saying. Of course, the AP knows that most people only scan the headlines, and a few people will read the opening paragraph...and that is all they want you to know.
What Gonzales has been saying is indeed consistent with the above information.
On March 13, in explaining the firings, Gonzales told reporters he was aware that some of the dismissals were being discussed but was not involved in them.
"I knew my chief of staff was involved in the process of determining who were the weak performers - where were the districts around the country where we could do better for the people in that district, and that's what I knew," Gonzales said last week. "But that is in essence what I knew about the process; was not involved in seeing any memos, was not involved in any discussions about what was going on. That's basically what I knew as the attorney general."
They think you are too stupid to come to your own conclusions about whether one meeting constitutes "closely involved" or not, so they make that decision for you.
Democrats, of course, worked hand in hand with the MSM and were quick to follow up this deceptive news report with their own deceptive statements.
"Clearly the attorney general was not telling the whole truth, but what is he trying to hide?" said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
"If the facts bear out that Attorney General Gonzales knew much more about the plan than he has previously admitted, then he can no longer serve as Attorney General," said Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, who is heading the Senate's investigation into the firings.
Added House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers:
"This puts the Attorney General front and center in these matters, contrary to information that had previously been provided to the public and Congress."
Luckily for society, just because the Democrats claim someone is a liar it does not make them one.
When are people like Conyers, Schumer and Reid, who are clearly bad for America, going to resign?
A question for the Bush-hating Democrats: Gonzales had one meeting on this. How is it possible for him to be less involved while still doing his job? Admit it, if he hadn't approved this in that meeting you would all be calling for his resignation because he wasn't doing his job.
It's pathetic.
Update: AP has rewritten the story!. The lead paragraph now makes no claims about this information "contradicting" Gonzales but still suggests it:
WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales approved plans to fire several U.S. attorneys in an hourlong meeting last fall, according to documents released Friday that indicate he was more involved in the dismissals than he has claimed.
AP also added another paragraph directly below this one.
Last week, Gonzales said he "was not involved in any discussions about what was going on" in the firings of eight prosecutors that has since led to a political firestorm and calls for his ouster.
Also rewritten is the section describing how Gonzales (apparently) only met that one time to discuss the matter.
The AP cleaned up an unsupported allegation that a question about his schedule was "sidestepped", which made it appear that Gonzales and his staff were indeed being deceptive.
Well, well, well.... I bet AP hates that Al Gore took the initiative to create the Internet all those years ago. (That was before he realized all the viruses on the internets would cause the Earth to catch a fever!)