“The sad fact is that there can be no Kinder and Gentler government therefore it must be harsher and more punitive to exist. I am loathe to see the result of this new government.”

Actually what you would see is the government as it was before we created a the “Bureaucrats of Life.” It used to be that a new administration could and did replace the B’crats with its own people.

Then we created our Civil Service. In doing so, we created a fourth branch of government with all the drawbacks of the supreme court and none of the advantages. The civil service has become pretty much a lifetime job, like the SCOTUS. It is an independent organization like the SCOTUS, but without the appointment/confrimation process.

The idea was to depoliticize the bureaucracy, but that certainly didn’t happen.

The LL and the MSM have finally outed themselves as patsies and stooges of the enemy in the GWOT

OK! This does it. This is a non-starter. The LL and the MSM, however, will be falling all over themselves. Perhaps thei…

Hear, hear!!

I will go further - no one working at Langley can seriously be called a covert operative. When you drive to Langley five days aweek, pass throught the front gate, and park yourself at a desk in the headquarters of the CIA, how “covert” can you claim to be? Please! Plame was no more covert than any other desk-bound analyst.

Even all the “spies” are not really “covert.” Those with official covers work out of American embassies and consulates under diplomatic immunity. Evdry country has “Official Cover” agents and every country knows it and who they are. These are the “diplomats” we see being expelled from various countries for espionage from time to time. The official cover is nice because you have immunity when you get caught, but it also is pretty transparent and therefore limiting.

It is the Non-Offcial Cover agents that people think of when they hear the word spy. They are the covert operatives who are on their own, and if caught, often simply disappear. The first rule for these agents is to NEVER go near an embassy or consulate, or anything else connected with your country, including its diplomats. So the man that “outed” Valerie was Joe Wilson. The day he married her, any possible covert career came to an end. The CIA, in spite of any claims over the “leak,” admitted as much - she had not been assigned outside the US since her marriage to Wilson.

Now just why do we think the prosecutor has not furnised any evidence regarding her “classified” status?

The exact nature of the projects she worked on might be classified, but her employment by the CIA was out there for anyone willing to look.

For Dave:
This incompetence and bureaucratic game playing led directly to the tragedy of 9/11.

Precisely. Your so-called Bin Ladin alert was nebulous. There was no concrete evidence to base actions on. The Gorolik Wall saw to that.
And your tired WMD red herring has lost its aroma. There are credible links to Saddam having shipped his nucular weapons program out of Iraq, likely to Libya, using Russian spetznaz troops, and assuredly involving Syrian complicity. Why he did it is an enigma, but the evidence is mounting that he did. His own field commanders were kept in the dark. Aside from the nucular issues, you must have had your head up your ass the last two years not to recognize that Iraq had the capability and the intent to both develop and deliver biological and chemical weapons systems. The component parts were found.

1. Duh. No wonder you didn’t address the thrust of my post - that the WH was pushing back against leakers.

2. What part of “Even if, as some claim,” appears to be me stating that? READ THE FRICKING POST!

3. You’re serious aren’t you? Who the eff cares whether it was the VEep himself or his office - the point is that neither of them asked anyone to go anywhere period. The CIA (Wilson’s wife) took it upon themselves to send him to Niger.

4. “Bush knew that the same person who leaked the NIE was responsible for leaking Plame’s name.” This is a false conclusion extrapolated from evidence that is not only murky but contradictory (See Tom McGuire’s excellent analysis of this “evidence.)

All this makes your conclusion a bunch of BS.

And of course you didn’t even bother to address the main thrust of my post - selective leaking of classified material by partisans on your side of the debate led to the WH forced into the role of leakers themselves.

No answer by you to what the WH was supposed to do. ANd the reason is you can’t answer is that you have zero interest in the truth and are interested only in the same thing the criminal leakers at CIA and State were interestd in - bringng down this President.

So, what is the breaking news story here? Properly declassified information has been released to the press who have demanded it ad nauseam. And? Equally if the President had not declassified the information the same accusers would be shouting him down …

Possibly receiving an intelligence alert titled, “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” and going on vacation instead of doing anything about it had something to do with it, too?

As to Bush’s decision to invade - Remember, there were weapons instpector IN IRAQ AT THE TIME telling us that there were no WMD programs.

So the question is was invading Iraq based on a lie or a mistake? I submit that it doesn’t matter - a President who made a mistake of that magnitude - launching a poorly-planned invasion that cost tens of thousands of people their lives and up to a trillion dollars when all the costs are added up, including ongoing medical for Vets, not to mention handing Iraq over to Iran! - should have resigned in disgrace long ago.

1) he selectively declassified it to be “leaked” to certain friendly journalists while still withholding it from the rest of the world claiming it was still classified. Why? It was not “declassified” officially until 10 days after it was leaked by Libby.

2) it was not common knowledge that Plame was a CIA agent. The is a misleading talking point, not the truth. That is why Fitzgerald specifically went back to confirm that she was indeed covert and it was unknown. He interviewed all of her friends and neighbors. Just because Rush says one thing, that doesn’t mean it is true (read the indictment)

3) Wilson has never, ever claimed he was sent by Cheney. Another misleading talking point. Re-read the editorial. It says he was asked to go when the vice president’s office requested more information be gathered by the CIA. This is all confirmed and is public record now. The VP asked the CIA and then the CIA decided to send Wilson. You cn’t make this claim any longer.

4) Bush knew that Libby was directed to “leak” the NIE. Bush knew that the same persona who leaked the NIE was responsible for leaking Plame’s name. Bush claimed he had no idea who leaked the name both to the American people and to the investigators when interviewed. Either he really is *that dumb* to have put 2 and 2 together, or he flat out lied. And, even if he is *that dumb*, you can’t expect that no one else figured it out and informed him.

the long and short of it is, he didn’t break the law by declassifying the info. But he lied. We all know it, and unless he wants to claim tht he really is *that dumb*, he has to either cop to it or be seen as continuing the cover up. If he activley withheld matirial information from Fitzgerald, he may also be guilty of obstruction of justice. He does not need to be under oath for that.