David Shuster dismantles Fouad Ajami's comparison of Libby to our fallen soldiers
By Logan Murphy Thursday Jul 05, 2007 5:10pm
David Shuster filled in for Chris Matthews this evening on "Hardball" where he interviewed neo-con author, Fouad Ajami, and absolutely shredded him over his Wall Street Journal OpEd comparing Scooter Libby to fallen U.S. Soldiers in Iraq. Shuster was relentless, never letting Ajami off the hook and blasting him with the truth and hard facts.
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Paul Rieckhoff of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans Of America joined Shuster on the phone to mop up, tearing the Libby apologist a new one for using the troops as props and for his absurd assertion that Libby has anything in common with our fallen soldiers. This is what Hardball should really look like; you don't want to miss this clip...
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David Shuster is a rising STAR
look at his eyes, his focus for truth is amazing. it's like a laser beam focus.
This Shuster kid is on a roll. I see a replacement for the dead air at 4 and 6 PM in the making.
the sound of his voice slices. chop suey!!!!!!!!!!
baby jesus may reward Shuster with his own show soon,
he certianly deserves it...but wait
baby jesus never performs according to merit?
he's young and smart. he acts like a real reporter.
will he be bought???? i dunno.
i hope not! :)
"once again it's about the metaphor" this guy is funny.
really it's about the money isn't funny bearded man.
fire tweety. Give this show to Schuster.
I heard on MSNBC this morning that starting Monday Tucker's show would only be on at six. So that leaves the four o'clock spot open. I wonder if they are going to give it to David? It sure would be a good idea.
Thank you so much, Logan, for getting this clip. David is not a guy to let anyone piss on his shoes.
That author or whatever the hell he is should be sent out of town on a rail.
ps, baby jesus, we could always use a little help here. If you can pull any heavenly strings, this would be an excellent time to do it.
How many TV Talking Heads are there in the business. Anyone do a count?
[...] UPDATE: Crooks and Liars has video of the full segment. [...]
Well, LA Confidential, it takes a lot of talking heads to fill 24 hours a day, seven days a week on cable channels.
Now this is how you play hardball.
Shit. So according to Adjami, if 16 guys plan a bank robbery and only one guy gets caught-even if he's convicted, he shouldn't take all the heat and do any time?
Wow. What flavour is that koolaid?
Fouad Ajami is such a sleeze bag and I'm glad Shuster kept a laser-like focus and called him out, exposing Ajami as such. For too long the damn press, even the likes of Charlie Rose, have let this fool on their show and listened to him as if he's some exceptionally wise person who knows what he's talking about, when in actuality he merely was able to weave an eloquent story about why we must be in iraq and blah blah blah... all style, no substance.. thank you Mr. Shuster for doing your job at a time so many in your field are not. Let the smoke and mirrors be removed and veils be lifted so the American people can finally see these people exposed for the true fools they are.
wow i luv the way he ended that. nobody else has been that strong about the truth.
i do hope he get's his own show. he has lot's of potential.
shoot Amy Goodman might even have him on her show.
DAVID SHUSTER IS HIS NAME.
That was kinda hard to watch. I don't think it was a very honest debate. I don't agree with anything this jerk-off has to say, but the interview was Fox News-ish in its execution.
David Shuster is great. I vote he be a permanant replacement for tweety.
ColoGrego @ 18:
I'll second That!
The entire show was just great. Shuster also let Clinton-hater Dan Burton hang himself.
Regards,
Bob
Adjami=Total colostomy bag.
isn't a name like a meme. repeat DAVID SHUSTER .....by the way i'm not DAVID SHUSTER.
though i do admire DAVID SHUSTERS work. he has integrity... that DAVID SHUSTER..:)
I loves me some David Shuster, I just loves me some!
Dang. They made slaw out of the guy and served him up with a pickle on the side. More like this, please.
David Shuster is doing a fine job, however, MSNBC smells a Democratic majority in 2008, and I suspect they're preparing for it now by giving airtime to QUALIFIED people, who have mostly been in the shadows for the last 7 years.
Fouad Ajami is shockingly disingenuous trash, a liar. Calling Libby a "fallen soldier" instead of a traitor is repugnant.
Here's a metaphor for you, Ajami: You're like a steaming pile of cow crap on a winter's day.
The guy's argument is so lame. It's not even an argument. I don't know who this guy is, but it's just strange that Bush is now supported and propped up by such foul people. What does the Republican base see in this guy? If my cousins get killed or hurt in Iraq, and I hear this guy comparing them to Scooter Libby, I'm not sure what I'll do. Up is freakin down in this Bushworld we're enduring.
