Men of Dishonor

The wait is over. A five-count indictment has been handed down, physically it's handed up, against the Vice President's Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Two counts of making false statements, two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice. Libby has already resigned. He faces 30 years in prison. He won't spend a night there. W's Deputy Chief of Staff and "brain" Karl Rove has not been indicted but remains under "legal jeopardy" and while he may escape indictment he and Libby haven't escaped being men of dishonor.

It's always stunning to me that people such as Rove and Libby who had found themselves in positions of such power act as if the rules don't apply to them. I guess that's how they got there in the first place. It is always said we are a nation of laws and not men but the Plame outing shows that we are really a nation of men. Men of dishonor. Men who picked up phones and "shopped" to reporters the undercover identity of a CIA operative. If Joe Wilson had come back and found that Iraq was trying to buy uranium ore would they have outed his wife?

While no indictment has been handed down based upon the 1982 Identities Act, well, maybe that's because the act was poorly written. Victoria Toensing, a former federal prosecutor, part author of the 1982 act, and current insufferable cable talking head smirks and smiles and says the law wasn't broken. If that's true then something is wrong with the 1982 law if White House officials can call reporters and out CIA employees. I wouldn't be so proud Victoria if it is basically impossible to violate the act.

Perjury, false statements and obstruction. Now the question is why? Why lie about where you learned Valerie Plame's name? Why create false testimony to mis-lead the grand jury away from your source? The reason is because Libby's source was Vice President Cheney and he was protecting him because that's what good little soldiers do. Burt Reynolds said it best in "The Longest Yard." "Your most important job," he told his football teammates, "is to protect me, your quarterback." W, your quarterback. Cheney, your quarterback. Sums it up nicely.

Now we'll have either a plea, a trial or a pardon. I'm still betting on a pardon. It makes the most sense. Look for it around Christmas Eve. Whatever happens this case is another example of why people don't have faith in government. When you are young you think the people running the country are good, decent, hard working and honorable. When you get a little older you see it's about exercising power. I mean what's the point of having power if you can't use it? It's like having a Ferrari and never going over 35! It's about reaching out for political revenge because you can. It's about covering up for your boss because you know you either won't get caught, won't get indicted or will get a pardon if you run afoul of a true man of honor like Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. And then it's about your book deal, your lobbying contracts and your own FOX News talk show.

Merry Fitzmas. Bah. Humbug.