It's the Credibility, Stupid

"THE VICE PRESIDENT: No, I would agree with you, Rush . . . I thought it was one of the best State of the Union speeches I'd ever heard because it was broadly thematic and did hit on what I thought were some major, major items."

The Limbaugh appearance is simply the last in a string of obsequious interviews granted to friendly broadcasters. Since the start of the year, Cheney has made himself available for questions from the following conservative talk-show hosts, and no one else:

* Hugh Hewitt on January 20. Sample question: "All right. Yesterday on CNN, Jack Cafferty suggested that the administration may be timing the release of the Osama tape whenever bad news rears its head. A little bit crazy, but what do you react -- what's Dick Cheney's reaction when commentary like that comes out of a major network?"

* Larry Kudlow on January 19. Sample question: "Do you get a fair shake in the media? Do you get a fair shake in the media on the economy? Isn't the economy kind of an underrated story? But in fact, you and the President -- until very recently -- haven't done much to sell that underrated story?"

* Neil Cavuto on January 19. Sample question: "You know, Hillary Clinton made some comments, as I'm sure you're aware, too, on Iran, first of all, faulting your administration for downgrading the threat, then a couple of days earlier, saying that the Republican Congress is 'run like a plantation.' What do you make of her?"

* Sean Hannity on January 11. Sample question: "Howard Dean said the idea that we're going to win this war is an idea that unfortunately is plain wrong. John Kerry said that there's no reason young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, women, and breaking the customs, et cetera. When you hear that, what is your reaction? And do you think it puts our troops in greater harm?"

* Tony Snow on January 11. Sample question: "Everybody wants me to ask you . . . would you please reconsider and think about running for President?"

What Cheney and Libby Knew

Murray Waas writes in the National Journal: "Vice President Cheney and his then-Chief of Staff I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby were personally informed in June 2003 that the CIA no longer considered credible the allegations that Saddam Hussein had attempted to procure uranium from the African nation of Niger, according to government records and interviews with current and former officials. The new CIA assessment came just as Libby and other senior administration officials were embarking on an effort to discredit an administration critic who had also been saying that the allegations were untrue. . . .

"Despite the CIA's findings, Libby attempted to discredit former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who had been sent on a CIA-sponsored mission to Niger the previous year to investigate the claims, which he concluded were baseless. . . .

"The new disclosures raise questions as to why Libby and other Bush administration officials continued their efforts to discredit Wilson -- even as they were told that claims about Iraq's having procured uranium from Niger were most likely a hoax."

As Peter Wallsten and Tom Hamburger wrote in a detailed October Los Angeles Times story, no longer available online, Libby's interest in Wilson was no passing fancy: "Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff was so angry about the public statements of former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, a Bush administration critic married to an undercover CIA officer, that he monitored all of Wilson's television appearances and urged the White House to mount an aggressive public campaign against him, former aides say."

Judd Legum notes in the liberal Think Progress blog that three months after receiving the memo Waas discloses, Cheney appeared on NBC's Meet the Press and made it sound like the Niger claim was still plausible. "I don't know what the truth is on the ground with respect to that," Cheney said.