Clinton Staffer: '60 Minutes assures me that they raised a number of questions and concerns we planted with them'

The Secretary of State's office says it sought to "balance" a CBS segment on WikiLeaks' Julian Assange.

Another great moment in the Clinton emails: On January 28, 2011, Philip J. Crowley, then serving as assistant secretary of state for public affairs, sends a message to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about an upcoming segment on CBS' 60 Minutes about WikiLeaks' Julian Assange:

U.S. State Dept.

Madame Secretary, a very quick update. I just received confirmation from 60 Minutes that a piece on Julian Assange will air Sunday night. He will be the only person featured. We had made a number of suggestions for outside experts and former diplomats to interview to "balance" the piece. 60 Minutes assures me that they raised a number of questions and concerns we planted with them during the course of the interview. We will be prepared to respond to the narrative Assange presents during the program.

[Hat tip: Billmon.]

Comments

[Juvenile Bluster]

This is sadly not surprising.

[Faceless Woodchipper]

"Staffers are advised to start preparing their spontaneous reactions now."

[SIV]

lol!

None dare call it...

[Crusty Juggler]

Morley Safer is rolling over in his grave.

[PapayaSF]

Oh, I don't know. In the late '70s 60 Minutes did a piece on Arcosanti, some years after I spent a summer there. It was the most slanted, agenda-driven hit piece I'd ever seen. (Well, that I'd ever seen when I had first-hand knowledge of the subject.) They went out of their way to make the project look small and stupid and hypocritical. ("They say this project is ecological, but look! Barrels of construction debris!" Yeah, morons, it's a construction site.)

I've never really trusted the mainstream media since then.

[Crusty Juggler]

Morley Safer is still alive, that was where I was going with that. Gosh.

[GILMORE?]

jesus, you had me upset for a minute. And now i have a 40oz of malt liquor all over my floor. now you owe a homie.

[Pan Zagloba]

It was the most slanted, agenda-driven hit piece I'd ever seen. (Well, that I'd ever seen when I had first-hand knowledge of the subject.)

Gell-Mann Effect?

[iowantwo]

Every time I see reporting on an area I have knowledge of, the media, either gets it wrong 180 degrees, fails to report the actual substance of the story, or just lies to advance an ideological agenda.
E v e r y t i m e .

[Sevo]

See P.Z, above; G-M Effect.

[BuckFutter]

BLAHAHAHAHAHAHHA

[The Hyperbole]

...to "balance" the piece...

priceless.

[Brian]

You know you have the crew that you want ruling the Free World when they use scare quotes to describe their own bullshit.

[Cytotoxic]

+1 self-awareness

[Agile Cyborg]

What the fuck does that stupid bitch know about Assange?

[Crusty Juggler]

I know Assange is a good dancer.

Warning: Assange dancing, strobe lights.

[Rhywun]

Why in hell did I click on that?

[Hamster of Doom]

On the basis that anything Crusty links to is probably worth it, if only for the fun of inflicting it on some poor schlub yourself tomorrow. I'm guessing.

[Rhywun]

Though I have to reluctantly admit that he is a better dancer than most heterosexual men I have observed.

[GILMORE?]

lol

this guy ended up becoming like the best soul-funk DJ in the UK in his later years. I went to one of his gigs in london and he stepped out from behind the Dj booth and started to show everyone what chumps they were.

sadly, he was never particularly cute

[SIV]

"Old music is good, new music is shit"

Can't say I disagree

[Crusty Juggler]

You probably can't even whip or nae nae, grandpa.

[Crusty Juggler]

In my defense I clearly stated what was in the link.

[Rhywun]

Hence my abject shame.

[Agile Cyborg]

Assange balls should be tossed by my crusty brother....

[C. Anacreon]

When your ass grows mange, then you're Assange.

[John Titor]

"Almost no one dances sober, unless he is insane."

Once again, Cicero transcends the ages.

[GILMORE?]

"balance"

Oh, its just so refreshing sometimes to see an honest scumbag at work.

I spent a few hours trolling through the Clinton email dump myself... and my impression was that these "media-management" memos represented something like 30% of the overall Important Stuff that Clinton obviously read and responded to.

