The Peter Principles: Irrational Discourse -- Opinion Central -- GOPUSA

The Peter Principles: Irrational Discourse
By Peter Roff
February 25, 2005

(UPI) -- Reasoned discourse is essential to the continued existence of democratic society and its institutions. Even at its most combative, it is generally healthy. No one person has a monopoly on wisdom or revealed truth. The free exchange of ideas is healthy because, if for no other reason, it serves to remind that everyone has the inalienable right to be wrong.

Every once in a while, however, the irresistible impulse arises to ask someone if they would like to have a nice, big, steaming cup of shut the heck up! I'm thinking principally of Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., who could do us all a favor by getting on intimate terms with a ball gag, the sooner the better.

Taking full advantage of the notoriety that comes with being a member of the House of Representatives, Hinchey has given a voice and a face to a rumor that has been circulating for some time in the darkest corners of the Internet. You know, the place where the ultra-suspicious-minded among us lurk, looking for ways to connect unrelated dots to prove some grand conspiracy involving the Council for National Policy, the Freemasons, the Trilateral Commission, the British royal family and the late Colonel Sanders.

Revisiting the issue of the forged documents CBS employed in an attempt to derail the president's re-election bid, Hinchey told his constituents it was all a political dirty trick masterminded by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove.

The issue of the documents was raised, Hinchey said, during a town meeting last weekend in upstate New York. "I have my own beliefs about how that happened. It originated with Karl Rove," he told his constituents, "in the White House."

His office told United Press International the remark came at the end of the meeting and was pushed to prominence by right-wing bloggers who want to "take out" Hinchey, but the congressman was not backing down now that the claim was out in the open.

"It doesn't take an awful lot of imagination if you're thinking about who it is that might have produced these false documents to try to mislead people in this very cynical way," Hinchey said in an interview Tuesday with CNN's Judy Woodruff.

It is not clear what's worse: Hinchey's claim or the fact that any reputable media outlet has given him time to talk about it. In the annals of media manipulations, this one makes the top 100. The left, despite repeated attempts lasting almost a decade, tried to nail President Bush on his Texas Air National Guard service. The stories were almost without end: He pulled strings to get into an elite unit in order to stay out of Vietnam; he failed to complete the terms of his service; he disobeyed direct orders; he failed to report for duty; and on and on and on.

Hinchey, a -- to borrow a phrase -- card-carrying member of the left, now wants the Washington press corps to scurry down a bunch of new rabbit trails trying to prove that Rove was actually responsible for the whole business. In the political trade, this is known as trying to have it both ways.

"We need to get to the bottom," Hinchey said, "of the whole business of manipulating the media that has gone on in the context of this administration." So the fake CBS documents, which could have ended Bush's re-election bid had they not been exposed as forgeries, were in fact another example of the White House manipulating the media rather than being part of the opposition's attempt to smear Bush. It's all so clear now.

And it's not just the media Hinchey wants to involve; no, Hinchey wants the U.S. Congress to get in on the act, too.

"The Congress is not doing its job," he said. "This is something that ought to be investigated by the Congress of the United States." If Hinchey is really interested in discovering who is attempting to manipulate the U.S. news media, he ought to keep his eyes open when he shaves.

He asserts with a straight face that a congressional probe into whether the White House is behind the forged CBS documents based on nothing other than his reading of an amorphous blob of circumstantial evidence is a responsible thing to do, though his staff cannot explain exactly why Congress has any jurisdiction in the matter.

"I think it's very responsible of me to speculate about where this manipulation is coming from," he told CNN. "I think it's important to speculate about it," he said. "I think it's important to discuss it," he said. "I think it's important to try to stimulate the investigative agencies to look into this," he said.

I think he needs to take a long vacation.

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The Peter Principles explores issues in national and local politics, U.S. culture and the media. It is written by Peter Roff, UPI political analyst and 20-year veteran of the Washington scene.

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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.