I've got good news and bad news...

The good news is that a number of people will be indicted by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. It's pretty clear that this is going to be train wreck for the White House and Republicans. Use common sense. It's been a thorough two-year investigation involving tossing Judy Miller in jail for 85 days and calling Karl Rove back before the grand jury four times. Add to that Fitzgerald's office has said that indictments, if any, will be announced in Washington D.C. and not in his home base of Chicago. Now his office says it will not issue a public report, an alternative to indictments people expected if no criminal charges were filed. Throw on top of that rumors on reasonable blogs and magazines that John Hannah, a mid-level national security aide for Vice President Cheney received a "target letter" (meaning an indictment was a sure thing) has now flipped and is cooperating with the special prosecutor.

The speculation on blog sites is red hot. One source claims he has info that National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley will be indicted. Others say as many as 22 people are facing criminal charges. Rawstory muses that Cheney may resign. Wow. It's starting to look a lot like Fitz-mas!

Now the bad news...

Even if Rove and Libby and Hadley and Matalin and Cheney and Hannah and god knows who else get indicted, W will pardon them. Yes, read it again. Read it a third time. W will pardon everyone involved. There it is. It makes sense now huh? Feeling deflated? The only question is whether W will pardon them before or after the 2006 mid-term elections.

Did you really think these people aren't above the law? Rove has been knifing people for decades. Only this time they did it someone that legally that can't mess with - an undercover CIA operative. But no matter. They always have an out. W will give it them.

The conventional wisdom will be he will pardon them after the 2006 elections. But the Curmudgeon's prediction is that W pardons everyone on Saturday, December 24, 2005, a.k.a. Christmas Eve in the spirit of Christ-like forgiveness. Then it will be a story for a couple of days - maybe even the week just before New Years Day and then that's it. The public will go back to watching the Superbowl and thinking about spring training and wonder what all the fuss was about. Republicans will say Fitzgerald was an out of control prosecutor and W righted a terrible wrong. That W had the courage to take the heat for standing up to the "criminalization of politics" and that this proves why the special prosecutor law should never be renewed.

You think you live in a democracy where no man is above the law? I have some additional bad news for you -- there is no tooth fairy, Easter Bunny or Santa. But have faith. There is something to believe in. A Curmudgeon to explain what you think you already know.

Merry Fitz-mas. Bah. Humbug.