Former New York Times Staffer Judith Miller
Bob talks with Miller about weapons of mass destruction, erstwhile Capitol Hill staffer Scooter Libby and a heck of a lot more.
Covering The Capital
Not All Politics Is Local
If you’re looking for information about local candidates for office, you’d better not waste your time with local TV news. But one watchdog group thinks programmers can do better. The Media Access Project is asking the FCC not to renew the licenses of stations in Milwaukee and Chicago, pointing to new data showing paltry local election coverage by those stations. Bob talks to Robert Lichter, president of the group that compiled that data
Self Analysis
The New York Times and reporter Judith Miller have become a mysterious sideshow to the CIA leak investigation set to conclude next week. Something of an explanation began last week with 9,000 words of newsprint. The stories answered several questions, but raised a great deal more. Bob takes a closer look at the Timesian approach to coming clean.
Interrogating Pictures
A federal judge recently ordered the Defense Department to release a second batch of photos from Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. But the Pentagon maintains that the pictures will only inflame Anti-Americanism and endanger soldiers overseas. Bob discusses the FOIA case with Senator John McCain, sponsor of a new measure that would standardize policies for military interrogation techniques.
Leak Prone
This week, Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin pled guilty to charges of leaking classified defense information to a couple of D.C. lobbyists. But the feds aren't only targeting the leaker, they're also going after the leakees. National security correspondent Eli Lake has written that prosecuting non-governmental employees for leaking is unprecedented. He tells Bob why the case doesn't bode well for investigative journalism.
Water Damage
Just as Hurricane Katrina punctured the levees in New Orleans, it also created some surprising rifts in Washington. Republican loyalists are suddenly departing from the party line, and they are wading into the media to do so. Could it be that the Bush Administration P.R. machine, legendary for its message discipline, has begun to break down? The Washington Post's Dana Milbank talks with Bob about the post-Katrina political climate.
Advertise and Consent
Supreme Court nominee John Roberts gave what most observers agreed was an ace performance on the Hill this week. But it often seemed that his Senate interrogators were trying to steal the spotlight for themselves. In the Republic's earlier days, was the process any less theatrical? Bob discusses the history of confirmation hearings with University of Connecticut law professor David Yalof.
Gaming Blame
It didn't take long for people trying to figure out what went wrong in New Orleans to start pointing fingers at the White House. In response, President Bush and his supporters have attempted to deflect blame back onto the blamers themselves. Bob reflects on the phrase "blame game" as the latest attempt at semantic alchemy by a president under siege.
