Crossposted at dailykos and myleftwing
Regular readers know the high regard in which I hold the op-ed pages of the Boston Globe, for both the quality and diversity of their offerings — Ellen Goodman, Derrick jackson and Tom Oliphant on the liberal side, Jeff Jacoby clearly conservative, Cathy Young Libertarian, James Carroll impossible to classify. And in the middle / mainstream Scott Lehigh and Joan Vennochi. It is Vennochi whom I wish to bring to your attention today. Her column is entitled Knocking on Cheney’s Door and is well worth the read.
Let me offer a few snippets.
It begins as follows:
KNOCK, KNOCK, who’s there?
Dick Cheney.
If you are President George W. Bush, you do not want to open that door. On the other side stands the vice president, who outed CIA official Valerie Plame Wilson to his chief of staff, I. Lewis ”Scooter” Libby.
Given the build-up over the last week, Scooter without Rove at first feels like Bonnie without Clyde. Rove’s escape for the moment means the CIA leak investigation does not — yet — directly involve Bush.
But it’s getting closer.
Vennochi follows this with a timeline, beginning with Wilson’s trip in February 2002 and ending with the July 14, 2003 publication of Novak’s column. That is immediately followed by this:
During a Friday press conference, special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald did his best to cut through the complexity:
Valerie Wilson’s cover ”was blown,” said Fitzgerald, and Libby blew it and lied about it.
”This is a very serious matter,” said Fitzgerald. ”Compromising national security is very serious.”
She notes that Fitzgerald has not yet brought charges on the underlying leak, but notes that he might yet do so.
What I want to do now is offer the rest of the piece – I am within fair use by how much I have omitted. And remembering that Vennochi is very much of a centrist, the words she writes demonstrate to me in how much deep water this administration currently is. You read, you decide. Here’s the rest:
Think of the indictment as a skeleton. Put flesh on it, and here is what you get:
The Bush administration took this country to war on the premise that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. When Joseph Wilson undercut the premise, the Bush administration went to war to discredit him. Part of the effort involved getting the word out that Wilson’s wife worked for the CIA and she was the only reason Wilson was chosen to check out the Iraq/yellowcake connection. In other words, Wilson did not have the stature or expertise to investigate WMD, and his conclusions were therefore irrelevant.
Right now, the price of gas and the rising toll of US military deaths in Iraq may seem more troublesome to the average citizen. But oil and Iraq are really what Plamegate is all about, as well as the lack of honesty at the highest level of government, and the willingness to do what it takes to silence a critic.
With Cheney in it, Plamegate gets a plotline that is easier to understand.
It’s no wonder Cheney issued this statement regarding Libby, who resigned on Friday: ”Scooter Libby is one of the most capable and talented individuals I have ever known. He has given many years of life to public service and has served our nation tirelessly and with great distinction.”
The vice president needs Libby now much more than Libby needs him.
Facing jail and disgrace, what will Libby give up about Cheney’s passing on of Valerie Plame Wilson’s identity as a CIA official? Will the information make it easier for Fitzgerald to determine whether the outing of Valerie Plame Wilson was done through ”inadvertence, recklessness or maliciousness.” And what will Libby say about Rove?
Knock, knock. Who’s there?
This door may yet open right into the Oval Office.
