All The World's A Stage

That depends on what your definition of "name" is...

"Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers." - Karl Rove, 6/22/2005. (source, secondary through cnn.com, complete transcript here.)

"The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth." - H.L. Mencken

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."
- Bertrand Russell

On September 14, Congress voted "To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States." 204 Democrats voted for the authorization. Only one Democrat voted no on the bill. In the Senate, every Democratic member voted yes on their version of the legislation.

Just wanted to establish how Mr. Rove likes to twist facts.

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Now we come to Valerie Plame.

I am, of course, angry about how this agent was outed, and have been all this time. I have never had much hope the leak would be revealed. I believe that the only reason Mr. Rove is stepping forward now is because he is certain he will not be found guilty of:

(source)"Whoever, having or having had authorized access to classified information that identifies a covert agent, intentionally discloses any information identifying such covert agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert agent's intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined not more than $50,000 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

There are a lot of loopholes in there. A lot of room for resonable doubt.

(source)"I didn't know her name. I didn't leak her name," Rove told CNN last year when asked if he had anything to do with the Plame leak. Rove has never publicly acknowledged talking to any reporter about former ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife.

I'd say, when the reporter records this, (source)"it was, KR said, wilson's wife, who apparently works at the agency on wmd [weapons of mass destruction] issues who authorized the trip." that you've just used any information but unfortunately, I think he can get off on the rest of the statute. Can the investigator prove Rove knew she was covert? Can the investigator prove he intended to out her? I have serious doubts, though I'd be thrilled.

What really makes me angry though, are the morons spinning today.

Spin Spin Spin.

Here is a nice example of ignorance - PJ Rourke of the Weekly Standard: "Also never mind about the cover that Valerie Plame was using as a covert CIA agent at the time Novak's column was published. It was a masterpiece of hiding in plain sight. It would have inspired The Purloined Letter if Edgar Allan Poe hadn't already written it and been dead for 154 years. Plame was working a desk job at CIA headquarters. Furthermore, never mind that the secret identities of CIA covert agents are, in my experience as a foreign reporter, one and the same as the secret identities of Superman, Batman, and Robin: Everybody knows except for a few designated comic book characters."

PJ, darlin', you see, there really are covert agents. They may not be covert every minute of every day. The job's a little stressful. Sometimes, they know things that people in the office need to know - you can't just be ringing a covert agent in the field. They're busy being covert. If she *was* was WMD expert, it's likely she was called back to try to find some evidence for W's warbuilding machine. Yes, she was at a desk when she was outed. Do you see her doing interviews? Do you see her talking to the media? No? Wonder why?

Because she was a COVERT AGENT. She had her face out in the field. It's bad enough her name is out there - it puts people's lives in danger. People she worked with. People who helped our country. Possibly even innocent people who did nothing but have contact with her.

"Wilson says it is not even clear what supposed sin Novak's sources were hinting at. "I can't imagine what they are trying to suggest," he said. "Maybe that nepotism was somehow involved in my getting the assignment? That doesn't make any sense. We not talking about a trip to Nassau here, and I was only paid expenses."

Ambassador Wilson was appointed by George HW Bush. "From 1988 to 1991, Ambassador Wilson served in Baghdad, Iraq as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy. During “Desert Shield” he was the acting Ambassador and was responsible for the negotiations that resulted in the release of several hundred American hostages. He was the last official American to meet with Saddam Hussein before the launching of “Desert Storm.” He served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Gabonese Republic and to the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe from 1992 to 1995. Ambassador Wilson was the Political Advisor to the Commander-in-Chief of United States Armed Forces, Europe, 1995-1997. Ambassador Wilson served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council from June 1997 until July 1998. In that capacity he was responsible for the coordination of U.S. policy to the 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. He was one of the principal architects of President Clinton’s historic trip to Africa in March 1998." (source) Then, he started his own company.

If he wasn't qualified to go ask questions in Niger, as a former Senior Director for African Affairs responsible for coordinating our policy in sub-Saharan Africa, who the hell would be qualified?

[Wikipedia says: Niger is a landlocked sub-Saharan country in Western Africa. Just a little geography lesson for us all.]

All that said, I don't believe Rove was the only leaker, and I wouldn't be surprised if someone in the WH didn't give her name. With intent. And Knowledge. I just have the dread feeling Rove covered his ass just enough.

Posted by Liz at July 11, 2005 8:51 PM