Go Shus! Spot on!
I might actually watch that show if David Shuster were the host. I have a metaphor for Mr. Ajami: "You are a meathead."
pissed off patricia @ 9:
Patricia, I honestly cheered out loud when Shuster started firing back at him. I watch these shows every day and besides Olbermann, Shuster is the best thing going. I understand that MSNBC must have contracts with the likes of Matthews and Tucker, but they really need to look at giving Shuster his own show. Their ratings would skyrocket in either time slot.
Thanks David,
Just be real, honest and honerable. That's the American way, isn't it?
That's all it takes.
I know it's kind of shocking these days. Just don't change when you succeed.
That's part of the problem and we do see that when it happens. We're not as stupid as some people think we are!!
Barry
Sexy!!!
What an absurd old man! He put his foot in his mouth
and then tried to 'metaphor' everyone to death.
Give it up you old tool!
Thank you David Shuster! Everyone should email David
and thank him. He is doing a great job shooting down
all these talking points parrots...especially when Ajami
tried that tired old 'Iraq was in on 9/11' bullshit!
What I love about the whole interview is that he offer Ajami to apologize for his remarks, and instead grab a bigger shovel and dig deeper in the charade of lies for the Bush administration.
Kept saying that "the congress voted for the support of this war" ( base on the lies of WMD), and keep repeating them without finishing the sentence of how they voted to support the wars.
Its like that other phrase "doing the jobs that American wont do" (for min wage and no benefits)
Way to go Davie Shuster.
MSNBC should replace Tucker, Tweety, or that Abrams guy with Shuster starting now.
what i'd like to see from the next generation is brilliance . i don't know if it's the y or z generation. but i do believe that the young people are very tech savvy and many are compassionate and very smart. many in the baby boomer generation are fired up about fixing the world for good, before they leave. of course they are delusional....but they do mean well. what we need is an army of truth seekers. may the yuppie fad be doomed... let our eyes not be colored by the idea of imposed happiness., but let happiness flourish freely
in the fields of fertile human potential. we were all born from the age of enlightenment. let's no let our future generations down.
David Shuster is someone who does his homework.Straigh facts,cuts right through the Republican talking points.Mr. Abrams give this man a cigar and a place at the table.Plenty of room if we are going to impeach these bastards.JHickey
Congratulations, David Shuster !! You have secured your future for a long time. Lets hope the suits (if there are any) at MSNBC will see what they have right in the palm of their hands and give him the best spot in their nightly line-up. Get rid of Tucker as soon as they can , even if his Daddy does'nt like it. He is destroying the network. Bravo David Shuster, he makes other reporters look like nothing.
Actually, I found myself agreeing with Mr. Ajami (hey, even a broken clock is right sometimes). He stated that Libby shouldn't be the only one to pay a price for the criminal act of outing a CIA agent. I agree. Let's start impeachment proceedings IMMEDIATELY against Cheney, Bush and their cabal of corrupt criminals.
Also, David Shuster and Paul Rieckhoff brought up the former servicemen and servicewoman who were convicted of crimes for acts they committed at Abu Ghraib. But, once again using the statement of Mr. Ajami, the higher ranking officers and government officials who solicited, promoted, and condoned their illegal behavior should be brought to justice as well.
Works for me.
Barry @ 30:
great observation!
YES, it's funny how refreshed you feel after seeing something honest, and how tired you feel after seeing the opposite:)
Lebanese uncle Tom.
Granted, I don't watch all that much of what passes for TV journalism nowadays, as it tends to insult my intelligence. I did, however, notice Shuster's name in a headline over at Atrios' place the other day, but he's otherwise a complete stranger. Who is he, and where did he come from?
I saw this and David was magnificent! He dismantled Fouad, he took him to the woodshed and whipped him...this is the way the MSM should operate all the time, not the sniveling BS on Hillary we get from the old queen Matthews ever weekday.
Chris should be fired and David brought in to have his own hour...
YAAAAAY DAVID!
*whistle* "C'mere Ajami, sit! Now, sit up, sit up and write Ajami...write what we want people to believe. Good dog! Here's a treat ($$). "
I loved the repetition about how Ajami claimed 'he doesn't need anyone to lecture him.' He doesn't need anyone to listen to him either. Thank you David!!
Who is this Shuster guy? I think he needs a tax audit. Who paid him off... Soros? All thoose facts about scooter don't add up. By the way, has anyone else heard about Doolittle being indicted, or was that just another dream too?
