... maybe worst than WG since it may involve national security and the outing of our agents and contacts here and abroad...

If she wasn't covert and there was no outing, then how can it be worst[sic] and involve national security?? We have a right to know if there were shenanegans that lead up to Wilson being sent to Niger. If that type of crap is going on, then it indeed does involve national security.

"Perhaps you're mixing this case up with some suspense novel you read?"

No. I don't read them, just non-fiction.

"If she wasn't covert and there was no outing, then how can it be worst[sic] and involve national security?? We have a right to know if there were shenanegans that lead up to Wilson being sent to Niger. If that type of crap is going on, then it indeed does involve national security."[/b]

You're correct. My apologies. If she wasn't covert, and they knew she wasn't, no harm, no foul.

What does it matter if there were "shenanigans" (political overtones) leading up to Wilson's trip? In the end, the veracity of this situation would be if his report was factual or not, followed by the actions of the administration to exact revenge by revealing his wife's name to the press. However, lying to or obstructing a grand jury investigation is quite serious if one believes in a system of checks and balances. If there was no harm or no intent to harm, why concoct a story?

From reported accounts, the administration was relying on non-substantiated, shady evidence about Nigerian ore sales in the first place. This is hardly something a responsible POTUS and WH staff inserts into a state-of-the-union address unless one were pressing the case/creating false reasons to invade a country. Moreover, it also shows a troubling lack of foresight into the ramifications of starting and finishing a war. Not enough history classes at Yale, placing patriotism on the back burner to loyalty, just not paying attention or listening to an inner voice. Pick one or more of the above.

Me? I'll sit and wait and see what happens next. After all, Libby and future indictees are presumed sorta innocent until pronounced guiltly. I imagine multiple movie scripts being created right now. Unfortunately, our pre-production costs for this movie include $200 billion, 2000 lives and many more thousands wounded and crippled thus far.

Sherwood

How <b>Bob Barr</b> (former Republican congressman) views Libby's indictment:

In the late 1980s, while I was serving as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, my office conducted an investigation into allegations that a then-sitting Republican Member of Congress from Georgia had engaged in a conspiracy to launder money and had obstructed justice and committed perjury. After lengthy and in-depth consideration within our office in Atlanta and with top officials at Main Justice in Washington, D.C., it was decided to seek an indictment against the Congressman on obstruction and perjury. Despite severe pressure from Republican political leaders in Georgia and elsewhere, and in the face of relentless public pressure to close the case out, we proceeded -- but only after taking the time to make certain every stone was overturned and examined; and only after we became convinced not just that the crimes to be charged had been committed, but also that we could convince a doubting jury of their having been committed beyond a reasonable doubt. I assigned the case to the very best prosecutor in my office.

Why did we go to such extraordinary and time-consuming lengths before laying the case before a grand jury? Because proving perjury and obstruction counts are among the most difficult charges to successfully prosecute. They are also among the most important; going, as they do, to the very heart of whether or not our entire judicial system will function in the first instance. In the case of that Congressman, our preparation paid off; he was convicted.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is doing the same thing in the still-ongoing investigation of the CIA/Valerie Plame leak investigation. He, too, knows the difficulties inherent in prosecuting obstruction and perjury; he also is keenly aware of the importance to the fundamental credibility of our entire justice system if such offenses go unpunished. Wisely, he has resisted pressure to “wrap things up” quickly; but instead has carefully and methodically interviewed (and re-interviewed) witnesses, and assembled an impressive array of evidence against the first indictee: Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Reviewing the indictment against Mr. Libby (and unlike, for example, the indictment pending against Tom DeLay in Texas), it is clear to me Mr. Fitzgerald has done an exemplary job. If I were Mr. Libby -- while I certainly would publicly express confidence in my eventual and full exoneration -- in private, I would be deeply concerned. The charges and supporting detail in the indictment are sound and far from frivolous.

The political fallout to the Bush Administration and to the Republican majority in the Congress of this single indictment will be measurable but probably not lethal. However, if further indictments are forthcoming, whether of political advisors in the White House or of operatives in the National Security Council, the damage will be considerably more serious. More important, the damage to our already battered intelligence community, and its ability to recover any degree of credibility vis-à-vis our allies as well as our adversaries, will be profound and long-lasting.

Demo or Rep. I get a certain amount of pleasure watching them (high level politicians) deliberately inserting their private parts in a wringer and then acting surprised when it starts turning.

I agree Hugh, we need a massive political enema, washing out the liars and crooks...That said:


- Number of times Hillary Clinton said "I don't recall" or its equivalent in a statement to a House investigating committee: 50 - Number of paragraphs in this statement: 42

- Number of times Bill Clinton said "I don't recall" or its equivalent in the released portions of the his testimony on Paula Jones: 271

- Total number of facts or events not recalled before official bodies by Bill Kennedy, Harold Ickes, Ricki Seidman, Bruce Lindsey, Bill Burton, Mark Gearan, Mack McLarty, Neil Eggleston, John Podesta, Jennifer O'Connor, Dwight Holton, Patsy Thomasson, Jeff Eller, Beth Nolan, Cliff Sloan, Bernard Nussbaum, George Stephanopoulous, Roy Neel, Rahm Emanuel, Maggie Williams, David Tarbell, Susan Thomases, Webster Hubbell, Roger Altman, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton: 6,125

- Average occurrence of memory lapse by top administration figures while before official bodies: 235

I couldn't reply until now...I was too busy doing the "Snoopy Dance."

Dan