On the way back from lunch, as I fought the uptown Charlotte traffic, I heard on CNN that Lewis “Scooter” Libby had been indicated for making false statements, perjury, and obstructing justice in a federal investigation.

According to this same report, Bush’s Goehring, Karl Rove, may evade indictment – at least briefly – but would remain under investigation by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald.

This could be very welcome bad news for the Bush White House. Bad for them. Welcome for people who oppose this illegitimate administration and its ill-begotten war in Iraq. The only downside is that – for whatever reason – Fitzgerald has apparently decided not to indict Libby on charges of divulging the name of a CIA undercover agent, in this case Valerie Plame Wilson.

Like a rock tossed into the middle of a still pond, though, this indictment opens the door for ripples that will mean all kinds of trouble for The Shrub.

In January 2003, in an attempt to justify his already sealed intent to Bomb The Bejeezus Out Of Baghdad (actually, I do believe that this was the original code name for Operation Iraqi Freedom), Bush appeared before a joint session of Congress, and a smattering of Supreme Court Justices, and declared with a certainty rarely seen inside the Beltway that Iraq was attempting to purchase enriched uranium from Niger, in order to fashion nuclear weapons.

Bush credited the British for this piece of information, leaving the British government looking a little surprised and saying something like, “What’s all this, then?”

In fact, even as Bush reported on Iraq’s intent, he knew that it wasn’t true. He also knew that he had always intended to invade Iraq. The tragic events of 9/11/01 simply provided him with a convenient excuse.

We know, from one of the Downing Street memos, that British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw informed the White House over a year prior to the invasion that there was no credible evidence linking Iraq with Al Qaida or any other significant terrorist organization. Also, Straw cautioned the White House during a visit to Bush’s Crawford Texas bunker… er, ranch that Iraq presented no more international risk than either Libya or North Korea.

We also know from these memos that Bush planned to invade Iraq come hell or high water as early as March 2002, and that the invasion was originally planned for January 2003. It was only delayed on request of the UN Security Council, through pleas to allow Hans Blix and his weapons inspectors to complete their work – work which, by the way, yielded absolutely no evidence of the continuing existence of WMD’s in Iraq.

As late as July 2002, according to the Downing Street Memos, Britain had provided the White House with absolutely no information suggesting that Iraq was attempting to either procure enriched uranium from Niger, or build nuclear weapons.

This is where Joseph Wilson comes in. Wilson asserts that he told the Bush Administration in March 2002 that there was no credibility to the assertions that Iraq was attempting to obtain yellowcake uranium from Niger, based on his contacts with the Nigerian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mayaki. This was at the same time that Jack Straw informed Bush in Crawford that Iraq posed no unusual threat compared with neighboring countries.

The basis for Bush’s accusations in the State of the Union Address appear to stem from information contained in apparently falsified documents. As it happens, these documents had already been found to be baseless by the CIA and the State Department as early as February 2002. In fact, there is reason to believe that these falsified documents originated from within the White House itself.

So, when The Shrub stood before Congress in 2003 and declared that Iraq was attempting to acquire nuclear weapons – citing this as sufficient reason to Bomb The Bejeezus Out Of Baghdad – he KNEW that he was not telling the truth. Joseph Wilson had told him it wasn’t true. The CIA and the State Department had told him it wasn’t true. Even the British Government, to whom he attributed the information, had told him it wasn’t true.

What IS true, according to the Downing Street Memos, is that Bush was determined as early as March 2002 to invade Iraq, and was willing – and this is a quote from the Downing Street Memos, campers – “to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD (neither of which existed – my interjection). But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.”

In other words, The Shrub and his dark minions were willing to accept only that information that supported attacking Iraq, and reject all dissenting information, EVEN IF IT HAPPENED TO BE THE TRUTH!

In even plainer language, the President was willing to lie to get his war.

The fly in the ointment, though, seemed to be Joseph Wilson, who wrote the New York Times in July 2003 to refute the allegations of yellowcake uranium shopping by Saddam. He claimed in this letter that he was asked by the CIA to travel to Niger in February 2002, at the behest of Dick “Darth” Cheney. It seems that, as early as February 2002, Cheney’s office had questions about the report of Iraq’s attempt to obtain nuclear materials, and wanted someone to go over to Niger and take a look-see. Wilson did so, and found nothing of any real interest to report. He returned to Washington, filed his report disclaiming the rumors, and thought that the whole matter was resolved.

