The news is not good.
Not for Turdblossom, anyway.
The U.S. Senate Democratic Policy Committee and the U.S. House Government Reform Committee Minority have announced they will conduct a joint hearing this Friday to explore how a covert CIA agent's name was leaked and examine the national security consequences of disclosing the identity of a covert intelligence officer. Apparently, since the GOP majority doesn’t seem to give a rat’s ass that national security was compromised in the administration’s quest for unlimited power, the Dems have decided to take matters into their own hands.
Meanwhile, Mark Morford’s recent column in the San Francisco Chronicle describes Rove as “America’s Big Malignant Tumor,” “perhaps the slipperiest and sweatiest and most powerful adviser of a major world leader since an invisible purple demon hissed sweet nothings into Mussolini's ear,” “Grand Overlord Puppetmaster,” “the most powerful and brilliant and deeply unlikable political thug most people have barely heard of because he's just that kind of secretive nefarious genius the likes of which makes women recoil and flowers wilt and moderate politicians break out in hives,” and as having a “meager education and porcine sheen and this-one's-for-all-the-girls-who-shunned-me-in-high-school revenge demeanor.” Seriously—you must read this column. It’s priceless. Not only is it dripping with the appropriate level of caustic contempt for a man who’s turned American politics into a sick joke, but it’s also dead-on in its assessment of what this whole mess is really all about.
Meanwhile still, Barbara Boxer invoked Nixon and Watergate in a statement released demanding a White House explanation of the CIA outing, even being so bold as to relate Nixon’s “not a crook” bullocks to Bush’s recent “if someone committed a crime they will no longer work in my Administration” double-bullocks. Boxer suggests the buck stops at Bush’s desk. I agree.
And meanwhile still, CNN reports that in a statement to Congressional leaders, eleven former intelligence officers have said that the Plame leak may have damaged national security and the government’s ability to gather intelligence. Ouch.
If the plan was to distract attention away from Rove’s shenanigans, I think it’s back to the drawing board. Hey—maybe President Bush can fall off his bike again.
UPDATES: Ray McGovern pulls no punches, and the State Department Memo on Plame was clearly identified as classified. (Thanks to Shakers Soccer Mom and RSchewe, respectively.) And Shaker Rob says: "It's worth noting that the list of former intelligence officers includes Vincent Cannistraro, who knows more about the Middle East and terrorism than anyone in the administration could ever hope to." Read more about Cannistraro in McGovern's article.
Also, Oddjob points us to a great Seatlle Post-Intelligencer Editorial, Leaking Standard: No pal left behind.
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