Instapundit quotes Hugh Hewitt as saying,
Ask yourself what would be going on in Washington, D.C. tonght, and on the network news, within the blogosphere, and in the morning papers, if it had been revealed that Condi Rice was the target of a criminal investigation for removing classified handwritten notes from the government records relating to terrorism.
I think that question can be answered by simply noting that neither the WaPo nor the NY Times have anything about Berger's pants-stuffing on the front pages of their websites as of this post.
(I'm "screen-cap" retarded so you'll just have to take my word for it. If this changes, I'll try to update this post with when the news hits the front page of these sites.)
I guess it's still early in the day and it remains to be seen how this story will ultimately be reported by these and other big-time news outlets, but I'm not going to be holding my breath for front page splashes. This story will probably get the same treatment as the "Joe Wilson lied" story: it will be buried. The verve of finding someone who will call the Bush administration liars quickly vanishes once the "whistleblower's" credibility is shot to hell. No retractions, just half-hearted, buried reporting. With all the demands for the President to release the August 2001 PDB, which supposedly would show that the Bush administration was asleep or willfully ignored warnings of the OBL's intent on hitting inside the U.S., blaring for weeks all over the news, the call for the release of the Clinton-era Millennium After Action report never materialized. It don't expect the Sandy Berger episode to fire up the press corps for release of those documents. Hell, they're barely classified anymore considering Berger may have thrown some of them out. If it doesn't hurt Bush, big media seems to just look the other way. Nothing to see here.
A "screen-cap retard"? Heh! That's nuanced retardation indeed.
Fox is beating the drums big time on this story, but if you surf over to the morning shows of the other networks you get the usual diet stories.
Posted by: Jack | Tuesday, July 20, 2004 at 08:23 AM
The Miami Herald had it on their home page (I was catching up on Dave Barry!) but now it's gone. NYT: Zip. WaPo: Zip.
Posted by: Pixy Misa | Tuesday, July 20, 2004 at 08:35 AM
NYT: Click on the Washington link, scroll down below all the "major" stories like "Threat of Police Pickets Adds to Boston's Worries", and there it is, "Clinton Aide Took Classified Material", as white a wash as you could wish.
As Hewitt suggests, if it were Condi Rice, the story would take up the first four pages.
Posted by: Pixy Misa | Tuesday, July 20, 2004 at 08:40 AM
Exactly. Still nothin'.
Jack's post on this notes the NYT front page exclusive on the new fashion trend of not tucking in your shirt! Is that a scoop or what?
How about the new fashion trend of former NSAs wearing their pants stuffed with classified documents? It will soon be all the rage.
Posted by: Rob A. | Tuesday, July 20, 2004 at 08:56 AM