Trying to frame the Plame Affair investigation
As we're all waiting to find out what Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is going to do as his grand jury investigation into the "Plame Affair" wraps up, the Republicans are trying to get in front of an issue that has the White House deeply concerned.Cartoonist Tom Tomorrow, who pens the "This Modern World" satirical cartoon strip, is one of many who has commented on the new attempt by Republicans to frame the whole issue in a novel way by describing the whole process as a "criminalization of politics." This is something that's also now been spotted by a number of bloggers as well as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Real Time with Bill Maher. The Republican strategy is this: By repeatedly describing the whole issue in strictly partisan terms, and rubbishing the prosecutor as a partisan hack, the administration hopes to neutralize the political impact of any indictments (e.g., of Lewis Libby or Karl Rove) by presenting themselves as the victims of a vicious new development in American politics. It hardly needs pointing out that nobody on the right was talking about a "criminalization of politics" when special prosecutor Kenneth Starr was going after the Clintons in the '90s. But then the Clinton White House never had anything like the discipline and message control that the Bush administration maintained for four years. We'll see how effective this new strategy will be. But in any case, from a media analysis perspective, it's fascinating to see how a political party - especially one that's had this much success - responds when, really for the first time, it is actually losing control of the message and the agenda.
posted by hdougie at 10/26/2005 11:23:00 AM
4 Comments:
Comparing the prosecutor in this case to Kenneth Starr is a wonderful way to put this issue into historical terms. The Clinton administration undoubtedly felt similarly about Starr as the Bush administration feels about the prosecutor. The only difference is that Starr truly was a "partisan hack" out to make headlines whereas the Plame situation actually bears political importance. This will indeed be a test for the Bush administration's clutch at media control - hopefully they'll handle it better than Clinton handled Starr. At any rate it will be interesting to see how it plays out.
-Jeff DeBellis
As with most issues of late, it seems the Bush administration has attempted to frame or control the issue. This time, they have opted for a defensive, "we are the victim" approach. With strong, hard claims against Fitzerald and fear of other indictments such as Libby and Rove, the Republican party is looking to pin someone else as the "bad guy". It will be interesting to see how the Republicans, and Bush especially, handle questions and statements. Seeing that the "criminalization of politics" was not used as a frame by the Democrats in the Clinton hearings, it will be a true sign of the Bush administration's power to control messages if this frame pans out successfully; given Kenneth Starr's definitive role as a "partisan hack" more so than the prosecutors in the "Plame Affair".
~Kelly Nichol
I can barely see through this partisan smokescreen the Bush administration has thrown out on the Plame investigation. It seems as though attacking the credibility of the new media is not enough this time around, now they must attack those within the investigation itself. Truth be told, Fitzgerald is about as objective as one can possibly get in Washington, not the same with Starr.
Now for the stream of malarkey coming out of the White House in regards to the investigation itself. The White House plays the same two lines like a broken record: "[Insert White House lackey of choice here]didn't intentionally slip her name, therefore it wasn't a crime." and "Any indictments handed down are just attempts to justify a 2 or so year long investigation."
What makes these two lines so effective is that they over-simplifly the whole situation, making it easier for lesser-informed people to understand. In my humble opinion, the right has once again turn to their staple public relations strategy of over-simplification to trounce a very complicated threat.
-Kevin Van Nostrand
Malarkey-----malarkey? Kevin, how old are you? I love that word, it harkens back to the early 70's and my youthful dealings with the Nixon administration. There is a theory in the scientific community that the earth's inner core of iron ore had diminished to the point that the rotation of the earth was actually slowing down. But, thanks to the Republicans, starting with Nixon's department of misinformation, who used political "spin" so much, that the earth's rotation was corrected back to its earlier rate. Not many of you noticed, not being on the planet yet, but during the Carter years the effect of the "spin doctors" was inefficient as they were thrown through a loop with his election and the total disarray the party was in for three years. Thank god Reagan and Bush I came along and to adjust this slip again. They did such a good job of "spin" that it carried us through the first term of Clinton and what with all the "spin" going on with their attacks on Clinton, we were able to get through those dangerous years of potentially falling off the earth. Now of course, we are right on track again with Bush II, but be warned, the amount of "spin" coming out of Washington is now threatening to increase the rotation beyond its normal rate and may propel us into space anyway. Our only recourse is to negate this "spin" with good thoughts of the 2008 election and if we think hard enough, to the point of sphincter puckering, we may offset this effect.
DJ Smith
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