David Shuster knows how hardball is played!
One thing Schuster misses is that Ajami is constantly saying that the Libby trial and charges were unfair because he was left out on the "battlefield" alone to take the hit for everyone else and he uses this claim to condemn the prosecutors and people who are criticizing the commutation of sentence. But it is very telling that he fails to note, and Schuster fails to point out, that if indeed Libby was left out on the battlefield as an abandoned soldier it was not by the prosecutor but by the very White House that Ajami is defending. If Ajami wants to direct that sort of criticism at anyone it has to be directed, by virtue of the very argument he makes, at Bush/Cheney et al, not at the prosecutor or the judge or the jury or even the system that tried and convicted him.
Libby was abandoned by Bush, sent on a career suicide mission, with the express understanding that he would be "saved" at the end if he took the hit for everyone else. And now along comes Ajami saying that this very condition is what makes the Libby prosecution unfair. Calling it spaghetti logic would be too kind. Ajami is a weasel.
That was a complete smackdown! Thank you for that.
Did anyone else notice fouad looks a lot like uncle junior?
LongTooth @ 41:
Fox 'News'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Shuster
What a piece of shit...there was no real debate in this country about Iraq...wow, this is a perfect example of Neo-con's hate for America and American Justice.
all Republicans should be ashamed of themselves...but as we all know Repug's have no morals and there for no shame.
Example of another metaphor: Ajami is like a pool of stagnant water that turns green. Ajami is pond scum.
.
Did you catch the retort of Ajami's at the end...
about it being a metaphor?
Maybe he is a metaphor for ...
fuck up? No that's Cheney.
apologist? Perhaps.
Fascist sympathizer? Most defiantly.
.
1 down a million to go!
throwthembows @ 17:
True, but SOMEBODY needs to call bullshit when they see bullshit. There has been far too much "say whatever you want to and we'll let it slide" for the last 7 years.
The whole game that the media has been playing is the rating game. Now MSNBC seems to be finally broadcasting some truth and facts. I've been saying for a long time that if they gave us real news their ratings would go up. Judging from the posts here, I would say that I was right. Maybe they will have me as a new CEO.
Shuster kicks ass.
Must say, It's been great watching him, Keith and Dan Abrams.
Why don't they keep that lineup?
They can give Tweety Tucker's spot if they want.
miss_kitty @ 48:
WOW... that is surprising. He's definitely not a heritage foundation graduate.
you would have to imagine that some people would come out of faux news disgusted.
afterall it's like some kind of fellini orgy.
Now, THAT'S Hardball! Its time to replace Chris Matthews with a REAL reporter! Give Shuster the job!
if only MSNBC hadn't gotten rid of DONAHUE.
throwthembows @ 17:
I thought it was foxish in a "here is some of your own medicine" kind of way though. You know this jerk will be over at fox noise getting the "your such a great Journalist, writer" treatment.
I also liked Shuster calling him on the Iraq/Alqada connection. "Who are that Guy?"
HOLY SMOKES.
Mr. Shuster OWNS this idiot.
Makes me proud to share US citizenship with him!
PHIL DONAHUE
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/24/1446244
carefulwiththatAXEeugene @ 56:
Here's an interesting story about him, where he talks about his days at Faux News:
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2005/10/02/column.1002-SH-A3_CM...
GaPeach103 @ 38:
------------------------------
ajami made one (1) valid point, most likely because he was having his ass handed to him.
I wonder if we'll ever get over our obsession and National Pastime of destroying each other in one form or another.
Write to MSNBC. If they want to improve the ratings for Hardball, replace Matthews with Shuster. If they care about the good of the country, they should replace Matthews with Shuster.
DIE TRATOR!
Man Paul had Ajami over a barrel.
Thank you David. finally someone has not only pointed out that the emperor has no clothes but has said it over and over again until it became the truth. Listen, Washington Press Corps, this is the way to ask questions; this is the way to push back. Chris, if you can't or won't take a lesson from David, especially if you ever let Ann Coulter on again, then move away and let David at her. Thanks, it made my day; one day in six years. The only thing that saves me is listening to Keith Olberman and now I have David, thank God.
throwthembows @ 17:
Yeah, I can see where you're coming from. He was talking over the guest at points, and he jumped around a lot like he was trying more to skewer him rather than get any information. On the other hand, it would have been really nice for someone to call bullshit, bullshit when these assholes were lying us into the war. Maybe its one of those "reality has a liberal bias" things.
