The Leak Who Outed Valerie Plame...and Why Nobody Will Talk About It
I know the big story right now is Justice Day O’Connor, her retirement, and her hypothesized replacements. I am going to bypass that story for now. If you are not up to speed on that, then Indiana Politico must be the only news you read, and that is a frightening thought. Onward, now, to the stories not covered extensively by the mainstream media…
This weekend, Time Magazine turned over tight-lipped journalist Matthew Cooper’s notes and emails from the Valerie Plame story. Among Cooper’s anonymous sources was none other than Chief Bush advisor Karl Rove. This was certainly no surprise to Joe Wilson, whose WMD report was the impetus for the vengeful outing of his wife. After the leak, Wilson said that “Rove is someone who at a minimum would have condoned it and certainly did nothing to knock it down for over a week after the article appeared. The outing of my wife was obviously a political or communications move. The head of the political operation is Karl Rove.”
[Note: Karl Rove is also famous for exploiting gays for political benefit, encouraging the President to envoke 9/11 to push through policy measures, and dropping out of college in order to head the College Republicans.]
Cooper is facing jail time if he does not reveal his sources. Given that Karl Rove is probably *the source*, I do not blame him for keeping his mouth shut. I would rather be in jail than be on Karl Rove’s bad side. Just look at what happened to Joe Wilson…
The infuriating thing about this story is that the media is chattering about precedents and the roles of press and government. Nobody is chatting about the hypothesis that the President’s top advisor (who sits in on national security and foreign diplomatic meetings) endangered the life and ruined the career of a CIA official simply to revenge her husband’s WMD report which was (a) factual and (b) contrary to the administration's rational for a war in Iraq.
As frustrating as the lack of outrage is, it is possible that journalists are avoiding the story in an effort to stay on Rove’s good side...in which case I cannot blame them.
This weekend, Time Magazine turned over tight-lipped journalist Matthew Cooper’s notes and emails from the Valerie Plame story. Among Cooper’s anonymous sources was none other than Chief Bush advisor Karl Rove. This was certainly no surprise to Joe Wilson, whose WMD report was the impetus for the vengeful outing of his wife. After the leak, Wilson said that “Rove is someone who at a minimum would have condoned it and certainly did nothing to knock it down for over a week after the article appeared. The outing of my wife was obviously a political or communications move. The head of the political operation is Karl Rove.”
[Note: Karl Rove is also famous for exploiting gays for political benefit, encouraging the President to envoke 9/11 to push through policy measures, and dropping out of college in order to head the College Republicans.]
Cooper is facing jail time if he does not reveal his sources. Given that Karl Rove is probably *the source*, I do not blame him for keeping his mouth shut. I would rather be in jail than be on Karl Rove’s bad side. Just look at what happened to Joe Wilson…
The infuriating thing about this story is that the media is chattering about precedents and the roles of press and government. Nobody is chatting about the hypothesis that the President’s top advisor (who sits in on national security and foreign diplomatic meetings) endangered the life and ruined the career of a CIA official simply to revenge her husband’s WMD report which was (a) factual and (b) contrary to the administration's rational for a war in Iraq.
As frustrating as the lack of outrage is, it is possible that journalists are avoiding the story in an effort to stay on Rove’s good side...in which case I cannot blame them.
posted by Jezebella at 3:09 PM
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