The Plame Trial

The administration is strainin' to do some explainin' as to how Valerie Plame Wilson got exposed by Robert Novak as a CIA agent. The current patsy is seemingly "Scooter" Libby, though Karl Rove and Richard Armitage are cited as sources of the Novak column in question. Curiously, both have yet to be charged with anything.

The Libby case is heating up...an indictment seems to be drawing nigh. Here's the thing: is Libby really the one that's guilty? As the former Chief of Staff for Dick Cheney, how big a role did the Vice President's orders play in Libby's actions? Did authorization from the White House come from the President or someone else?

Personally, and without much proof at the moment, I am convinced that Dick Cheney at least authorized it. Hence, he should be going down as well. I would certainly like nothing more forthisto be a giant, never-ending spiral of criminal activity that reaches up to Bush himself. But that's just the partisan in me talking.

I think it's been proven quite handily (and repeatedly) by the prosecution that Libby lied to a grand jury about when he learned of Ms. Wilson's identity as a CIA agent. There's a good graphic here that gives the defense's rebuttal. I flatter myself that I can detect when someone is niggling for details.

I'm thinking that this can only go on for so long before Libby decides that he owes no loyalty to the administration anymore and starts naming names. Karl Rove and Ari Fleischer are on the record as sources that squealed about Ms. Wilson's identity.