Unbelievable. ht Lucianne
The senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee has vowed to defeat President George W. Bush's choice as chief Pentagon spokesman, citing an op-ed article the nominee wrote in April accusing American television networks of aiding Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.
The comments Tuesday by the senator, Carl Levin of Michigan, during and after a committee hearing to consider the nomination of J. Dorrance Smith to be assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, cast serious doubt on Smith's chances to win approval by the full Senate.
Smith, a former ABC News producer who has worked as an adviser in both Bush administrations, said in an article in The Wall Street Journal on April 25 that the Arab satellite news channel Al Jazeera operated on behalf of terrorists and that American networks aided them by televising Al Jazeera's videotape.
"Osama bin Laden, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Al Qaeda have a partner in Al Jazeera and, by extension, most networks in the U.S.," Smith wrote. "This partnership is a powerful tool for the terrorists in the war in Iraq."
"Al Jazeera," he added, "has very strong partners in the U.S. - ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CNN and MSNBC. Video aired by Al Jazeera ends up on these networks, sometimes within minutes."
Levin said Tuesday that coming from someone who had been picked to be the Pentagon's chief liaison with the news media, those comments went too far. "That you would characterize them as aiders and abettors of the terrorists that attack us," he told reporters, "as far as I'm concerned that is so far over the top, it's unacceptable."
Even some Senate Republican aides said Smith's nomination appeared to be in jeopardy. After the hearing, the committee chairman, Senator John Warner, a Virginia Republican, issued an uncharacteristically tepid statement saying only that the committee would "continue to process this nomination." A White House spokesman, Frederick Jones, declined to comment except to say that the confirmation process should be allowed to run its course.
First Bolton, for nothing other than being honest and plain-spoken, now Smith - for the same "offense". Asshat cretins and fools like Levin must be hounded out of government for their sheer stupidity and complicity in aiding and abetting the enemies of our nation and of Freedom. Nothing less will allows us to survive the conflict. The traditional fair-play approach will no longer suffice - and it doesn't matter if they're just stupid, willfully ignorant, or if truly on the other side - they are simply dangerous toolfools and we can no longer afford to tolerate them. Make of that what you wish. |