"Greeted by a boisterous, packed house of about 900 people at Seattle's Town Hall, Wilson said that by publicly questioning the president's reasoning for the war in Iraq, he was simply acting in the country's best traditions.
"It is called holding your government to account for what it says and does in the name of the American people. We need to put this government on notice that it truly is a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
"When a government takes the country to war on lies and misinformation," he said to rousing applause, "that government ceases to be a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
"And that government becomes a government that preys on the people.""
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Leak indictments would be 'a sad day,' Wilson says
By SAM SKOLNIK
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Visiting Seattle on the eve of possible grand jury indictments against top White House advisers over the leak of his wife's identity as an undercover CIA officer, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson said it was "a sad day for our country."
Wilson said Wednesday he took little comfort that the men he believes have engaged in a campaign of character assassination against him for the past two years -- Karl Rove, President Bush's deputy chief of staff, and Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the vice president's chief of staff -- may soon be facing charges and possible jail time.
"The fact that this may become a crisis of governance should please no one," Wilson said at a private hotel reception before speaking in downtown Seattle Wednesday evening.
Wilson, 55, was here to present information from his book, "The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity: A Diplomat's Memoir." His speech was part of Foolproof's American Voices series.
Greeted by a boisterous, packed house of about 900 people at Seattle's Town Hall, Wilson said that by publicly questioning the president's reasoning for the war in Iraq, he was simply acting in the country's best traditions.
"It is called holding your government to account for what it says and does in the name of the American people. We need to put this government on notice that it truly is a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
"When a government takes the country to war on lies and misinformation," he said to rousing applause, "that government ceases to be a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
"And that government becomes a government that preys on the people."
Though Rove and Libby appear to be at the heart of the grand jury investigation, The New York Times reported this week that, according to lawyers involved in the case, Vice President Dick Cheney first disclosed the name of Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, to Libby in June 2003.
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seattlepi.nwsource.com |