Things re: actual foreign policy issues on the other hand seemed to be forwarded to the 'relevant parties' (e.g. whomever at State should be 'dealing with that') sans any actual input from the Queen Bee.

She was generally far more concerned with what Amy Chosik was doing than Vlad Putin. Its also telling that the NYT put a junior writer with no experience on the "Clinton beat" to begin with.... presumably because she'd be 'manageable'.

[Rhywun]

I just find it hilarious that goes by 'H'. Queen Bee is right.

[Rhywun]

"she" goes

[GILMORE?]

"It" was probably right

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

That and that her email is hrod17.

[Rhywun]

I'm pretty sure she was known as "Hotrod" in college.

[Sapient Mulch]

Huh. I heard it was "Hellspawn"

[Rt. Hon. Judge Woodrow Chipper]

H-Rod, A-Rod... fulla shit either way.

[PapayaSF]

To be fair, the more serious emails are classified.

[GILMORE?]

You dont' understand - there are plenty of emails in the dump with info about country x or y, or this or that particular event, and the comment from H dog was "Forward to Joe/Bob/Mary" etc, because she clearly doesn't read that shit. in fact, the few times she seems interested in international events, its because of the PR-related dimensions. "what should i say" , "who should I side with", etc.

[LynchPin1477]

Who can I get kickbacks from? You know, standard governmenty stuff.

[Agile Cyborg]

Fucking cunt parked her Cadillac on the roof called the cult of our goddamn State Department which is obviously a goddamn circus of youngsters scrabbling among the dust for some fucking careers and shit.

[Agile Cyborg]

Fucking cunt parked her Cadillac on the roof called the cult of our goddamn State Department which is obviously a goddamn circus of youngsters scrabbling among the dust for some fucking careers and shit.

[Sapient Mulch]

Cyborg Squirrels

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

This is refreshingly honest. I wouldn't change a word.

[Sapient Mulch]

Maybe she could move up in the world and become Snowden's agent.

[Agile Cyborg]

These fucking whores are eating fucking top dollar braised livers next to an alley of dudes shooting heroine while they speech on the updrafts of loving the fucking idiots in the all the fucking tons of old cities while europe acts like a lonely whore with lingerie that doesn't fit anymore and the fucking middle east incessantly calls to be removed by a huge asteroid.. like, for real, the princes pray for collisions with asteroids just after they cum in that piles of super sweet arab cunt vag gold and platinum boobs and shit but, yea. after they cum, everyday. these horrible shits with billions beg to be beheaded by aliens riding asteroids and shit... so along little doggie

[Agile Cyborg]

Can someone please explain to my fucking face why that FUCKING shit app spotFY CLAIMS that Tanya Tucker is an original outlaw....

Tanya Tucker can eat my fucking crack and meth if she deserves that FUCKING spot. FUCK Tanya TUCKER.

[egould310]

Tanya Tucker is not outlaw. But she is contemporaneous with outlaw. It's Splotterfy, Agile. Take it with a grain of acid.

[Episiarch]

If anybody actually thought that this wasn't *exactly* how these fucks do things, I have a bridge in New York I'd like to sell you. I mean, this is *milder* than I would have expected. The scare quotes are fantastic, though.

[Yahu Wahu]

What a douche. I fucking hate people who CC half the company on every email.

[Brian]

Even through email, the cuntiness smells through.

[Agile Cyborg]

little puddles in tons of bottles on my fucking desk. if I add all the puddles together my fucking face becomes a spaceship my body wants to crawl into.

[Agile Cyborg]

I think beer is a spaceship and if you add cocaine and some pills your experimental craft can hover above planets in the kitchen.

[Agile Cyborg]

Assange is early morning mist above the July dandelions. The ultimate hero of the anarchist family man.

[Agile Cyborg]

Assange and Snowden... the real balls amoung us brothers.

[Agile Cyborg]

Fuck the goddamn government here. FUCKING pile of lifers that most never gave a single shit about the goddamn philosophy past their goddamn paychecks by the fucking union or private milliontards.