By the way, I was happy with the interview already before Shuster spanked that WSJ retard with the "Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11" bit. That was just a little lagniappe, some icing on the cake. Nice job, David.
Is it important to invite the neo-con idiots on every once in a while to let them be exposed?
I am just trying to figure out how anybody can confuse any member of the inner circle of the White House with a member of the armed forces.
Fouad gets it wrong on so many levels. He says the debate on the Iraq war was a political debate. Wrong. It was a factual debate that the Bush administration chose to turn into a political campaign. The Bush administration claimed that Iraq had attempted to purchase nuclear grade uranium from Niger. This was factually false. Joe Wilson went to Niger and determinied that Iraq had not attempted to purchase nuclear grade uranium. This was factually true. When the Bush administration got caught in their lie, they chose to attack the messenger rather than face the truth. And now hundreds of thousands are dead because of it.
CHOOO!!! CHOOO!!! The Schuster Express plain RAN over Ajami!!!
Shuster knows his stuff. He's the reporter for MSNBC who was attached to the Libby trial, so he knows the facts quite well. I think he should take (F)tucker's spot or get rid of Tweety. You won't have Mann C**ter on for an hour if Shuster's hosting!
I wsh other talking heads would be this strong when they state their case against the Iraq War as Shuster does when someone try to twist the facts of the Libby case. You can tell Shuster takes this issue personally so he's made himself a expert about it. But other talking heads should take issues such as the Iraq War, the state of health care, and income inequality as personally.
I PARTICULARLY love the way Shuster called "don't lecture me I've visited Iraq" Ajami out for associating 9/11 with Iraq. WHERE has the rest of the press been on this American Enterprise Institute inspired twist of propaganda?
Bah... while I disagree with Ajami almost completely I REALLY dislike it when folks in the media plays dumb when it comes to literary devices like metaphors... The real punch would have been to make him explain WHY he thought I. Lewis Libby (here after referred to as Mr. ILL.) and dismantled those points... clearly comparing Mr. ILL to soldiers is an extremely flawed argument, as is comparing the perjury and obstruction of justice charges against Mr. Ill to the ones leveled against President Clinton... here's a nice little talking point for you all, President Clinton was ACQUITTED, Mr. ILL was CONVICTED.
Cheers
GoodGod @ 65:
All these guys on both sides are partying together at the elite socials after they get done entertaining us.
Check your social diary web sites.
L.A. Confidential @ 64:
I think you might want to wait for a more sympathetic "victim" than Ajami. This guy had the WSJ editorial page as his megaphone, and he used it to argue for a convicted criminal who expedited this war for fun and profit. At least 600,000 dead Iraqis...
I agree, I would like more constructive dialogue, but how are you supposed to talk about creating good when these assholes are still in the white house? I think we need to talk about getting rid of the assholes.
OUTRAGEOUS!!
I always tune in to "Hardball" just to see if there's an interesting guest worth listening to who can brave Tweety's spittle long enough to make a point. But I generallly bail when he's in the suck-up mode (Coulter, Delay, et al.)
Hands down, Shuster wipes the floor in any match-up with Tweety, but somehow MSNBC thinks otherwise.
More Shuster, please.
Wow! Schuster was great. Finally, a member of the MSM that isn't afraid to call the right on their bullshit. A few more with guts like him and maybe we can get back to a reality-based world.
Old Billy @ 77:
I agree on that. It's a no win situation.
I just wrote MSNBC and thanked them for putting a REAL journalist on HB.
I also asked them to replace tweedy w/ Shuster if they want (currently) SoftBall to succeed.
blahsay @ 75:
I didn't see it like Shuster was playing dumb about what a metaphor is. He was simply asking how these two entities associated in Ajami's metaphor were at all similar. He further pointed out that it was insulting.
I think Reikhoff was great at getting to the heart of the matter when he said that he understood it was a comparison, and it was a bad one. Ajami was the one who was coyly saying, "It's only a metaphor, I didn't really mean to compare Libby to a fallen soldier." And I don't believe he was just asking for "honor among thieves" from the white house, Ajami was very deliberately trying to equate Libby to a soldier.
I still have problems with MSNBC. The 1 1/2 hor pursuit of a DUI suspect was way too much. Hopefully, things are changing.
http://myfightfordemocracy.blogspot.com/2007/07/new-declaration-of-indep...
Ever wonder what a laser does when its focused on BS? Whew, Schuster cut through it relentlessly.
David: "Why didn't you point out that it was a metaphor ?"
ajami: "Why should I ?"
Me : That about says it all !
