Gonna knock you right on the head.
-John Lennon
This means you, Turd Blossom. After all, your boss said the leaker of a CIA officer's identity would be fired.
For two years, the White House has insisted that presidential adviser Karl Rove had nothing to do with the leak of a CIA officer's identity. And President Bush said the leaker would be fired.Your treasonous train has reached the end of the line.
By linking the potential political fallout to the legal issue at hand, the White House can then hem, haw, and stall -- claiming that we need to let the legal system run its course -- and then hope that if special prosecutor Fitzgerald can't clear the high legal bar and indict Rove, it'll be able to claim that he's somehow been exonerated for his political sins as well.And poor stonewalling Scottie, or should I say stuttering Scottie is paying the price.
Which, of course, is utter nonsense. Because while the legal jury may be out, the political jury is definitely in… Whether someone in a position of power and authority has acted inappropriately is not a matter of narrow legal definitions and fine semantic distinctions. Given what we already know about Rove's conversations, we can, right now, without even a single new revelation, and without reservation, say this: he is guilty of behavior that dishonored the White House and that placed the dirty politics of vindictive retribution over national security.
We'll see, Karl. Got the message? We have a White House press corps again. Let the 'Worse than Watergate' discussions begin!The first volley (and many subsequent ones) came from CBS's John Roberts, who asked whether the President should revoke Karl Rove's security clearance. As soon as the question started and McClellan started to answer, an explosion of camera shutters began. They wanted to capture every split-second of the roasting that was about to follow. Every gesture and pointed look earned another round of furious photography.
Unsatisfied with the answer, Roberts asked the first of many follow-ups. McClellan finally offered, "Any individual who works here at the White House has the President's confidence."
NBC's David Gregory, who yesterday called McClellan's evasions "ridiculous," took up the cause next. When McClellan said that he was sure the American people would understand why he couldn't answer questions about an ongoing investigation, Gregory shot back: "We'll see."
That the Bush administration would risk breaking the law with an act as self-destructive to American interests as revealing a CIA officer's identity smacks of desperation. It makes you wonder just what else might have been done to suppress embarrassing election-season questions about the war that has mired the United States in Iraq even as the true perpetrators of 9/11 resurface in Madrid, London and who knows where else.Worse than Watergate? The previous RNC chairman thinks so.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Don't you think it's more serious than Watergate, when you think about it?Have fun, Scottie!
RNC CHAIRMAN ED GILLESPIE: I think if the allegation is true, to reveal the identity of an undercover CIA operative -- it's abhorrent, and it should be a crime, and it is a crime.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: It'd be worse than Watergate, wouldn't it?
GILLESPIE: It's -- Yeah, I suppose in terms of the real world implications of it. It's not just politics.
