If I were a republican, the only thing I would fear right now is Patrick Fitzgerald. There is nothing holding this guy back from getting to the
bottom of this case. We now have a journalist (if you wish to call her that) behind bars, Fitzgerald seems relentless for some answers. The judge
even recognizes that this case goes beyond 1st amendment rights, I wouldn't be surprised if Fitzgerald continues to go after Judith Miller even
harder for
criminal contempt charges. Here is what
the judge in Judy Miller's case has stated about the seriousness of this
matter:
(pgs 28-29)
"Applying this standard to the facts of this case, and
considering first only the public record, I have no doubt that the
leak at issue was a serious matter. Authorized “to investigate
and prosecute violations of any federal criminal laws related to
the underlying alleged unauthorized disclosure, as well as
federal crimes committed in the course of, and with intent to
interfere with, investigation, such as perjury, obstruction of
justice, destruction of evidence, and intimidation of witnesses,”
I think a lot of people are getting too excited about Rove going down, we don't know what's going to happen legally. It's all mere speculation. Now
that I've said that, I do agree with the democrats (and the press) for calling out the WH for stonewalling on this case. It has been dragging for
more than 2 years, and I don't believe for a second that GWB wants to get to the bottom of this like he claims. Why didn't Karl Rove simply come
forward before and state his conversations with the reporters? The fact that he didn't makes it even more suspicious. As for Rove hearing about
Plame from some journalist...that's just laughable. If that's the case, there is still no excuse for his carelessness with potentionally classified
information. (
"I heard that too",
"It was Wilson's wife...").
In my opinion the political damage has already happened, the Bush administration has a lot of explaining to do and the GOP has begun their spin. Not
to mention the attempt to assassinate the character of Joe Wilson and his wife. The democrats have made their statement about Rove, it's obvious
that Bush is not going to take any action unless there are some sort of indictments made. This could be the right decision or could end up slapping
him in the face. Let's be realistic, it's not like Bush was all that surprised when the Newsweek article came out claiming Rove to be Matt
Cooper's leak. Instead of focusing all our attention on attacking Rove, let's not forget the
real issues at hand here:
Wilson's wife was outed because he had given crucial evidence that contradicted the White House's regarding going to war with Iraq.
This is huge and it ties in with the Downing Street Memos ("fixing the facts"). This is what jumps out to people and indicates the possible
corruptness of the current administration. Most of us know that there has been an agenda (see PNAC) to take Saddam out of power years prior to 911.
If only we listened to more people like Wilson maybe we wouldn't be in this predicament in Iraq (the soveriegn nation that had nothing to do with 911
and possessed no WMDs). Instead we could be working on building our homeland security as well as hunting for the terrorist organizations responsible.
It seems like there is an ongoing cover up occuring in the WH if you ask me. It's obvious that the current administration was going to go to war
with Iraq no matter what. Screw any facts that might get in the way! Once again, this is pure speculation on my part
Keep in mind that
Fitzgerald may not have enough evidence to indict anyone. I hope this doesn't happen, but it's indeed possible. Many
federal investigations come up empty-handed.
I have a feeling tomorrow in Matt Cooper's CNN interview, he will be covering for Rove. It doesn't matter, Fitzgerald is out for blood and his
target(s) is most likely someone in or connected to the White House. As far as we know, Rove is still a subject and not a target in this case as
Fitzgerald has not speculated otherwise.
Neither side knows for sure what is going to happen.
Who knows
who the real target(s) is?. It could be anyone from Bush on down to Ari Fleischer. It could even be found out that no one is at fault because
everyone in DC knew that Wilson's wife was a CIA operative, ha!
I don't blame democrats one bit for wanting to get to the bottom of this and
I know for a fact that if the roles were reversed, and Rove was a
democrat, republicans would be just as aggressive, if more so, in pursuing this matter. This is to be taken seriously, it's an outright abuse of
power and this current administration has had it's fill.
Please read this to learn more about Valerie Plame
Former CIA retirees: Can We Trust Our
President?
I admit, I can't stand Karl Rove, I think he is a slimeball but that doesn't matter. As much as I would like to see him take the fall, it's
foolish to get too wrapped up in the idea that he may be indicted for anything. No one knows all the evidence that has been shown to the grand jury,
nor do we have knowlege of all the testimonies that have been made. No one can figure out who or what Fitzgerald is even aiming for. Whatever
happens, I am confident that Fitzgerald is doing his best to make sure all his i's are dotted and all his t's are crossed.
It's going to be an interesting summer in D.C. with this going on as well as Supreme Court nominations. The media seems to be all over this story,
and to Scott McClellen's chagrin the WH press corp. has finally woken up from their coma. If possible, I hope the media focuses on the
facts
and steers away from the spin that's incoming from both sides of the political spectrum. In other words, I hope they do their jobs!
[edit on 7/17/2005 by Lecky]
Facts interrupt 
