It depends on what the meaning of "name" is...

[Happy Monkey]

· Rove and his lawyer's denials that he was involved in telling reporters about Plame now appear to be at best based on Clintonian hairsplitting about whether he literally used her name and identified her as covert or he simply described her as the CIA-employed wife of Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, the administration critic that White House was eager to discredit at the time.

Am I reading this right? Rove is saying he didn't name Valerie Plame to a reporter, he just said "Joe Wilson's wife"? I mean, unless Mr. Wilson was a polygamist, doesn't that narrow the field a bit?

Or am I missing something here?

[bluecuracao]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

Or am I missing something here?

No, I don't think so!

If Karl Rove, Bush's top political strategist, longtime friend and deputy chief of staff is actually indicted by Fitzgerald -- which now appears to be a possibility

I swear I heard angels humming when I read this. Time will tell if PowerNerdBoy has any mojo left...

[warch]

Maybe they're going by his "intent" to harm her vs. intent to just be "truthful" and clear Cheney? But even then, being caught being unintentionally stupid with classified info is not so swell for the big guns. Why would Rove clear Cooper to reveal him? This is weird.

[capnhowdy]

hmmmmmmmmm... let's see here.
· Does Rove's current position pass the smell test?
let me think.......

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by warch

Maybe they're going by his "intent" to harm her vs. intent to just be "truthful" and clear Cheney? But even then, being caught being unintentionally stupid with classified info is not so swell for the big guns. Why would Rove clear Cooper to reveal him? This is weird.

It could be that the information would have come out in another few weeks. Most of the worst damages to the White House since Watergate have been cover-ups, not actual acts.

Rove might survive the damage, but not if he helps send a reporter to jail for months to cover his ass. If he knew that he was the source being protected, and did not come forward, that might be considered obstruction.

[glatt]

Isn't it still treason (I'm not trying to be melodramatic. I'm serious.) to identify an undercover CIA agent? Isn't the death penalty one of the possible sentences for treason?

Why are the Democrats only asking that he be fired? Why isn't Rove sitting in a cell right now, being interrogated by the FBI?

[Happy Monkey]

Because getting asked to resign and then hired by a conservative think tank and/or lobbying firm is the maximum punishment for a disgraced Republican operative.

[warch]

Its sick to think that Rove would undermind CIA wmd intelligence operatives (not just Plame but those she worked with that were made useless and/or placed at greater risk by association) at a time of war. That sounds like treason.

[lookout123]

Because getting asked to resign and then hired by a conservative think tank and/or lobbying firm is the maximum punishment for a disgraced Republican operative.

be fair, the same is true of any DC player. R or D.

[Happy Monkey]

At least Traficant and Rostenkowski served some prison time, first.

[Trilby]

I would still rather indulge Traficant over Rove any freakin' day. Traficant was a simple megalomaniac. Rove thinks he's god.
Traficant forced people to work on his farm. Rove wants a rapture.

He's filthy.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Brianna

Rove wants a rapture.

Actually, I doubt Rove is that particular brand of nut. But he does know how to use them.

[Elspode]

I'm happier than a pig in mud over all of this. The exact same sort of BS tap dancing that went on in the Clinton administration will now proceed in the Bush II administration. Bush I once said that anyone who revealed the identity of an operative was guilty of treason. Thanks a lot, Dad!

The reason Rove gave up the operative was because her husband had reported that there was no evidence that Saddam had ever tried to buy uranium (which we now know to be pretty much true, as the accusation was based on fake documents - looks like CBS and Admin Bush II are tied 1-1 in this department, huh?). In other words, Rove ratted her out to punish people for saying that his boss was either a liar or a moron.

I can't wait to find out how they're going to spin this so that it was okay for him to do it. I think it is pretty much going to come down to someone having to say, "We *are* the government, and what we say is okay *is* okay...okay?"

[Elspode]

Originally Posted by Brianna

I would still rather indulge Traficant over Rove any freakin' day. Traficant was a simple megalomaniac. Rove thinks he's god.
Traficant forced people to work on his farm. Rove wants a rapture.

He's filthy.

Rove has rock star's disease. He's been so successful for so long at what he does, that he thinks himself above everyone and everything else, and therefore need not abide by the same rules as the peons.

I wonder what color of M&M's he likes?

[Happy Monkey]

One thing I've never understood about the Plame story is how her CIA role affected the facts of the Niger case. I can understand that destroying her career could be retribution for Wilson's whistleblowing, but news coverage has often characterized the outing as an attempt to discredit the facts of the case. Does anyone know how that was supposed to have worked?

Super-secret government source: You know Joe Wilson's Niger story? Pure bunk! His wife's CIA!

Reporter: CIA, huh? I guess I can't believe anything Wilson says!

Were they trying to say that the CIA was trying to undercut the administration?