It's difficult to say at this point whether Karl Rove directly outed undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame. Newsweek's Michael Isikoff reports that "Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, confirmed that Rove had been interviewed by Cooper for the article. It is unclear, however, what passed between [Time Magazine reporter Mitchell Cooper] and Rove."
Whether or not Rove was among the first to out Ms. Plume, it's clear that once Novak had exposed her intelligence agency connection, Rove took action to spread the story. Again, from Isikoff: "Immediately after Novak's column appeared in July, Rove called MSNBC 'Hardball' host Chris Matthews and told him that Wilson's wife was 'fair game.'"
By which Rove meant "fair game for exposure and slander."
Fair game to discredit a CIA sponsored trip to Africa by Ms. Plame's husband--former ambassador and Bush White House critic Joseph Wilson--to investigate the administration's claim that the nation of Niger was arranging to sell uranium to Saddam Hussein.
The Team Bush assertions of a Niger-Hussein uranium connection have turned out to be false, and it's quite apparent that the powers that be were bound to use whatever means necessary--including commission of felony crimes--to ensure that Wilson's debunking of one of their prime pretexts for the invasion of Iraq got squelched.
If it turns out that Rove both leaked the info on Valerie Plame and lied about it to the special grand jury, I'll frankly be glad. His special brand of Orwellian propaganda and mass mind control is the most significant and dangerous blight on the political and cultural landscape of our nation that I have seen in my half-century of the American experience.
But more important than determining Rove's individual culpability in the Plame case is shedding light on the size and scope of the conspiracy within the administration to protect the hoax it had concocted to lead America into the invasion of Iraq.
I’m hoping that's what special prosecutor Fitzgerald is really looking to do. Funny how Fitzgerald--up to now castigated by the mainstream media for pressuring journalists to reveal their sources--may turn out to be the hero who unearthed the truth that the mainstream media itself failed to expose.
Happy Independence Day, everybody.
Jeff
i was not alive when watergate happened. but now with all these dirty tricks with rove and co., i feel like i didn't miss anything.
ReplyDeleteI was in high school/college when Watergate went down. The main issue was the extent to which Nixon and his staff influenced the Justice Department in the cover-up of the break in.
ReplyDeleteWhat I think we're about to see is light shed on the cover up of how this admin. cooked the facts to justify the invasion of Iraq--an invasion they had clearly been planning since at least 1998.
Stay tuned--things could get very interesting.
Thanks for stopping by and posting.
Jeff
That may have been the main political issue for moving to impeach, however, if you go back and read the WaPo/ Woodstein original stories - or "all the president's men" - on everything those guys did, they broke so many laws even before the Watergate break-in, they all should have gone to jail for a lot longer than they did - and Nixon knew and approved all of it. They had to cover it up because if they'd come clean they'd have never seen the light of day.
ReplyDeleteAnd Rove/ Lee Atwater learned at the knee of Liddy, Colson, et al. She's right, Rove and co. have perfected the Nixon goonies' tactics.
Oho, I agree. Rove and Co. learned from the kings, and perfected their shenanigans to fine art.
ReplyDeleteThis generation of goons is hiding so much, I doubt we'll ever find it all out. For one thing, the media and the public can't hold it. The Exxon business is a good example. At another time, that alone would have brought calls for impeachment. Now, it's just another freak in the sideshow.
Thanks for stopping by, pal MC. ;-)
Jeff