hi bud,
this question of whether plame was or was not a covert operative, has already
been circulating for at least a week. frankly, it smacks of the typical
obfuscation and counter-fingerpointing tactics that these jerk-offs use all the
time.
i was unable to download the article you linked to, but there are huge
ambiguities in the paragraph you cited:
-who are these 'experts' that were consulted? is it specifically stated in
the letter of the law that the "assignment must be. . .long-term?" if not, how
many experts would argue to the contrary?
-does the usa today article assert unequivocally that the law did not apply
to plame as of the date of Novak's column? are they basing this merely on
wilson's "numerous references"?
-how many references are "numerous?" do they go into detail sufficient to
conclude that plame had no further covert assignments after 1997?
-suppose plame *were* given covert assignments since 1997. are we to assume
that wilson would have casually made reference to this in his book ("my wife
had just returned from a wet works operation in venezuela. . . .")? or is it
possible, since he couldn't just blurt out the fact that his wife was an
undercover cia operative, that he inserted false details in his book?
i highly doubt that conclusions about plame's status as an agent can be drawn
from anything that is public record.
nevertheless, it's certainly possible that rove did not break that particular
law. that's up to prosecutor fitzgerald (a republican) to decide. would he
have chewed up so much time and public resources pursuing an investigation
that was based on a false premise? well, that too is possible. i don't share
the widely held view of fitzgerald as a tough, independent, non-partisan
law-and-order type.
so, only time will tell what comes of the investigation. but this doesn't
mean that rove didn't break other laws. there are very strict protocols that
must be followed when revealing the identities (or activities IIRC) of
intelligence personnel, and it seems pretty clear that rove did not (follow
them).
and, as you so rightly point out, that doesn't change the fact that the whole
thing is a disgrace (well, i suppose it's a 'dis' race, too lol).
cheers,
-chris b.
--- Begin Message ---
While I do agree that the cover up by the Whitehouse is a disgrace and the
Bush smear campaign that started all this is unacceptable, Rove probably did
not break any laws. Plame was not undercover at the time the column was
printed and had not been since 1997. Apparently, ambassador Joseph Wilson
and his future wife both returned from overseas assignments in June 1997
>From http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-07-14-cia-wilson_x.htm
"The column's date is important because the law against unmasking the
identities of U.S. spies says a "covert agent" must have been on an overseas
assignment "within the last five years." The assignment also must be
long-term, not a short trip or temporary post, two experts on the law say.
Wilson's book makes numerous references to the couple's life in Washington
over the six years up to July 2003."
What do others think?
Regards,
Bud
----- Original Message -----
From: "MH" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <Biofuel@sustainablelists.org>
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2005 7:32 AM
Subject: [Biofuel] Turd Blossom aka Karl Rove
'Turd Blossom' in full flower: Traitor in the White House
July 15, 2005
By Bill Press
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45290
Nixon had Watergate. Reagan, Contragate. Clinton, Monicagate.
Now George W. Bush has own scandal: Turdgate. Named after Karl Rove,
the top White House aide whom Bush calls "Turd Blossom" - a term of
endearment unique to Texas.
It started in January 2003, when President Bush, using his
State of the Union address to build a case for war in Iraq,
accused Saddam Hussein of shopping for yellowcake uranium in Niger.
Bush's dishonesty was revealed in July by former Ambassador
Joseph Wilson. Writing in the New York Times, Wilson reported
that he'd been sent to Africa by the CIA, before the speech,
to investigate the yellowcake claim and came back and reported
it was bogus. An embarrassed White House had to admit Bush was wrong.
That's when the Bush smear machine kicked in. Eight days later,
citing sources at the White House, columnist Bob Novak charged that
Wilson was not to be taken seriously because he'd actually been sent to
Niger by his wife, CIA employee Valerie Plame. The next week, Matt Cooper
wrote a follow-up piece for Time magazine, also based on anonymous
White House sources. Judith Miller researched, but did not publish,
an article for the New York Times.
That might look like business as usual. Only one problem. In this case,
the leak blew the cover of an undercover CIA agent working on
weapons of mass destruction. That's a federal crime. A special
prosecutor was named to investigate
who in the Bush White House broke the law.
For two years, Turd Blossom himself denied any involvement in the case.
He also instructed hapless White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan
to tell reporters: "I have spoken to Karl Rove. He was not involved
in this." Now we know that is a big, fat lie. Rove's attorney admits
he spoke with Cooper four days before Novak wrote his column. In an
e-mail obtained and published by Newsweek, Cooper recounts having been
warned by Rove to distrust Wilson because "it was Wilson's wife,
who apparently works at the agency on WMD issues, who authorized the trip."
And there you have it: Turd Blossom busted. On two counts.
Rove is clearly guilty of a political dirty trick:
attacking the credibility of Wilson, simply because he dared question
Bush's phony arguments for the war in Iraq. This is a pattern for the
Bush White House. They targeted similar, personal, attacks against
Richard Clarke and Paul O'Neill.
But Rove is also guilty of something far more serious. By revealing the
identity of an undercover CIA agent, he compromised our nation's security
and put countless lives at risk. That's nothing short of an act of treason.
Much worse than Nixon's goons breaking into Democratic Party headquarters.
And much, much worse than Clinton's act of consensual oral sex.
But Republicans don't care.
They've launched an orchestrated campaign to defend Turd Blossom.
In official "talking points" distributed by the Republican National
Committee,
they insist, for example, that Rove did not call Cooper, but that Cooper
called
him. So what? What matters is not who placed the call, but what was
said during the call.
The GOP cheat sheet also credits Rove with trying to do Cooper a favor,
by warning him about Wilson. The Bush administration going out its way
to help the liberal media? That, you must admit, is laugh-out-loud funny.
Rove apologists also make a big deal out of the fact that Wilson endorsed
John Kerry for president. Yes, he did - but not until October 2003,
three months after Rove had attacked him and blown his wife's cover.
By then, can you blame him?
Weakest of all, Republicans argue that Turd Blossom didn't actually give
Cooper the name of Wilson's wife. Give me a break. In July 2003, simply
Googling Joe Wilson would tell you his wife was the "former Valerie Plame."
What Google did not tell you was that she worked for the CIA.
That's what Rove let out of the bag. That's where Rove committed treason.
The big question is: Now that we know, without a doubt, it was Karl Rove
who spilled the beans, why does he still have a job at the White House?
President Bush promised to fire anyone involved in the Valerie Plame leak.
Why he hasn't fired Rove?
We know the answer.
Bush can't fire Karl Rove.
Without Turd Blossom, who would pull the puppet strings?
Bill Press is a political analyst for MSNBC,
a syndicated columnist, and the author of "Spin This!"
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