All fucking mortgage slaves like all of us on even anarchist bullshit because libertarian threads are full of mothers and fathers who don't tempt fate.. you pretend, but can't... I respect that.. I get lucky mostly because jesus christ I've fucked around with fate enough but NOT like the motherfuckers that Americans should be voting in to be their reps called Snowden and Assange and getting rid of the goddamn alley filth called the demonic presence of Hayden and his ilk.

[Dark Lord of the wood chipper]

H? Just fucking H? Like she's a goddamned James Bond character?

[Agile Cyborg]

Hillary Clinton is a little girl that was tossed into a pressure cooker at 21. Ever see canned goods made by the Amish and prep types involving meat? Its flat and fucking forever scared of being eaten because canned meat sits on a shelf apprehensively. Like Hillary. Hillary will be eaten but when? And canned meat tastes so fucking bland. Jesus fucking Christ, canned meat has nutrition but it tastes fucking bland and needs some jazz but the term jazz has never been associated with strange lifeless fucking old ladies right?

[Brian]

That's "Madame Secretary" to you, small peon.

[John Titor]

Holy fuck guys, what's going on here? I skip Reason for a couple weeks and I come back to find daily 400 comment threads where people completely jump off the deep end. Between Corning and Riven going nuts in the refugee thread today and yesterday's transgender thread I feel like I'm watching apes shrieking at the zoo. Is this why John hasn't been around? Did his head finally explode over some culture war bullshit?

[Buddy Bizarre]

*flings poo at commenters*

[Crusty Juggler]

We just need a group hug.

[Agile Cyborg]

we need a samurai fucking cutting our heads off, Crust J, and then eating a bologna pig sammich over our wriggling worm bodies, Mr awesome thingymo.

[Crusty Juggler]

I still say we need a group hug.

[JW]

Not with your dating standards.

[Riven]

Bring it in. ... Maybe not so close.

[Crusty Juggler]

You people. SMH.

It will be an ass-out, lean-in group hug. Gosh.

[LynchPin1477]

I say we just all hang out naked and see where it goes from there.

[John Titor]

I'm gonna need scans of all your bodies...for reasons.

*Hides plans for H&R sexbot orgy pit*

[LynchPin1477]

Pit, eh? Go on...

[John Titor]

I call it 'the Deep Dish'.

[LynchPin1477]

Reason has been doing a good job of trolling the trollable. Has anyone tracked down John's last post? I'm worried he had a heart attack.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I told you, he is working for the Huckabee campaign. It is his calling in life.

[Brian]

Is John working the Hickabee campaign?

[Palin's Buttplug]

John thinks he is William F Buckley but he is more like a more douchey version of Jimmy Swaggert.

[Brian]

I think about John all the time, too.

[Christophe]

No, but PB would like confirmation of his "you're all GOP'ers" theory.

Although to be fair, John was squarely Red Team.

[This Machine]

Oh man. Where to begin...

Well, John is gone. Maybe forever, who knows, but he sure as hell didn't leave any clues as to where or how long. Honestly, I kinda miss him, given how much people are resorting to using his arguments (or using them as strawmen) - hence the completely unhinged shitfits we've been seeing the commentariat devolve into lately. At first I figured it was just a temporary OD on Trump, Kim Davis, and the Pope, but I think everyone's just on permanent tilt right now.

[Crusty Juggler]

Your face is on permanent tilt.

Boom.

[This Machine]

Yourmomyourmomyourmom. Oh, and did I mention YOUR MOM?

[Crusty Juggler]

Well-played

[LynchPin1477]

Maybe it gets like this every election season? I haven't been here long enough to know. Or maybe Rico and ENB just bring out the best in people.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

I think it is. We're seeing the HitnRunpublicans prepare for the inevitable calls for us to vote for the GOP candidate or else we're responsible for the D getting elected.

Be fair to Trump! Don't call him stupid! Carson is a neurosurgeon!!

[Palin's Buttplug]

Exactly.

This cycle is the pure shit for both TEAMS!

Romney looks like a genius next to BenDon Trumparson.

