Wednesday, October 1, 2003
Roger L. Simon has about as good a current scenario as anyone converning the "Plame Affair."
Roger L. Simon: NOT TOO WORRIED (OR "GOING HOLLYWOOD")
After reading Bob Novak's column today, I think even his surmises may be overstated.
What I wrote at Roger's blog:
I must admit to bias, however. I admit that even if GWB were caught on camera holding a Mac-10 on his staff and demanding they "get that bastard Wilson whatever it takes," I'd still be throwing objects at my TV and shouting, "OMFG! They're still talking about the GD yellowcake! Turn it off!!"
This whole thing stinks of partisan weaseling (as Wilson's original trip did, as well) top to bottom, and the continuing inability in some quarters to get over the "16 words" (or get over the fact that most of us could keep those 16 words in their proper perspective and figure things out for ourselves).
Update: OpinionJournal unravels the other thread of purpose driving the story here: Karl Rove.
Right out of the box, Helen Thomas asked if "the President tried to find out who outed the CIA agent? And has he fired anyone in the White House yet?" OK, the point of this exercise is to get President Bush to fire someone. But whom? That answer became clear when the press corps quickly uttered, and kept uttering for nearly an hour, the name "Karl Rove."
Of course! The reason this is suddenly a story is because Mr. Rove, the President's political strategist and confidant from Texas, has become the main target. Joseph Wilson, the CIA consultant at the center of this mini-tempest, had recently fingered Mr. Rove as the official who leaked to columnist Robert Novak that Mr. Wilson's wife works for the CIA. Mr. Wilson has offered no evidence for this, and he's since retreated to say only that he now believes Mr. Rove had "condoned it." The White House has replied that the charge is "simply not true." But no matter, the scandal game is afoot.
The media, and the Democrats now slip-streaming behind them, understand that the what of this mystery matters much less than the who. It's no accident that Tony Blair's recent and evanescent scandal over WMD evidence concerned his long-time political aide and intimate, Alastair Campbell. We're also old enough to recall what happened to Jimmy Carter's Presidency once his old Georgia friend Bert Lance was run out of town. If they can take down Mr. Rove, the lead planner for Mr. Bush's re-election campaign, they will have knocked the props out of his Presidency...