Today not only marks the announcement of at least one indictment in the Plame affair – that of Lewis “Scooter” Libby for making false statements as has been widely reported even before Patrick Fitzgerald makes the official announcement this afternoon at 2pm ET. It also marks the beginning of what has to be a strong and relentless campaign by the Democrats and others on the left to make the case that it is not only one or two “bad apples” in the White House who are guilty, it’s also the President and the Vice President.
Bush and Cheney cannot be allowed to distance themselves from Libby and Rove by simply forcing Libby to resign or by having Rove take a leave of absence, which he should rightly do while he is still under investigation in this matter.
The president and the vice president know both of these men well. They have known them and worked with them for many, many years. They know their characters. They know their motives and methods. Bush and Cheney will have no credibility in any attempts they may now make to distance themselves from two of their closest allies. They fostered this culture of corruption and deceit and they allowed this to happen under their watch – just as they did in their tacit approval of torture which they blamed on “a few bad apples”. They are as guilty as Libby and Rove and must not be allowed to skirt any blame or guilt.
If Libby is indicted only on the false statements charge, we cannot fall into the right-wing’s trap of minimizing the importance of such an event. Libby has not operated in a vacuum. Neither has Rove. No one in the White House does. They work in concert and their aim in dealing with their opponents has always been focused on complete destruction.
This administration has been one of the most secretive, nasty, deceptive, irresponsible, power-hungry and vindictive in US history. It cannot sustain that release of poison upon its citizens for an extended period of time without experiencing blowback. Now is the time when they are experiencing what rest of us have been for years – the pain of their own attacks.
Make them feel it.
Consider this week, this day as the unofficial kickoff of Campaign 2006; these “very, very dark days for the White House”, as Andrew Card laments. You can bemoan the fact that some of the Democratic leaders have not been as aggressive as you would have liked in the past. You can stay behind if you like. Or, you can hop on the bus and move forward with the rest of us who are seizing this day as a new beginning. Sometimes, you create revolutions. Sometimes, your foes bring them upon themselves. Regardless, this revolution is moving ahead with or without you. Its time has come.
