When we reach a point where this kind of life-threatening, career-ending exposure, at the hands of the very gatekeepers designated to protect us, can be written off as “run of the mill” we have reached a point of brainwashing that will allow many other egregious activities to slip by the scrutiny of history.

Cheney’s reputation for gravitas was never more ironically true than his leaking Plame’s name. The only weight of real power Cheney has ever actually weilded that might earn him a reputation for gravitas was profanely sacrificed to protect his Big WMD Lie.

His one abiding consolation (possibly the prize they coveted all along) is all those no-bid profits his buddies now share in their off-shore bank acocunts. And from the impotence portrayed by the new majority, it may be too late to get ANY of it back, without an act of Congress and a Constitutional amendment.

Cheney’s “run of the mill” leak was in no way run of the mill in the eyes of future historians, it constituted treason at the highest level, against not just Valerie Plame, but this entire nation and every one of it’s citizens.

Don’t give me or anyone alse any more of that brainwashing “run of the mill” BS; since when is outright treason against nearly 300,000,000 people a casual act?

And Ralston had some intriguing observations about the leak of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame’s identity. As became clear in the obstruction of justice trial of vice presidential aide I Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Rove’s role was significant. He confirmed Plame’s identity to syndicated columnist Robert Novak, and was the first person to leak her identity to Time reporter Matthew Cooper — who then got if confirmed by Libby.

“Q Were you aware of any communications by Mr. Rove about Joe Wilson or Valerie Plame Wilson with the Office of the Vice President?

“A You know, it is — that investigation was so lengthy that the timing of all of the conversations is not really clear in my mind. I believe he did talk to the Vice President’s Office about it, but I just don’t remember when, with whom, the context.

“Q Why do you believe that he talked with that office about this subject?

“A. I just have a vague recollection that he and Scooter Libby talked about this subject often.

“Q. Often?

“A. Often.

“Q. During what time frame?

“A. I don’t know. I mean, I — it is really hard for me to say. . . .

“Q. Do you have any information about how Mr. Rove learned that Valerie Wilson was an employee of the CIA?

“A. I don’t remember. I think I recall he heard it through gossip.

“Q. Gossip from whom?

“A. I don’t know.

Then there’s “prosecutions for prostitutions.”

Oh? Richard Cohen? Scooter Libby?

Well, they’ve both definitely been, in their own way, committing “prostitution” for the pimps in the White House. Libby’s faced his “prosecution” for his “prostitution,” in which he covered for the pimps in the White House. Richard Cohen? Time will tell.

“But the underlying crime is absent, the sentence is excessive and the investigation should not have been conducted in the first place.”

Tell that to the CIA, Richie.

Oh, and Richie, where’s that after-incident national security damage assessment report that the CIA must have ordered conducted after one of their covert CIA agent’s identity was blown?

If there was “no harm, no foul” and no underlying crime committed, then this CIA damage assessment report would have been made available publicly a long, long time ago.

Since it hasn’t, Richie, then one can only presume that grave damage did happen to our national security when Valerie Plame’s name was passed around by the neo-con Republican fools as if her highly-classified covert CIA identity were snacks on a cocktail wienie party tray.

Perhaps it’s being done as sort of a “straw poll” to see if there is any support at all for a pardon or commutation?

And it’s interesting that Cohen is asking for the latter, rather than the former…when, if he really believed it, that Libby’s statements were minor errors or failure to recall (which the 12 members of the jury did NOT believe)…or that there was a prosecution gone amok. Either would call for a pardon, not commutatiom.

Nowhere does he show that Walton’s application of the sentence was over the guidelines or beyond what others get for perjury and obstruction cases of equal nature.

In FACT, as pointed out by Walton at the sentencing appeal…Fitz asked for a minimal term and asked that the sentence be served together, rather than sequentially…which the SENTENCING GUIDELINES CERTAINLY ALLOWED!

Libby got 30 months…rather than something on the order of 120 months that Walton COULD HAVE issued.