[Contrarian P]

Well, to be fair, he looks about average next to him.

[John Titor]

My god, John may have been some kind of catalyst for moderately sane discussion. He absorbed all our unhinged-ness and made it his own. He was performing a vital public service. COME BACK JOHN, PLEASE.

[Yahu Wahu]

Don't wear out your hand patting yourself on the back for making your echo chamber even more echoey.

[Cytotoxic]

Tulpa go home.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Haha, just imagine how much worse these threads would be with John. Eight hundred comments, at least.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Gay marriage broke John's brain. It was a sudden, rapid decline at the end.

Corning is full troll now, so you never know what you're going to get.

Riven is irritable because she's not getting the anal that she wanted.

[John Titor]

I was around for Reason's gay marriage extravaganza and saw some of John's flip-outs, I shouldn't be surprised if he just kept going.

Corning went full gamergater nutbag before my break so that's not really a surprise.

Riven is irritable because she's not getting the anal that she wanted.

This is a perfectly legitimate excuse.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

She'll get what she's looking for soon enough.

[Riven]

Do you know something I don't?

[John Titor]

Riven, you showed us pics. Either there's a surprisingly large population of homosexuals in your state or you aren't trying hard enough.

[LynchPin1477]

This is a perfectly legitimate excuse.

Not when all you have to do is ask.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Did somebody say 'anal'?

[GILMORE?]

That's a man, isn't it.

[Heroic Mulatto]

All right. Twerk sub-thread initiated.

[GILMORE?]

Ok, that's not a man

[Heroic Mulatto]

Your 30 minutes are up. This last twerk closes the sub-thread.

[Pope Jimbo]

HM that is a baby step from being Ass the top rated movie in Idiocracy.

Now I hate you for making me realize how easily I will become part of the problem in the future.

[Heroic Mulatto]

movies that had stories so you cared whose ass it was and why it was twerking, and I believe that time can come again!

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Wasn't it a one-two punch with John? There was gay marriage and... something else this summer that really threw him into hysterics. It already feels like ages ago. I want to say the PPACA decision, but I thought it was more culture war. Caitlyn Jenner?

[John Titor]

I don't really keep tabs on John, but I thought he was getting a bit out-of-touch when he was getting all dystopian on one thread about the present and future state of freedom. I asked him whether it was better to have a scenario where the state moderately oppressed everyone or one where it mildly oppressed a part of the population while allowing the complete enslavement of another part. He said that it was a tough question and that they were about 'equal'. Then he flipped out when I and others pointed out that he basically defended slavery.

[Heroic Mulatto]

No more John.

Twerk.

[John Titor]

For the last time Heroic, I will not join your weird Twerk Cult. Unless there's some kind of Twerk Elder God made of a million perfect asses. In which case I'm in.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I?! Shub-Niggurath! The Black Ass of the Woods with a ThousandTwerks!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Wait. The answer is neither right?

RIGHT?

[LynchPin1477]

It was Trump/immigration. Anyone who criticized Trump was an open borders fanatic that hated working class white Americans and loved seeing them suffer.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Trump is how one misspells "twerk".

[John Titor]

I thought it was more about how we apparently had to take the moronic opinions of anti-immigration fanatics really, really seriously while disregarding the opinions of leftist fanatics because they're not TEAM.

[LynchPin1477]

Yeah, it was a lot of things at the end there.

[Cytotoxic]

John's last days here were like a crashing airplane. So much exploding, so much fire.

[Sapient Mulch]

" I want to say the PPACA decision, but I thought it was more culture war. Caitlyn Jenner?"

John and I did have a sideshow throwdown on a couple of threads, which ended with him telling me he was "sorry for my condition" and that he didn't want to talk about it. I think some of that combined with the Kim Davis/religious freedom discussions gave him an aneurysm.

[Riven]

It's true. /weeps with face in hands

[Heroic Mulatto]

Twerk more.

[John Titor]

Problem solved.

[Riven]

I'll have you know that this happened in my very own community. http://www.krtv.com/story/3014.....sex-slaves

[Heroic Mulatto]

What? He couldn't afford a ticket to Riyadh?

