Author Archive for: emptywheel
About emptywheel
Marcy Wheeler is an independent journalist writing about national security and civil liberties. She writes as emptywheel at her eponymous blog, publishes at outlets including Vice, Motherboard, the Nation, the Atlantic, Al Jazeera, and appears frequently on television and radio. She is the author of Anatomy of Deceit, a primer on the CIA leak investigation, and liveblogged the Scooter Libby trial.
Marcy has a PhD from the University of Michigan, where she researched the “feuilleton,” a short conversational newspaper form that has proven important in times of heightened censorship. Before and after her time in academics, Marcy provided documentation consulting for corporations in the auto, tech, and energy industries. She lives with her spouse in Grand Rapids, MI.
Entries by emptywheel
What Tipped the Balance?
/8 Comments/in Foreign Policy, War/by emptywheelJohn Amato provides some perspective on the most ominous development of the week, when Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani announced that he can no longer restrain his followers. Sistani announced this in the last few days. But, as one of Amato’s readers pointed out, David Ignatius reported that Sistani was worried about this back in July.
David:..
I'm Not Surprised
/in Press and Media/by emptywheelI’m not surprised by several things in the WaPo’s disingenuous editorial on the Plame Affair today. For example, I’m not surprised it relies on the word, “primary.”
But all those who have opined on this affair ought to take note of thenot-so-surprising disclosure that the primary source of the newspapercolumn in which Ms.
Rove's Silence Amid the Din
/in Press and Media/by emptywheelThe credulous journalists are making quite the racket, with everyone reading NYT’s “lawyer involved in the case” to be Armitage’s lawyer, admitting that Armitage was Novak’s first and primary source–something that Armitage has no direct way of knowing (Fitzgerald may have told him, but Novak apparently hasn’t spoken to him since the leak conversation, so Armitage could only go by Novak’s public comments).
Why Are They Afraid of a Living Wage, Clean Air, and Free Speech?
/in Bingo, Democrats, Elections--2006, Hollinger International/by emptywheelWell, the Republicans have launched their long-planned attack on the Representatives who will be Committee Chairs when we take back Congress. It will get nastier than this–the WSJ hides, at least, the degree to which this fear campaign depends on race-baiting and gay-baiting. But let’s look at some of the things they fear:
Energyand Commerce would return to the untender mercies of John Dingell, thelongest-serving Member first elected in 1955, who was
Primary Source
/in Press and Media/by emptywheelAs part of my new practice of reminding journalists that even my dog–McCaffrey the MilleniaLab–knows more than them about the Valerie Plame leak, here he is, ready to walk a journalist or two around the block.
For example, McCaffrey knows that Marc Grossman did not write the famous INR memo. Rather, someone in INR did.
Clearing the Air on Iran: Ledeen v. Cirincione
/in War/by emptywheelI’d like to recommend Teri Gross’ Fresh Air (Part One Part Two). She juxtaposed the Neocon crazyman Michael Ledeen with the sane Joseph Cirincione to show both sides in the battle over our next war, with Iran. But rather than simply expose Ledeen’s nuttiness, the juxtaposition served to show the holes in both the Neocon exhortations and the pragmatists’ rationality.
I knew it was going to be an intriguing program when I
One-by-Two-by-Timing
/in Press and Media/by emptywheelI mentioned the other day the story Armitage’s colleagues told Corn and Isikoff raises interesting questions for the 1X2X6 story; I’d like to explain why. First, let’s review the timing:
September 26: DOJ launches an investigation into the Plame leak
September 28: Priest and Allen publish the 1X2X6 article
September 29: Novak and Rove speak about the leak–Novak assures Rove he will protect him
September 29 (evening):