The CIA and the Plame Game

A recent Byron York article has me wondering about something. Would the CIA reveal the name of an agent who was covered or protected the way that many have suggested Valerie Plame Wilson was? If her status was such that revealing her identity would put her life, and potentialy other lives, at risk is it really CIA policy to give the The White House the true identity of such a person if they ask?

A Botched Attempt at Hiding His Elitism

"You know, education, if you make the most of it, and you study hard and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

I have to say that the best case I have heard in the mainstream media that Kerry made a simple gaffe and should essentially be given a pass was made by talk radio host Ed Schultz. He points to the pause and head dip Kerry made just before the he uttered the last sentence quoted above. (I’m sure the video is on YouTube somewhere if you haven’t seen it.) I’ll grant Mr. Schultz that point. What I’d really like to see is the three or four seconds after the later sentence. I’m sure I’m not going to get it because that would take away valuable bloviation time for the talking heads, but to me that would be the telling clip. Sometimes a pause before a verbal misstep is telling, but sometimes it is a pause to make sure I really wants to go through with a controversial statement. If it was truly a “botched joke” as Kerry insists, then I would expect a stutter or a quick correction or at least a look of panic in his eyes. I want to see Kerry’s eyes after his brain processed what he just said.

That said; let’s grant that it was in fact a botched joke. Kerry still has a real problem that demonstrates that he hasn’t learned a single thing from losing the 2004 election. He is a tone deaf, elitist, snob.

If Senator Kerry intended to insult George Bush, he also just insulted about 95% of the country and I doubt many of them need George Bush’s outrage (real or conjured) to realize it. Her just insulted everyone who just barely squeaked through college, struggled to make it through a community, technical, or vocational school, everyone who dropped out of college never to return, anyone who had to go to a college that had to admit them even though they were accepted nowhere else, only finished high school, and finally those who failed to matriculate through the 12^th grade.

That is the reason this story resonates, not because of anything George Bush or any other republican is saying about Senator Kerry.

Is Joe WIlson Really Robert Novak's Source?

Dean Esmay, preceded by his wife, posts that Robert Novak identified the Plame leaker as none other than her husband Joe Wilson. After reading the links, I thought I was missing something. I read on until I got to Novak’s column.

I have to disagree with Dean, Rosemary, and her source Protein Wisdom. Not only does Novak not identify his primary source, but he gives hints that point directly away from Wilson. Key points:

In my sworn testimony, I said what I have contended in my columns and on television: Joe Wilson's wife's role in instituting her husband's mission was revealed to me in the middle of a long interview with an official who I have previously said was not a political gunslinger. (Emphasis added)

Following my interview with the primary source, I sought out the second administration official and the CIA spokesman for confirmation.

I learned Valerie Plame's name from Joe Wilson's entry in Who's Who in America.

The first example clearly points away from Wilson. If he had become anything in the wake of Novak’s 2003 column it is a “political gunslinger.” TV, newspapers, and a book deal made him a poster boy of the George Bush is the devil branch of the Democrat Left and was extolled and preened over for months as such. You can argue that this doesn’t apply to Wilson because Novak is using a tremendous amount of nuance, but that really is splitting hairs in an otherwise straight forward column.

In the second example we get to the issue of “two administration officials.” If you remember the story as it was developing, these 2 were always presumed to be Rove and Libby. Novak distinctly separates the CIA source from administration sources. If Rove was the second source, the primary source was also and “administration official.” Wilson had stopped working for the US Government as an employee in 1998. The 1999 trip, if one wants to classify him as an “administration official” in that case was over 4 years prior to the 2003 column. Therefore, if the primary source is the second administration source, Wilson cannot be the source.

Here is where people are really getting into trouble. There seem to be only two ways to go with this statement, Novak was told “my wife” or Novak was told “his wife” by the primary source. Some have clearly bought into the “my wife” and that leads Novak to lookup his primary source’s profile in Who’s Who. However, “his wife” also can lead straight to the Who’s Who entry.

Given all the other indicators in the column, “his wife” is a far more logical conclusion.

Capital Corruption

There is only one thing I can think when I read this article. The AP misses the point of the agreement between Ds and Rs. The headline should be "Democrats and Republicans united unde rthe idea that Congressmen should be allowed to be Corrupt."

Irony

I called HP technical support today. They could not help me because their computers were down.

Shotgun Cheney and the Wild Wild Press

I have been told that one of the most important components of intelligence is an ability to accurately gauge one’s own abilities and talents. As such, I’d like to confess that I would, if ever called upon, be the worst press secretary in the history of The White House. I’m certain that I could have made it through about twenty minutes of the same question being asked in every conceivable way the way Scott McClellan has dealt with the past two days. Any more than twenty minutes and my ability to amuse myself would rapidly diminish.

For the past two days the White House Press Corps have all been asking the same question. Whether it relates to the actual hunting accident or the heart attack Scott McClellan has only been asked one question phrased hundreds of different ways.

“How dare you give away our scoop, don’t you know who we are?”

The Olympics

Now that the XXth Olympic Winter Games have begun, I only have one thing to say.

Team America, F*** Yeah!


OK, maybe one more thing. Curling rocks! Good luck to Teams Johnson and Fenson.