Using the soldiers as props to back up Ajani's argument
again and again. When you make such arguments "we will
push back". (Flinching as if punched) Wasn't expecting that were you?
Let us INSTRUCT YOU FURTHER...
Did you see the look into the camera from Ajani like he was
looking for some help from maybe a producer or Ambassador Carlson or
Dershowitz, Derbyshire, anyone. They will try to go after Shuster but they will
not touch him.
Um.... pwned anyone?
WTG Shush!
FOAD Fouad.
What a complete and utter dissembling bag of neo-con pus.
A fraud of immense proportions, and the best this "thinker" of the neo-Con-men can do is stumble through his own incoherent lies.
What a waste of humanity.
Shuster rocked.
While I disagree with most everything Ajami believes, I think he was pointing out the hypocrisy with the way Dems thirst for the blood of Scooter and the way Repugs (not a typo) thirsted for the blood of Clinton. And while it's nice to see a Repug get bitch-slapped like the way O'Reilly or Hannity or the other Fox pit-bulls do to the Dems, the segment shows how liberal liberal mouthpieces can be just as bad as the right wingnuts. There was no debate or reasoned argument. Shuster was every bit as abusive and obtuse as O'Reilly. I don't think he's a hero, just another shrill political hack who debases rational discussion in this country.
It would have been much better to just ignore the Ajami's and take the high road.
During the 60's people we're taking to the streets. Civil Rights marches, war protests, civil disobedience. People didn't take this sh*t.
I guess Reagan must have had this removed from the U.S. History text books in schools.
Excellent job, Shuster, excellent job. It's nice to see the ball actually being hard for a change.
What an intellectual lightweight Ajami is. I loved all his righteous indignation "ooh ooh I don't need a lecture". No, you've a long way to go before you're ready for anything as advanced as a lecture, you brick-faced poltroon.
call it what you like, fox newsish, or whatever, but schuster does not let this guy slide. it's apparent that ajami is very bright, but all of his intellect cannot carry the day. this journalist is one who has been trained in the pit bull school of journalism. he sees the faulty logic and then he goes for the throat. ajami is left stammering with but his caution that since he's been to iraq seven times, he doesn't need to be lectured on the subject. he finally pulls out the old "our troops are fighting a magnificent fight, in this war that needs to be fought. that worked way back then, but no longer can you just pull platitudes out of your ass and expect them to fly. this one didn't. i think even middle america is beginning to get it.
kudos to schuster. hope matthews is watching to see how reall journalism is handled. it's a kind of let them fall where they may, in this case it's important to not listen and be taken in by the bullshit but to call it what it is and CHALLENGE, CHALLENGE, CHALLENGE.
THAT was Hardball. Take notes Matthews.
A bulldog of truth. I loved it he doesn't let anyone get away with bullshit especially toward the end. That's all I want is the truth whether I'll like the truth is irrelevant just give me the f'ing truth! Thank you Shuster!
The followup piece grilling of Dan Burton R-IN was a sight to behold as well...
David was amazing. fire Tweety.
Boy he tore him a new one. I needed to hear that.
Hey Ajami, I got you metaphor right here...
miss_kitty @ 8:
Yes, and write to feedback@msnbc.com and tell Dan Abrams he has finally found a reporter with a pair.
Matthews has been insulting our intelligence for years. It's time to kick that asswipe to the curb and have real "hardball." Shuster was brilliant, and far too long overdue.
Fouad Ajami is an absolute and total whore.
Tonight it was not HairBall OR HardBull. Tonight it was HardBall. Way to go Schuster!!!
Oh wait this is like the Gladiators. Only the TV talk show is now the arena. Words have replaced swords, axes, and bludgeons.
Now I get it.
Sheesh how could I have missed that.
L.A. Confidential @ 91:
In the 60s the media covered protests. Maybe MSNBC will step up to the task.
http://myfightfordemocracy.blogspot.com/2007/07/new-declaration-of-indep...
Oh, and then David teed up Dan Froomkin and Dana Millbank against a nice lady from Boston who said nobody outside of the beltway gave a blip about Skater Libby. The boys were 'way too nice to her... highly snippable
It was great watching someone armed with the facts take aim at these propagandist idiots for a change. Can David Shuster please take over Matthews show?!!??? Please.. por favor!?!
Ron @ 104:
When people get as pissed off as they did in the 60's they won't much choice but to cover it.