[GILMORE?]

ugh. i hate the beatles.

[GILMORE?]

wow, he even carpeted the dungeon. you can't say he's not considerate?

[Crusty Juggler]

Two years? The investigation lasted two years? I can't even right now.

[John Titor]

Is that an unbarred window in the back? He even fails at building effective creepy sex dungeons.

[Corning]

"Corning went full gamergater nutbag"

Someone mention GamerGate?

http://twitter.com/SumThingOod.....1646546944

[Migrant Log Chipper]

says you, she hasn't weighed in on the subject

[Corning]

"Between Corning and Riven going nuts in the refugee thread today"

What did Riven say?

[Akira]

... And yet, progressives assure me that Fox News is the only biased news outlet in the country, and that all the rest (like the New York Times and MSNBC) are perfectly fair and balanced with no agenda whatsoever...

[Hamster of Doom]

There's only so many "truthiness" jokes I can make before I want to start chugging straight from the bottle.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Is this why John hasn't been around?

John is working full time for the Huckabee campaign.

South Park - butters has "Maple Fever" - lmao. They are replaying the Trump episode.

[Long Woodchippers]

John gets 500 posts for NOT being here

[Agile Cyborg]

If I worked for the Hillary campaign I'd dip her in chrome. Like fucking shiny ass chrome. make her shiny and like a super sun hubcap on a huge fucking Kenworth and then have her fucking throw down some bars and spit fire and shit but the people who work with her are moldy basement fucks that were actually born like a couple of weeks ago with huge beards and massive cunt hair within like a few months of being birthed but what do they know?

[Brian]

They know nothing, John Snow.

[Agile Cyborg]

Brian, thousands of violins scream like orgasms in the worlds of physics and demons to know and realize these things....bro

[Brian]

Woah

[LynchPin1477]

Someone really needs to collect these. I see a money making opportunity.

[Brian]

Couldn't fake it if I tried.

[This Machine]

I believe someone here once had the idea to collect Agile's sermons and bind them in a tome to create a new religion.

Word is, they almost got finished with the task before they had their soul sucked into the void between the stars and now they wander the galaxy forever.

[egould310]

Hell is Chrome: http://youtu.be/FqDWVErme40

[John Titor]

HILLARY, YOU WILL RIDE ETERNAL, SHINY AND CHROME.

[Heroic Mulatto]

And to think, only about 2 months later, Crowley would fall on his sword like a good little solider.

[Migrant Log Chipper]

hilarious hm, we should mourn the loss of this competent public servant...not

[Long Woodchippers]

if Manning was a dude at the time, shouldn't the proper pronoun be 'he'?

[Agile Cyborg]

sidewalks pave suitcases to other places with potholes, loves.

[Agile Cyborg]

i fell into hell and gripped heaven down

[Agile Cyborg]

turns upend light
but what if light had memories
light knows more about us than even the genius can
grasp because light sees the hate of war
and casts rays upon the beds of lovers
and light looks past our
divided selves and simple squares fleeting
beyond the remains of the calling lines urging
the rays to call back amoung the trips amoung the moons
crack the rides time calls look for the suspension of lights

[Palin's Buttplug]

OK, I gave the new Daily Show with Trevor whats his name two chances - verdict is its fucking horrible.

The Daily Show died this year.

I know the conservatives here will rejoice. But a fact is a fact.

[Brian]

It's like The West Wing after season four.

Sniff.

NOOOOO!

[Cytotoxic]

It was awful since 2007. Death is a mercy.

[Migrant Log Chipper]

like anyone here gives a fuck about what you (don't) think....fuck off

[Agile Cyborg]

All the bangles on the angles on the floor
capture us living and practicing to be alive
at a right angle man. under the bathroom lumens
love, we live and love and wash.
the aisles next to our soap defines our fucking motherfucking lines
the cocaine on the granite is sweet and reflects our fine body
drying itself off under the lights of the right angle
which is a flat pyramid of eqyptians called your fucking face and mine

[Agile Cyborg]

all the reds puddle in the places and the spokes of tones circle
underneath the eddies of the eyes and the scared eyeballs moaning
the revenge tripping the silly c and bin men wandering the take strikes
on the light stone where the anvil is struck...