Cohen seems utterly unaware that the CIA has repeatedly indicated that Plame was covert…and the recent issuing of a declassified summary of her activities while she served at the Counterproliferation Division from January 2002 until the exposure by Novak states that she travelled abroad on CIA missions “a minimum of 7, and probably more than 10 times”.

So Plame not only travelled abroad within the 5 year “window” that triggers the IAPA (i.e. she was COVERT under the terms of the law having served abroad in that period), but bshe was quite active right up to her exposure.

Cohen, Novak, Hitchens and the rest of their ilk say that there were no “vistims” and no “crime”! What about the dmage done to US Security when Plame’s counterproliferation activities just in the prior few years were blown? What about her “suddenly” easily traced contacts? What about the agents (on other operations) that facilitated her travel abroad that were exposed by association? What about those that used the same cover businesses?

Plame herself could have been in the field when her cover was blown?

All done because this is allowable in the “dark game of politics”????

Libby knew that Plame was a CPD official, but…even inf we accept his tale…never bothered to check if she was covert or if revealing her identity to reporters and to officials not in the “need-to-know” chain (which he himself was NO) would damage any CIA operations.

Yet for 3 years he continued to hold a security clearance…in fact he may STILL hold one now! And none of these other leakers (Rove, Armitage, Cheney, Fleisher) have had their security clearances removed by this WH.

Fitz was blocked from pursuing criminal charges against others because Libby’s obstruction blocked his ability to ascertain whether Libby et al knew Plames covert involvement…and whether his classifying his documemts and placing in a safe relating to Plame was intentionally done to conceal the knowledge of his talks with Judy Miller, Cheney and others.

And remember that Judy Miller went to jail because she refused to speak with Fitz even WHEN Libby gave her a waiver! When Libby asserted that anything they talked about would not have been about Plame! But Miller KNEW…she knew that she had evidence relevant to a criminal investigation and chose to conceal it. She did so after the Courts and even the Supreme Court determined that she was compelled to testify. Not one member of that “liberal” court (not Scalia, not Clarence Tomas, not Rehnquist!) was willing to call for a review of the Federal Appeals Courts decision.

Still Cohen whimpers about the injustice of it all!

He’s right, Armitage, Cheney, Rove and a host of others should be cooling their heels in jail, TOO…but for the conspiracy of silence in this matter that prevented Fitz from discovering the facts of this case.

Didn’t mean to diss anyone. Us older Americans have trouble with the edit function on FDL.

I looked up Coyote ugly because I never knew what it meant and now I do.

rxbusa @ 255

Oh, well, c’mon. He lost me with sex is best with the lights out. Poor guy really needs a serious adjustment.

erh — actually, that was, in his case, the
one true thing he said, in my estimation.

just look — look! — at the guy. . .

lights-out, paper-bag
on, full-on-coyote-
ugly, right!? i mean, c’mon. . .

[stop me if you don’t know
the famous joke, here — actually,
i’ll just stop me, here. . .]
had to look it up…..

“A situation encountered after a night of consuming alcohol whereby a person, usually male, wakes the next morning in a strange bed with a sexual partner from the previous evening who is completely physically undesirable (see ugly, nasty, two bagger) and sleeping on the man’s arm. The hapless male would rather gnaw off his own arm than wake the woman and have to face the ills of his intoxicated choices the previous evening. Originating from a phenomena whereby a coyote captured in a jaw trap will chew off its own leg to escape certain death.”

he he!

end, to my uncharitable, looks-ist, comments.

I am outraged by the idea of a high level trial lawyer like Scooter Libby even contemplating the idea of lying to the FBI or the Grand Jury. I was shocked and angered when Clinton did it, and I’m much more shocked when the subject matter is something more substantial than a personal affair.

I hope Libby isn’t pardoned, but I am much more concerned that the Bush-packed bench will reverse the conviction. A pardon suggests that he’s guilty and he got away with it. I’ll be much more concerned if a panel of judges decide that lying to the FBI and the Grand Jury isn’t that big a deal if your pay-grade is high enough.