Perhaps I wasn't clear. I simply meant that instead of attacking the semantics (e.g. why didn't you say it was a metaphor) I wish he had gone straight against the message by making Ajami explain exactly what he meant by comparing Mr. ILL to a fallen soldier. I suppose it's a bit naive, but I really believe the Lincoln quote, "The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend." These neo-cons dwell in a dark land of disease thought, someone please show them the light! Although I suspect it's going to require a group effort...
That is what I find is the missing piece in Keith Olbermann's show. Keith only has on people that agree with him. I would like to see Keith's skills grilling some of these people who harbor these crazy ideas.
MSNBC...if you are listening, I think there is a lot of room for someone like Schuster in your lineup.
Bush likes to go fishing. This whole thing with Libby gives new meaning to the term "Catch and Release."
The neo-cons are living in fantasy land. They are nothing but a side show these days. They seem to have no aversion to being publicly castrated which shows they have absolutely no clear sense of reality. Using the troops as a prop is just another crutch they use.
IB222 @ 90:
Sorry, I disagree.
He's not a liberal mouthpiece. In fact, he covered Whitewater for Fox.
He's just a tough reporter and I have no doubt he'll be tearing the Dems a new one if they ever get back in power and pull this kind of crap.
sumodiver @ 96:
Clinton did it, Clinton did it, shoulda been impeached. Is that talking point right? Did I do I right? How come these repugs can only do talking points. Can't they think for themselves? I thik I answered my own question.
Old Billy @ 69:
He was talking over the guest, because the guest was not bringing anything enlightening to the table. It was just the same old shit to sell a book via intravenous patriotism(only he's a couple years too late).
"Actually, I found myself agreeing with Mr. Ajami (hey, even a broken clock is right sometimes). He stated that Libby shouldn’t be the only one to pay a price for the criminal act of outing a CIA agent. I agree. Let’s start impeachment proceedings IMMEDIATELY against Cheney, Bush and their cabal of corrupt criminals."
That's the real problem with Ajami's argument. He agrees with the commuting of Libby's sentence, when in reality if he really believes that Libby shouldn't shoulder all of the burden for the cia outing he would want more people prosecuted not less. Therefore Libby should be sent to prison for the crimes he was convicted of and more prosecutions should begin for others involved in the outing of a CIA agent. The problem is they can't prosecute more people if every witness is going to lie the way Libby did and get away with it. There is no way to hold the criminals liable if they instantly get commuted every time the President or Vice President tells them to commit a crime.
Go ahead Shuster, borrow from Fox News: "would you like to apologize for that?" Damn right! It's about time... now this is real "balance", people who spout the B.S. versus those that kick that B.S. back where it came from.
IB222 @ 90:
--------------------
Respectfully disagree, David called him out on his bullshit, the right wingnuts make up their bullshit and pass it off as truth. Watch the interview again if you must, but David was cutting to the chase, not calling anybody names, just getting down to the bottom line, unlike the repugs, there was no spin here.
miss_kitty @ 8:
Matthews must go...he's believing his own press. And his love-fest w/ Mann Coulter is getting a little steamy for network shows.
What an asshole!! He's saying that the "country went to war and then there was buyer's remorse that was political in nature between the state dept., defense, CIA and Wilson & Plame were included"??? What's he smoking?? I need some. This argument all took place before shots were fired. Libby's intent was to discredit Wilson BECAUSE he was against the war. The battle between State and Defense took place BEFORE shots were fired! There was no buyer's remorse...there was just deception by Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld to try and get us into Iraq. Powell knew it and was against it. Many of us common assholes knew it too. And when the people who placed there misguided trust in Bush figured it out, they were against it also. It was good to see Schuster and Reichoff rip the tool a new one.
Shuster was every bit as abusive and obtuse as O’Reilly.
I don't know, IB222. I never heard Schuster call the guy a pinhead or cut his mic...
"...the interview was Fox News-ish in its execution."
With one big difference - the interviews on FOXnews are almost always based on lies, mistruths and delusion. Shuster was speaking from facts, clear thinking and reality (what a concept!). Way to go, David! We need more of him. These sleazebags really need to be called out on their bullshit and squeezed tightly.
Ajami tries to make the point that it was wrong to leave the "fallen
soldier" Libby out there all alone. And why do you think he was out
there without Cheney and the rest of the crew? Because Libby lied to Fitz to
obstruct thats why. He lied to the FBI to obstruct and protect and it was all
calculated. Fallen Soldier?
Whoo-hoo! I love it. Hey Chris Mathews, stop being so damn LAME and watch your replacements perform!
Awesome. Way to go Mr. Shuster.