[Agile Cyborg]

silly c makes fingers cinderellas
and thumbs become orange creatures
not even agile likes to see but iI guess these cold
tip taps love things on silly c and princess benzo
into the wavering lights of ecoexpansive vines gripping
the realities coursing through you and me for sure and a cliff
in the brain...

cliff in the brain?
anyone reading this might have played all the fucking shit like me
and maybe played all the psychotunes
but once agile went to cliff off the brain and I recovered in 5 months.
cliff off the brain?

If a dude ever asks you... ask Nasa to go to space... cliff in the brain is WORSE than going to space.

Agile plays all the massive worlds of drugs and alchohol for many years.....

Never clip the cliff- apply at Nasa.

[Agile Cyborg]

Vice is sweet with their anxiety desperados
who are very fucking real.

Never read a panic attack outlaw on vice and not believe but
this is reason- the spaceship filled with lovely awesome crazy people i so
fucking love forever.

all of you. i love. i am tripping on like 3 drugs and i did shrooms and i am doing hi grav mini skirts and rolling in this fucking worldi world...........
man, you can't even know... agile is a trip eagle

[Fritz X]

Notice he classified this email SBU (Sensitive But Unclassified) with absolutely no legal justification. I'm surprised they released it.

[Timon 19]

It wasn't even properly marked for that, really. Always a header, both in the subject line and in the body. Always.

[Fritz X]

Nobody likes Hillary Clinton.
Nobody trusts Hillary Clinton.
Nobody thinks Hillary Clinton is competent at anything.

... and yet nobody will be surprised when Hillary Clinton becomes the next president. If that's not a sign of decadence I don't know what is.

[Palin's Buttplug]

She sucks. She is awful.

But Trump is a raving lunatic and Ben Carson is weird Seventh Day Adventist Creationist nut.

Slim Pickens!

[Brian]

You don't think it will end up Sanders FTW?

[Cytotoxic]

No. Sanders is not that strong. Hillary still dominates him. Hell, Biden is ahead of him.

[Migrant Log Chipper]

There is a better than 50% she will be indicted....so no.

[Christophe]

This coming election, forget about presidential tickets, and get a plane ticket instead!

[ant1sthenes]

Yep, only 330 million other people to choose from. Well, if we were a democracy, at any rate.

[EMD]

Sadly, Slim Pickens isn't running.

[Win Bear]

Well, you need to consider the alternatives...

Furthermore, an incompetent president isn't necessarily bad: he/she may be quite inefficient at actually realizing their political agenda.

[megaloden2012]

😀 Bitter truth is that media is electronic and press media is just planted 🙁

Ebola will get over, politics wont.

swamp attack hack

[Migrant Log Chipper]

your fantasy...i'll stay out of it.

[satta]

How much you wanna bet that Reason is one of the only media outlets that will run this story?

[John C. Randolph]

So, it wasn't just Dan Rather, eh?

-jcr

[Win Bear]

I love the scare quotes around "balance". Apparently, even H's staff recognizes the hypocrisy of their propaganda.

[BuckFutter]

CBS is the Grand Marshall of the MSM clown parade.

[Lorenzo Valla]

It depends what the definition of 'planted' is, and then perhaps what 'is' really is, or was, or will be...

[Sevo]

Faux News! Faux News! Faux News!. She calls it Faux News, 'cause all the others aren't biased at all!

[atheistrepublican]

Calling Winston Smith. Calling Winston Smith...

[Hank Phillips]

Don't laugh. Wikileaks data documents of how the US exported financial collapse to Europe. The same thing the Bush Administration used--victimless crime laws as a pretext for asset forfeiture looting--was exported to Europe through the good offices of the diplomatic corps and "our" United Nations. Snowden's information on US militarists tapping everyone's phones gives insight in how it might have pressured onto European politicians and diplomats. Bottom line is their crash coincided with "our" recovery of bailouts like TARP. Sooner or later the Europeans are bound to figure out what happened.