Respecting Justice Redux
When President Bush commuted the sentence of convicted felon, Scooter Libby, many were outraged that justice was denied. But there was still a glimmer of hope that someone would be held to account, if not criminally then at least monetarily. Sadly, that glimmer has now been extinguished.
Yes, good to know that outing a CIA operative is now part of "official job duties". But I guess it was to be expected, especially considering who the judge in the case is (hint: Scooter's one too). The Bushies are so averse to any sort of accountability that even if Plame's case hadn't been dumped, the President probably would have tried to intervene in some fashion. Perhaps he could have made use of the now all powerful executive privilege which is apparently the constitutional equivalent of a "do whatever I want and get away with it" badge. (I also hear scissors now beats rock and paper, too). If nothing else though, at least this will be another instance in which Plameophobes can once again shout to the heavens "No underlying crime, see!"
(Filed at State of the Day)
A federal judge yesterday dismissed a lawsuit filed by former CIA officer Valerie Plame and her husband against Vice President Cheney and other top officials over the Bush administration's disclosure of Plame's name and covert status to the media.
U.S. District Judge John D. Bates said that Cheney and the others could not be held liable for the disclosures in the summer of 2003 in the midst of a White House effort to rebut criticism of the Iraq war by her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV. The judge said that such efforts are a natural part of the officials' job duties, and, thus, they are immune from liability.
Yes, good to know that outing a CIA operative is now part of "official job duties". But I guess it was to be expected, especially considering who the judge in the case is (hint: Scooter's one too). The Bushies are so averse to any sort of accountability that even if Plame's case hadn't been dumped, the President probably would have tried to intervene in some fashion. Perhaps he could have made use of the now all powerful executive privilege which is apparently the constitutional equivalent of a "do whatever I want and get away with it" badge. (I also hear scissors now beats rock and paper, too). If nothing else though, at least this will be another instance in which Plameophobes can once again shout to the heavens "No underlying crime, see!"
(Filed at State of the Day)
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