Bush Bites @ 111:
I DISAGREE TOO... this guest had nothing but talking points. what was he going to tell us??? that the war is worth dying for now after the surge???? it's the same old song and dance. of course if SHUSTER wants to get down to business, he will bring up the slicing of the PIE. they are dicing up the Iraq common wealth and selling it off to the corporate pigs. if the US truly cared about Iraq, they would have kept in place the state run (public)
institutions. The fact that they put all those people out of work to sell off the fruits of their labor to the highest capitalist bidder is nothing but another version of animal farm.
I agree with David Shuster. However, this was a bit of a hit job.
miss_kitty @ 21:
*giggle*
/nothing like a good poopcatcher gag
Shuster, like the rest of the media, completely misses the point. The bearded guy keeps saying that we went to war with vast congressioal authority.
This whole metaphor angle is a red herring.
The point is that the decision by congress to give authority was based on false information.
That's what Joe Wilson endeavored to point out in the op-ed that started this whole thing.
Let"s say again... THE DECISION BY CONGRESS TO GRAND ITS AUTHORITY FOR HE WAR WAS BASED ON FALSE INFORMATION... like the aliminium tubes and the 'yellow cake' from Niger.
When someone pointed that out, a campaign was put in motion to destroy them and keep others from doing the same. Scooter Libby was a part of that campaign, he did he bidding of his masters and took the hits for them.
Mr. Ajami, how about this metaphor: Scooter Libby IS a fallen soldier, a LOYAL soldier... in a vast crime syndicate.
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Shuster is awesome on Hardball tonight.
He thoroughly tore down this nitwit and it was a nice touch adding Reickoff to the mix.
He also ripped about the Republican nitwit from Indiana who was constantly repeating the "b-b-b-ut Clinton" mantra.
hardball@msnbc.com
God, could our nightmare be ending? Olbermann and Shuster on the same network? With their own shows? Almost too wonderful to contemplate.
How is this for a metaphor: Fouad Ajami looks and sounds like a terrorist.
Wow, David Schuster is ALSO an idiot, and makes Ajami look semi-reasonable. But Ajami is wrong too.
That nonsense about "tell us when you use a metaphor" is incredibly stupid.
Ajami of course is wrong in justifying the leaking of a CIA agent's name as simply "internal politics". And his use of the fallen soldier metaphor is wrong because it suggests that Willson and Plame were "enemies" whom Libby was battling. That's how neocons think, and it IS disgusting.
But the issue is why Ajami is making that disgusting metaphor... not that he needs to TELL US that he's speaking metaphorically. It is obvious that it is a metaphor. It's just a disgusting one. In failing to call him out the meaning of his metaphor, and instead suggesting that he's wrong because he used a metaphor without announcing it, Schuster makes himself look like an IDIOT.
Schuster's style is also extremely offensive.
The last time I saw Matthews rip someone a new one like this was way back in 2004 when Michelle Malkin tried to float that swift boat theory that John Kerry may have intentionally got himself shot in Vietnam to have a political story to tell. Those were the days.
It's always a second cousin or nephew that serves, not their children or themselves. Bill O'Reilly uses a nephew as his excuse. Just like a typical neocon chickenhawk, it's never their own children.
starwheel @ 131:
And the curly haired guy on with Schuster tonight sounds just like Oswald from the Drew Carey show.
Shuster lets Ajami get away with a whopper. Ajami says, "But this should have never been criminalized to begin with. This was part of a debate on the Iraq War. Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame were protagonists in this debate." Joe Wilson was of course part of the debate (sadly, after the war was launched; he, like so many others, kept quite beforehand), but Valerie Plame had nothing to say in that debate, and the idea that revealing her name was somehow "part of a debate on the Iraq War" is as absurd as it gets.
Shuster was on absolue fire! They should give Hardball to Shuster and let Tweety be relegated to his weekend show where he can speculate on Fred Thompson's aquavelva all he wants.
Remind about that liberal elite in American colleges again?
Guess it doesn't apply to Johns Hopkins!
Eli Stephens @ 136:
Quite so... as if the prosecutor is the one who criminalizes an issue, instead of the law breaker who behaves in a criminal manner and thus forces even Republicans to refer the matter for criminal prosecution, and thus criminalizes what otherwise could have remained an ordinary political issue.
But really, Schuster's performance here is an absolute embarrassment to any thinking person.
