YearlyKos Convention 2006 panel on the Bush Administration and the disclosure of CIA Officer Valerie Plame's identity.
Former U.S. Ambassador Joe Wilson discusses the Bush Administration's role in the 2003 leak of the identity of his wife, the former Valerie Plame, as a covert CIA officer, the subsequent investigation by attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the indictment of Scooter Libby and the role journalists have played in the entire saga. Video coverage by Link TV.
Moderated by Jane Hamsher with guests Washingtonpost.com columnist Dan Froomkin, erstwhile CIA operative Larry Johnson, former attorney and writer Christy Smith and DailyKos contributor Marcy Wheeler.
The panel also looks at how bloggers and the netroots have gained traction in the political arena and the timely distribution of information. It also examines some of the shortcomings and degradation in traditional journalism and how a surge in mainstream media blunders has provided momentum for the ever-growing blog community.
The blogosphere represents a welcome revolution in journalism. For too long, mainstream media has had a monopoly and, as a consequence, has become fat and lazy. Competition is a good thing. Our democracy is stronger for the blogs. - Joe Wilson
Link TV coverage of YearlyKos 2006 is made possible by the support of Surdna Foundation, Leland Fikes Foundation and Care2.com.
Bio
Dan Froomkin
Dan Froomkin writes washingtonpost.com's White House Briefing column, a pugnacious daily anthology of White House-related items from news Web sites, blogs and other sources.
He is also deputy editor of NiemanWatchdog.org, a Web site from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University that encourages reporters to ask more probing questions and hold the powerful accountable.
He previously worked as a producer and editor at washingtonpost.com. I joined the Web site in 1997 as senior producer for politics, was later Metro editor, and was named editor in 2000, serving three years as the second-in-command of editorial operations.
Before that, He spent ten years as a daily newspaper reporter for the Winston-Salem Journal, the Miami Herald, and the Orange County Register. In 1995, he was awarded a Michigan Journalism Fellowship (ergo this Web page.) In 1996, he served as Editor of New Media for Education Week. He's also taught journalism at the American University Graduate School of Communication and the Poynter Institute.
Larry C. Johnson
Larry C. Johnson is CEO and co-founder of BERG Associates, LLC, an international business-consulting firm that helps multinational corporations and financial institutions identify strategic opportunities, manage risks, and counter threats posed by terrorism and money laundering.
Mr. Johnson, who worked previously with the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. State Department’s Office of Counter Terrorism, is a recognized expert in the fields of terrorism, aviation security, crisis and risk management.
Mr. Johnson has analyzed terrorist incidents for a variety of media including the Jim Lehrer News Hour, National Public Radio, ABC's Nightline, NBC's Today Show, the New York Times, CNN and the BBC. He was even employed as a Fox News Contributor during 2002. Mr. Johnson has authored several articles for publications, including Security Management Magazine, the New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times. He has lectured on terrorism and aviation security around the world, including the Center for Research and Strategic Studies at the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, France. He represented the U.S. Government at the July 1996 OSCE Terrorism Conference in Vienna, Austria.
Chris Hardin Smith
Christy Hardin Smith is a former attorney who now blogs at the progressive political blog Firedoglake.com (formerly as ReddHedd). Christy earned her undergraduate degree at Smith College, in American Studies and Government, concentrating in American Foreign Policy. She then went on to graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania in the field of political science and international relations/security studies, before attending law school at the College of Law at West Virginia University, where she was Associate Editor of the Law Review. Christy was a partner in her own firm for several years, where she practiced in a number of areas including criminal defense, child abuse and neglect representation, domestic law, and civil litigation. She was an attorney for a small municipality before switching hats to become a state prosecutor, has extensive trial experience, and has worked for years both in and out of the court system to improve the lives of at-risk children.
Marcy Wheeler
Marcy Wheeler, who blogs as emptywheel at DailyKos and the Next Hurrah, first came to the CIA leak investigation from an academic perspective. She's an ex-professor, and part of her academic research concerned dysfunctional public spheres. But in the course of writing a seven-part series on Judy Miller's reporting from Iraq, she became obsessed with the story about the leak. She is Vice Chair of her local county Democratic party in SE Michigan and works as a business writing consultant.
Amb. Joseph Wilson
Ambassador Joseph Wilson served in the American Foreign Service for 23 years. He was the acting ambassador to Baghdad in the first Gulf War, ambassador to two African nations and Senior Director for Africa in the Clinton administration. He is the author of the bestselling “Politics of Truth” and is married to the former Valerie Plame.
One of the most interesting side stories in the whole affair is how totally discredited Joe Wilson has become. A wide range of organizations- perhaps most notably the Washington Post- have documented his awkward trail of misrepresentations and outright lies. The man has some commendable qualities but seems, above all else, to be a demagogue and a poser.
With respect to Savage B's comment above: it requires either (a) a total lack of historical perspective or (b) a fundamental ignorance about the meaning of the term "dictatorship" to suggest (with a straight face) that we are anywhere near or remotely approaching a "full dictatorship." If you'd like some reading references on what dictatorship is actually like you might look into some of my mentor Robert Service's (LSE and Oxford) excellent work on 20th century Russia. Overheated rhetoric and the haphazard application of words you apparently don't understand don't do much for your argument.
Wilson's claims are riddled with inconsistencies. A British Parliamentary commission and a bi-partisan US Senate report have verified the claims that Iraq attempted to buy yellowcake in Niger.
How many controversies and illegal acts commited by the current administration will the the mainstream media cover-up? This only furthers the country closer to a full on dictatorship. One mainstream reporter in Washington covering this case?
member. 
