BaldGOP

ABC reports on the audio tapes from Saddam Hussein's office that will be made public this weekend:
The tapes also reveal Iraq 's persistent efforts to hide information about weapons of mass destruction programs from U.N. inspectors well into the 1990s. In one pivotal tape-recorded meeting, which occurred in late April or May of 1995, Saddam and his senior aides discuss the fact that U.N. inspectors had uncovered evidence of Iraq's biological weapons program—a program whose existence Iraq had previously denied.
At one point Hussein Kamel, Saddam's son-in-law and the man who was in charge of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction efforts can be heard on the tapes, speaking openly about hiding information from the U.N.
"We did not reveal all that we have," Kamel says in the meeting. "Not the type of weapons, not the volume of the materials we imported, not the volume of the production we told them about, not the volume of use. None of this was correct."
BaldGOP

BaldGOP

It’s quite interesting to see what stories the national media will latch onto and elevate to a matter of “national importance.” Since the Saturday afternoon accidental shooting of attorney Harry Whittington by Vice President Cheney while hunting quail, the incident has dominated the headlines and put the Washington press corp in a tizzy.
In Monday’s press briefing, White House spokesman Scott McClellan was pelted with questions from “concerned” members of the White House press corp as to why there was a delay in reporting the incident. The shooting, which occurred Saturday afternoon, was first reported by the Corpus Christ Caller-Times in Texas before it was picked up by the national media.

Now, members of the national media are screaming because they were “left out.” During the press briefing, one reporter asked:
But let’s just be clear here. The Vice President of the United States accidentally shoots a man and he feels that it’s appropriate for a ranch owner who witnessed this to tell the local Corpus Christi newspaper, and not the White House press corps at large, or notify the public in a national way?
McClellan responded by noting, “Well, I think we all know that once it is made public, then it’s going to be news and all of you all are going to be seeking that information. And the Vice President’s Office was ready to provide additional information to reporters.”
Reporters then went on to ask whether Vice President Cheney followed all appropriate safety procedures. What does this have to do with the White House and the nation’s business? Cheney was never in any danger during the trip, and it was a personal occasion, not an exercise of his office. However, since the national media were “slighted” by the White House, all questions became fair game.
At one point, a White House reporter questioned McClellan whether he knew that the Vice President’s Office was “turning it over to a private citizen to inform people?” Hmmm… you mean someone who was actually there at the scene is not capable or qualified of relaying to local media what actually happened? Is that an activity only reserved for the Washington press corp?
Reporters then questioned the White House press secretary on “what did the President know, and when did he know it?”
You’ve got to clarify this timeline, Scott; it just doesn’t make any sense.
When did the President know that the Vice President was the shooter? What time?
Who cares?!? Except for those with bruised egos from not being “in the loop,” most people acknowledge that this national story is really a non-story. They should get over it and move on!