Sen. Accuses (New York) Times of Endangering U.S. (Cornyn)

[sabra]

http://www.townhall.com/news/ap/online/headlines/D8EIB1BG0.html

(AP) Sen. Accuses Times of Endangering U.S.


A Republican senator on Saturday accused The New York Times of endangering American security to sell a book by waiting until the day of the terror-fighting Patriot Act reauthorization to report that the government has eavesdropped on people without court-approved warrants.

"At least two senators that I heard with my own ears cited this as a reason why they decided to vote to not allow a bipartisan majority to reauthorize the Patriot Act," said Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. "Well, as it turns out the author of this article turned in a book three months ago and the paper, The New York Times, failed to reveal that the urgent story was tied to a book release and its sale by its author."

Cornyn did not name the senators in his remarks on the Senate floor.

A call to The New York Times' Washington bureau was referred to spokeswoman Catherine Mathis, who could not be reached immediately.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. A fine job of smearing motives and intent...

By a frothing right-wing Bush Buttboy, on a frothing right-wing Bush Buttboy website.

Two for Two.

[babylonsister]

2. ...and the blivet has done no wrong.

What a big stinking pile of horse poop! Hey, look over there, blame them! The NY Times deserves blame for hanging on to the story, not for releasing it, regardless of their motives.:grr: The Patriot Act is flawed, needs to be fixed, and the NYT has nothing to do with that.

[mike_c]

3. sour grapes and bullshit.....

Cornyn isn't concerned about the revelation that the NSA has been conducting domestic spying in violation of the law-- he's only pissed because the revelation got in the way of the Republican assault on civil liberties!

[Voltaire99]

4. The only thing that has been "endangered"...

...is the effort to turn the US into a private fiefdom for overgrown frat boys.

[tularetom]

7. Actually he"s right the NYT is endangering freedom

but not for the reason he says it is. They abdicated their role as the free press by sitting on this story for a year because they were trold to by the * administration. Their actions are indeed a threat to freedom of the press in the US.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

13. Why?

Why did they wait until now? This is what I don't understand.

[w13rd0]

5. He's right...

..the Times should have released this information before the election. Putting this nation into Bush's hands again has endangered the US. Oh, and if the bill doesn't pass, then a bipartisan majority didn't pass it, dumbass. And how is having a handful of Democrats voting with all the Republicans, minus a handful, in any way shape or form bipartisan? That guy sucks so friggin much.

[TomInTib]

6. Cornyn - the worst Att'y General Texas EVER had. Guess who

picked him?

You are correct!

[Fenris]

14. He was known as "Judge Enron"

He made some interesting rulings.

[TomInTib]

16. And if I recall, he got away with most of them.

[Solly Mack]

8. Even if the story was set to go with the book - that doesn't change

the criminality of what Bush did/is doing.

Nor did it endanger America or Americans to release the story.

It is, however, indicative of a corrupt Press that the NYTimes sat on info the America public had a right to know.

And the Patriot Act is a fascist piece of work that should have never been made law to begin with...

It's a non-argument and Cornyn's just posturing - pretending to have integrity and indulging in some old fashion, yet annoying, sanctimonious self-righteousness

[roguevalley]

9. indict him and get rid of him soon, Mr. Fitzpatrick. The whole world

is waiting.

[JerseygirlCT]

10. I sort of agree with him

Except I think the fact that they held this story for an entire year is the problem.

Sounds like he just wanted them to hold it in perpetuity.

They cannot redeem themselves so easily by releasing it in time for the vote. But it's a small gesture.

[pretzel4gore]

11. can you see the trick?

cornyn is trying to 1) put the liberal honest people at nytimes on defensive, waste their energy defending their paper's motives etc, remove the debate away from the crime committed by the bush gov, and the coverup of the crimes by the times, in order to sell a stupid book...
2) give his pigmedia allies grist for their mill: the nytimes is exposing a natsec operation (the illegal listening to private talk of usa citizens who are arab(?) terrorists) and making the motives of the expose the issue to be debated on the pigmedia shows, not the idea that the nytimes covered up the bush administration illegal wiretapping and spying and god knows what else)
it's stealing candy from a baby.....
(ir's hard not to cheer on the bushviks, as they are the enemy of the very people who refuse to look at what the bushviks are doing to them, and instead waste time look at us!)

[chicagiana]

12. And if they had released it before the election as they should have ...

They would have been accused of publishing the information to influence an election.

Imagine, bringing information to bear when it is useful and topical. Somehow conservatives think this is a bad thing.

Sen Coyrnyn, if you don't think that Al Queda knows we tap phones, you're an ignorant moron. Their is a court that issues warrants for this. It's public information, look it up asshole. F.I.S.A!!!!!

However, I would like to congratulate your party for informing Osama Bin Laden that we could track his location by listening to the roaming signals of his satellite foam. Just one more great dead in "Operation Undermine American Security".

[pinkpops]

15. Crony and Kay Bailey Cheerleader are my senators but

I don't bother to write them. They are in somebody's pocket. I have to fake a zip code to contact any republicans that seem close to catching a clue.

[Gman]

17. Cornyn's day of reckoning is quickly coming

as the Indian casino scandal heats up. Cornyn's got a lot of explaining to do about how he killed Indian casino gambling in Texas while he was AG. I think that's when he got real taste of the really big money the RW throws around. Now he's addicted to it.

[TomClash]

18. Another clown

So if everyone already knew and it is going to come out in a new book where's the harm?

The only thing Bill Keller did wrong was wait a year to print the story.

[sduncang]

19. Cornyn is a hack

This is yet another attempt to change the subject. Cornyn is merely playing out his role as a surrogate for Bush. We've seen this over and over in the past. Question the timing and/or motives of the messenger.
Classic right-wing AM talk show or Fox News ("they report, we decide") subject material.

In Texas, we're all too familiar with Cornyn. He's merely a water carrier for others. Doubt he has an original thought about anything.

[ecoalex]

20. What a dick and a shill

[TankLV]

21. Gee - maybe if they didn't hold it for a year, the AWOL War Criminal

wouldn't have managed to steal another election!

Ya think genius boy?

Yep all this crap, plus the BLAME report on bunkerboy's FAILURES regarding 911 and other national matters should have also not been "withheld till after the election" so MORE people would come to know what a CRIMINAL these REPUKES are!

[Demeter]

22. That Report Should Have Come Out BEFORE THE ELECTION

and then we wouldn't have to endure any more of Bush's high handed, Constitution trashing ways.

[NVMojo]

23. totally right fing on!!!

[Miss Chybil]

24. It's ILLEGAL, Senator. You can only fix that one way and it's not

by shooting the messenger. If Bush wanted to change the law, he could have. The law as it stands, allows him to wiretap up to 72 hours before going to a special secret court for approval. That's all he had to do. That's all. He didn't want to go to the court because his wiretapping had nothing to do with terrorists. Why else would he be afraid to have a special, secret court look at what he was doing and give the go-ahead? What was he afraid of?

The NYT should be ashamed of holding the story, but not for the reasons you site, Senator. It is the public's right to know when our elected leaders are not operating under the law as we have provided them.

[madmark]

25. NYT sitting on story endangers the US; totalitarian senator should

seek work with the Chinese Communist Party, they'd love him there.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

26. John Cornhole's an Idiot

The shame about them withholding this info, Senator Cornhole, is that it should have come out before the election.