I haven’t commented much on the "outing" of Valerie Plame because, frankly, very little in this matter is clear. In fact, it is so unclear that the various and varied reports on it, as well as statements by the reporter Cooper, are not only contradictory, but, if I had to bet the ranch on it, I would say are actually pointing away from people like Rove and Libby, back to Wilson, and even some reporters. I am guessing that there will be some large surprises here when all is made public. Note this from
Time
about a House committee showing interest in the now famous State Department memo. The memo seems to say that Plame suggested that her husband go to Niger. Wilson has always denied this. So far, despite Demo partisan huffing and puffings, the only that is clear is that Wilson is as false as water, as the Poet might say.
Dr. Schramm... Please... I know you are very right wing, but have always beleived you were very principled. The reports that have come out have undoubtedly said that Rove and Libby either said that "Wilson’s wife" was a CIA agent or confirmed it. BTW - the outrage really should be pointed at Robert Novak who did put her name in print as a CIA agent. It doesn’t matter if she was "undercover" in the last 5 or 7 years for it to be detrimental to national defense and the intelligence community’s network of covert operations. Please don’t join the "let’s attack someone else propaganda bunch" It really is beneath you.
No, Nick, the "outrage" is that Wilson got his "gig" using his wife’s influence, lied about it, and used the whole thing to create problems for George W. Bush. What kind of man plays fast and loose with his wife’s career to score a few political points? A scumbag, that’s what kind of man.
This is going to blow over, and Joe Wilson will go down in history as the liar and partisan that he is.
If Plame was so secret then her husband would not have injected himself into such a public argument by writing an op-ed in the NYT and going on countless talk shows.
To Nick: The only thing I agree with you on is your comment about Novak. It is his source (I think) that counts, and we know nothing. Why is he not in jail? Why is he not taking a "principled" stand? Mystery. I also know something about Wilson’s reputation, and it’s not pretty. I don’t trust anything about him. Having said that, I understand that we are all swimming in murky waters here, and it may never be perfectly clear.
But it IS clear that Rove leaked something and that he didn’t just do this as a public service. We can quibble about the legality of the whole matter, but it’s obvious that the White House was trying to smear Wilson. If he’s as awful as Dain insists, why did they even need to do that? They could have let Wilson’s supposed naughty deeds speak for themselves. But SOMEONE leaked Plame’s identity, which is really screwed up. Aren’t any of you conservative guys bothered by the White House’s dishonest tactics?
I think saying, "Well, the whole thing is murky, so who knows?" is specious. Yeah, it’s murky because the White House will only say "We can’t answer any questions until the investigation is over." I don’t think we should accept that "it may never be perfectly clear." Why shouldn’t it be?
Phil, as far as I can tell, the media reported that Wilson went to Niger on Cheney’s say-so. When the reporter asked Rove about it, he said no, that Wilson’s wife, who he thought worked for the CIA, had arranged for Wilson to go to Niger (he had heard it from the media!). I don’t think that shows malice...just correction of one of Joe’s many, many lies. Why should Joe get a free pass at slandering Cheney...particularly when his wife wasn’t an overseas covert agent at all!
Phil,
Please read Wilson’s NYT op-ed piece from July 2003. In it he spent a lot of space on his qualifications, and the fact that he was sent to Niger by the CIA at the request of Chaney’s office. In other words, he implied that he was closely affiliated with the Bush White House and he is now coming out to dubunk Bush’s claims on Iraq and uranium.
Isn’t the White House allowed to defend itself? Wilson was NOT an insider as he implied but sent to Niger at the suggestion of his wife. NOT an insider.
It turns out Wilson’s trip to Niger actually bolstered Iraq uranium claims, and after the invasion uranium was found in Iraq anyway.
In the face of these lies (from Wilson) it is unfair to expect the White House to keep quiet and cede the argument to the Left.
Phil, you really should just give up on this one right now. First, if we had video and audio of Rove on the phone with a reporter revealing Plame’s status, and he acknowledged that it was secret info., and her status covert, these guys would start saying it was fabricated footage, made by Hollywood liberals. Second, to these guys loyalty to their group ALWAYS trumps principle. Now, normally they might not like the idea of CIA agents being outed, but if it’s the wife of a guy who "betrayed" the president by not playing along with the uranium story, well then, he’s gotta be punished somehow, even if their "principles" have to be tucked in a drawer (at an undisclosed location) for an indefinite period. These guys still think Nixon was as pure as the driven snow, too, so there’s just no point in wasting your time on this...
Well, what I’ve heard is that Rove is planning to seek asylum in "Scarborough Country." Some comic relief.
Dr. Schramm,
Thank you for your response to me.