My choice for the self-fulfilling prophecy of the week goes to the Mainstream Media (MSM) based on a poll reported on Fox News Sunday by Britt Hume this week. According to the poll, a "majority of Americans believe that the CIA leak investigation has taken a toll of President Bush's popularity".
Well, no kidding. That's a shocker.
After a two year Special Counsel investigation accompanied by a relentless drumbeat of irresponsible accusations from the left and outrageous unsubstantiated speculation from the press itself, would you guess that would take a toll on the President?
The speculation from the press reached a hysterical zenith in the last month. The talking points from the left moved far beyond the basic storyline: that the White House power players, led and coordinated in an abuse of power conspiracy by Karl Rove, intentionally outed covert CIA agent Valerie Plame in an orchestrated effort to discredit her whistle-blower husband Joe Wilson. That, in itself, is quite a story made more devious by constant repetition. In the two weeks before the grand jury hearing the evidence expired the speculation grew wilder, including:
- an indictment of Bush's principal advisor Karl Rove, who would be "frog-marched" in handcuffs out of the White House
- possible indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney himself as one of the sources of "the leak"
- an expansion of the Special Counsel's focus to include impeaching President Bush for lying us into war
All speculation, and all false.
It's important to pause to remember the assignment the Special Prosecutor was given: to investigate whether or not the law protecting covert CIA agents from exposure (which may risk their lives). The law has specific requirements, including one that the agent have been officially overseas undercover within the last five years, and that the "leaker" did so intentionally with the purpose of exposing the agent to risk.
So, did Patrick Fitzgerald find that the law had been violated? No, not based on his indictments. He did not indict anyone for violating that law?
Did he find evidence of a abuse of power conspiracy in the White House to punish Wilson by outing his wife? No, not based on his indictments. He did not indict anyone for a conspiracy. He did not indict more than one person.
So. The original focus of the investigation - did someone "leak" the identity of a covert CIA agent in violation of the law - produced no indictments for that crime.
We can effectively say at this point that Karl Rove did not violate the law, per the indictments. The burden of proof to say otherwise lies with his critics, who have no proof.
The only indictments involve a bit player for indirect crimes - perjury and obstruction. No underlying crime. Only he-said she-said contradictions about who said Valerie Plame's name first. Which leads me to two questions:
1. If Valerie Plame does not fit the definition of a covert CIA agent, and she doesn't having not been in the field for more than 6 years, and if her name is not classified, which it is not, then how can saying her name in any context constitute a "leak"? For that matter, how does it matter who said her name and when? I could say it. You could say it. President Bush could have stood on the White House steps and yelled VALERIE PLAME. It's not illegal. And the lack of indictments for violating that law validates that. So why do we keep talking about a "leak"?
2. Who in the press or on the left is going to apologize to Karl Rove for dragging his name through the mud for the last two years? Not any of the Democratic leaders who, despite the lack of an indictment, are out today on TV calling for Rove's firing still. Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic Party, was even on TV tonight still calling for Cheney's indictment. Outrageous.
Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader, called today for President Bush to apologize for Plamegate. I say Reid and all of the left should apologize for trashing Rove and Cheney for so long. Back off. You lost.
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