Another week, another Russert Watch… but this Sunday’s installment will have a twist. Since I’m traveling in Europe and won’t be able to partake of my Sunday morning ritual of doing yoga while watching Meet the Press, I’ve handed the Russert Watch controls over to my great pal Harry Shearer, the HuffPost’s resident media watchdog (I’ve also offered him the services of my yoga teacher, but I’m not sure if he’s going to take me up on that one). There should be plenty for Harry to sink his “Eat the Press” knife and fork into this week, as Russert will be devoting his show to what the MTP website calls “The CIA Leak” (interesting choice of words; I would think “The White House Leak” or “Karl Rove Can’t Keep A Secret” might be more appropriate). Russert’s guests include Matt Cooper, fresh off his grand jury testimony, RNC chair (and Rove’s former deputy) Ken Mehlman, former Clinton Chief of Staff, John Podesta, and, in what the MTP promo people are marketing as the Beltway equivalent of a Beatles reunion, “Woodward and Bernstein together again." Seems like a great opportunity to probe the ins and outs of the Rove scandal but, given Tim’s history, it could well turn into another round of parlor games. Here are a few of the questions I’d like to hear Russert ask his guests:
For Matt Cooper: “Let’s cut to the chase: Did you give Valerie Plame’s name to Rove or did he give it to you?”
Also for Cooper: “Could you please explain to America what ‘double super secret background’ is supposed to mean?”
For Ken Mehlman: “On Friday you said, ‘It is wrong to mess around with an investigation for political gain.’ How do you feel about outing an undercover agent for political gain? Is that more wrong, less wrong, or the same wrong?”
For Bob Woodward: “You recently defended Bob Novak's claim that he referred to Plame in his column as an operative only in the colloquial sense of the word... and was not aware she was undercover. Evidence points to Novak being fully aware of her undercover status. Do you stand by your defense of Novak? And why?”
And now we turn it over to you, fellow Russert Watchers! Post the questions you'd like to hear Tim ask in the comments section and we'll publish the best of them before Sunday's show.
Advertisement