I posted basically the same thing on Think Progress but I believe that it bears repeating. While it is certain laudatory to point out how Shuster deftly rebutted this neoconservatives' argument concerning the fallen soldiers, I am loath to do the same thing to Paul Rieckhoff. It is instructive to keep in mind that while Rieckhoff will rail against Bush's policy in Iraq, and will lament over how many soldiers have died in Iraq, but yet he will not bring himself to then logically call for the immediate withdrawal of those troops from that abattoir in Iraq. One wonders how many military personnel must needlessly die in Iraq-perhaps 58,000?-before the hawkish Rieckhoff will deign to change his position.
Reickhoff is always identified as belonging to the IAVA [Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America]. I would be more impressed if he would become a member of the IVAW [Iraq Veterans Against the War]. But that prospect remains doubtful as long as Rieckhoff sees fit to rip apart someone like Lt. Watada, who justifiably recognizes the folly of taking part in an illegal and immoral occupation which consequently brutalizes and terrorizes the Iraqi people. As a member of the VVAW [Vietnam Veterans Against the War], I suggest that this phony take in the incredibly moving Sir! No Sir!, so that he might begin to recognize that those in the military have not only a right but a duty and an obligation to speak out and say NO to an illegal and immoral war/occupation. But I suspect to the hawkish Rieckhoff it probably would not matter. The last thing that he wishes to have happen is for soldiers to do the unspeakable and that is to think. His motto probably is, to paraphrase Tennyson, into the valley of death rode the 160,000. Apparently to Rieckhoff, ours not to reason why, ours but to do or die.
Shuster goes at him again and again. Ajami throws it back
"let me instruct you" hoping for a slight of mouth.
Shuster comes back, Rieckhoff "pushes back", Shuster
asks for an apology, Ajami questions why this "fallen
soldier" should be stranded because of a political dispute.
Political dispute? CIA and State against Cheney so you commit
treason and out a covert agent. After blackmailing all those CIA analysists
into silence you try and throw an agent under the bus. I guess you do when
the alternative is war crimes. Whats a little treason in comparison.
I remember Fouad saying on Charlie Rose that we could start withdrawing troops after the capture of Saddam was announced. Fouad's focus was that BS that Saddam was fueling the insurgency, and now that he was captured, the Iraqis would welcome us. That didn't happen. Fouad's op-ed on Scooter being a "fallen soldier" was even more disgusting, and I glad Shuster took him to task on it.
At LEAST fire Tucker, if not Matthews to give Shuster a show! Carlson's show is dogshit and literally unwatchable. BTW a quote from Ajami tonight's Hardball: "I don't like these prosecutions. I don't like criminalizing policy differences."
This is a rehashing of Poppy Bush's comments when he pardoned the Iran-Contra clowns "what I believe is a profoundly troubling development in the political and legal climate of our country: the criminalization of policy differences."
We need to stop referring to "9/11" as if it has some definite, determinable meaning. That just plays into the hands of those who want to use the notorious events of that day as an excuse for their abuse of power and theft of the common weal. Things other than the attacks happened on September 11, 2001. My second daughter was born on September 11, 2001. Why let the neocons own the day?
Don't you just hate it when the pro-criminal element supporters of the president uses the "This is such an inside the beltway story and noone outside the beltway even cares about it" argument? I think they've been using that argument even during the Watergate scandal to take the edge off the brewing firestorm.
These apologists for the neocons ought to be put in uniform and sent over there to fight. This guy is so full of it, he obviously has been smoking the Bush brand for a while. Way to go Shuster, about time we took these guys to task. Maybe Ajami and Chalabi ought to write a book together titled "How We Gave Iraq for Iran".
Just LOOK at the look in that man's eyes - this is someone I could respect (Schuster)
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carefulwiththatAXEeugene @ 2:
I submitted my comment before I read yours - the picture just screamed "integrity" -- but I like your terminology . . . "Laser beam Schuster" . . . .
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Scooter Libby was not "left" alone to shoulder the burden. He CHOSE to LIE TO THE FBI and to LIE TO THE GRAND JURY in order to cover up the crime that was committed by the White House. The CRIME that was committed by Dick Cheney and Karl Rove and by the idiot Bush.
He LIED, he COMMITTED PERJURY to cover up a CRIME that had very real and true consequences on OUR National Security.
Scooter Libby is a convicted criminal, but in the Bush "leave no insider neocon behind" White House another criminal republican goes unpunished!!!!
The only difference between Libby and Cheney and Rove and Bush is that Libby is a CONVICTED felon.
I wonder if Shuster is trying to be the next Olberman. Oh, that it were so. If reporters and journalists would actually start competing with each other to get the truth out.
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