An emailer puts it as well as I could:
Two points, briefly:
1. People need to stop hiding behind Clintonian semantics here and understand that even if no actual technical violation of the law is found in the Rove/Plame case it will still be true, based on what we know now from the Time emails, that White House actions compromised a CIA asset during a time of war. What would Hannity, Limbaugh, Scarborough and all the cable loudmouths be saying if it had been Sidney Blumenthal?2. Scott McClellan once told the American people that Karl Rove was not involved in any way, and that the President would remove anyone found to be involved. During the Lewinsky scandal many people insisted that it was not the sex that bothered them, but it was the lying, spinning, parsing, and direct misleading of the American people that offended them, and that came to define the Clinton White House. What would the cable loudmouths be saying if instead of McClellan it had been McCurry?
This isn’t about technical violations or a game of gotcha. It’s about character, and George Bush needs to show some.
I’m leery of saying anything yet about a case that is still so murky. But it does seem to me that doing what Rove seems to have done would, in peace-time, be sleazy. In wartime, it shows a contempt for our national security – or a willingness to put petty partisan sniping ahead of national security. No, I’m not shocked. But I’m also struck by one detail in Matt Cooper’s email to his editors:
“Spoke to Rove on double super secret background for about two mins before he went on vacation …”
“Double super secret background” for just some guidance about a developing story? That sounds a little excessive to me. Why would Rove have insisted on such a super-tight confidentiality standard if he was not aware that he was divulging something he truly shouldn’t divulge? Again, I don’t know enough to say anything that definitive right now. But it seems clear to me that Rove leaked the CIA role of Wilson’s wife (whether he named her or knew that she was under-cover is another matter). The president has said he would fire anyone who did such a thing. Ergo: the president must fire Rove or break his word. It’s going to be an interesting few weeks.
The Dish 