Imagine his surprise when he tuned into the State of the Union Address almost a year later and saw the Doofus in Chief accuse Saddam of exactly the kind of activities Wilson had found to be unjustified – AND HAD REPORTED TO THE WHITE HOUSE.

How surprised must Wilson have been two months later, when Dick Cheney himself appeared on Meet The Press and claimed that Saddam was once again trying to obtain nuclear weapons – this only a month before the attack on Baghdad began.

Robert Novak reported at Townhall.com on July 14th, 2003, that his information indicated that Wilson had been sent to Niger by lower-ranking officials in the CIA, and that it was very possible that CIA Director George Tenet never knew of the mission. This is somewhat surprising, since it appears from Joseph Wilson’s comments in his letter to the Times that the mission was a direct response to a request from the Vice President.

Novak reported in this piece that he had questioned TWO senior White House officials about the Niger mission, both of whom told him that it was Wilson’s wife who suggested sending him to do the investigation. Apparently, when Novak followed up on this assertion, asking what kind of influence Wilson’s wife might have over the Affairs of State, he was informed that she was an undercover CIA operative.

Now, campers, revealing the name of a clandestine operative is a federal offense – a felony offense at that – in the United States. The fact that Novak’s report at Townhall.com inferred that a felony had been committed spurred the current investigation that resulted in Scooter Libby’s indictment.

Most interesting, though, is NOT that Libby was indicted, but that he was indicted for just about every federal offense OTHER than revealing Valerie Plame’s name to Novak. I guess my Dad was right all along – it’s one thing to do something wrong, but the punishment will be twice as bad if you lie about it.

Remember, though, that Novak referred to TWO senior White House officials who outed Valerie Plame. At this time, only Libby has been indicted. We know, though, that Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, and The Shrub were also questioned by the grand jury. Bush testified, but refused to be sworn in – you can guess why.

So we know of at least four guys in the West Wing who may have spilled the beans to Robert Novak. I’m guessing that Bush wasn’t one of them, since in order to spill any beans he’d have to waste a half hour looking for them. Cheney is too much an evil genius to do it. That leaves Rove, whom – interestingly – is still under investigation by Fitzgerald.

Somehow, I can’t get this image from Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon out of my head. There’s a meeting in the Oval Office, with Bush, Cheney, Rove, and Libby. They’re trying to figure out how to get out of this mess. Bush, played by Humphrey Bogart, turns to Cheney, in the guise of Sidney Greenstreet.


BUSH: We need a fall guy…. I know, let’s give them the kid.

(Scooter starts to pull a gat from his trench coat)

SCOOTER: Keep it up…

CHENEY: Scooter? I’d never think of it. Scooter is like a son to me.

(Scooter looks temporarily relieved)

CHENEY: On the other hand, you can always find another son. There’s only one chance to Bomb The Bejeezus Out Of Baghdad, and not go to Leavenworth for it. Scooter, I’m sorry. I couldn’t be more fond of you if you were my very own… but…

And at that point they have to sedate Scooter before sending him down to testify to the grand jury.



Okay, it sounds a little far-fetched. I mean, we’re talking about nefarious hijinks in the highest office in the land, here. Who could imagine that elected officials charged with a sacred public trust might lie, conspire, and otherwise evade responsibility for their actions?

Well, I could, for one. I vividly recall another administration about thirty years ago which did exactly that.

All I can think is that it really must stink to be Scooter Libby right now. The poor guy looks to have been set up, by the guys he trusted most in the world, to take the sweat for a crime he didn’t commit – namely, the wholesale lying to an entire country in order to justify a personal family vendetta that, so far, has cost the lives of over two thousand good American boys and girls.

If Bush, Cheney, and Rove think that sacrificing Libby will save their sorry butts, they are sorely deluded. Just as the downfall of the Nixon Administration was precipitated by a simple break-in, you can bet that Fitzgerald is already working the angles. You always arrest a little fish to get the big fish. You can bet that, before the weekend is out, someone is going to start talking deal. Libby’s going to take the first fall, but he can make it a lot softer if he gets to land on Rove at the bottom.

And, in November of 2006, we have the opportunity to run the rascals in Congress out of town and replace them with Democrats, who will be completely willing to investigate The Shrub for his war crimes, and impeach his fanny just in time for the 2008 Presidential race.

That’s when the real party starts.