Jeff Stein appeared on Countdown tonight to discuss his story. Because it's MSNBC the coverage is almost entirely focused on Bush administration/Alberto Gonzales angle but we'll take what we can get:
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This seems to me like hot air. Nothing will happens in a culture of corruption. After the Somali pirates and in absence of a run away bride, the only value of this story for what is worth, is the entrainment value.
This interview of Stein makes it sound like Gonzales was the White House official whom Harman claimed to have influence with that could be exploited on behalf of the AIPAC spies — the same Gonzales that killed the investigation into Harman herself. An independent commission should be investigating this whole affair, given that both Democrats and Republicans are implicated.
Entrainment? There are many strands which could be entrained usefully to whatever hot issue manages to hold attention. Great suggestion via Freudian slip. The Likud Lobby, torture, espionage, both international and commercial – so much ties together. Things are getting very interesting!
How far this story travels on tv MSM will demonstrate the remaining level of muzzling strength of the Israel Lobby. We shouldn't be surprised if this is the last we see of this story on MSNBC. I'm sure a stream of threats have already been made by Lobby leaders to NBC parent company GE as well as NBC bosses to stop anymore reporting. If there's no followup on Olbermann's show or first time report on Rachel Maddow's show, then the Lobby will have succeeded in keeping the story an inside-the-beltway rumor.
I was surprised, however, that the NYT today put the story on the front page above the fold. Nothing in the Washington Post.
Where's NPR? It's still PEP.
As has been noted on this blog earlier, Jane Harman is scheduled to speak the first day of the AIPAC conference in DC next month. If she shows, then she's confident no damage has been done to her. If she doesn't, for whatever reason, then this investigation is indeed serious.
Good point, seethelight.