Posted on 07/18/2005 9:17:34 AM PDT by smoothsailing
The Rove feeding frenzy
Peter Lemiska
July 18, 2005
The sweet smell of scandal is filling their nostrils, and like a school of hungry hammerheads, the Democrats have begun to close in for the final feeding frenzy.
The accusations swirling around senior presidential advisor Karl Rove are serious. Many believe, or want to believe, that he maliciously blew the cover of Valerie Plame, a covert CIA operative. This, according to the allegations, was in retaliation against her husband, Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador and harsh critic of the administration. Some even claime that Rove's actions were not only criminal, but somehow jeopardized national security.
Howard Dean, Chairman of the DNC, rhetorically asked, "Who do you value more, Mr. President, do you value intelligence operatives defending the United States of America or do you value political operatives from Texas?" Senate Minority leader Harry Reid agrees, arguing that the incident "rises above politics, and is about our national security."
Though it's good to see they've found some use for their newfound fascination with national security, most of us recognize that they are simply exploiting our concerns about the real security issues facing our country.
Former presidential candidate John Kerry demanded that "Karl Rove ought to be fired," while Nancy Pelosi took on a more benign tone, joining a chorus of other Democrats in urging Rove to resign.
It's said that sharks can smell even a single molecule of blood from great distances — that they follow the trail of blood from miles away to converge on their next meal. But while these Democrats are salivating over the Rove issue, the rest of us are asking two simple questions.
First, did he deliberately and maliciously expose this CIA employee to the news media? The information available to us at this time suggests that was not the case. In the worst case scenario, he off-handedly confirmed in a discussion with a reporter that Wilson's wife was employed by the CIA. At any rate, the ongoing investigation will eventually determine who said what.
More important is the question of the Plame's status as a CIA employee. The Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 rightfully criminalizes the deliberate exposure of covert agents. It was enacted after the assassination of a CIA officer in Athens in 1976, and it is intended to protect the identities and the well-being of operatives in hostile environments. And though some might believe that includes Langley, Virginia, the law certainly does not apply to the army of secretaries, technicians, analysts, and assorted support personnel assigned to that facility. That is where Ms. Plame had worked during the six years prior to her "outing."
There is nothing to suggest that she was a covert operative at that time, and nothing to suggest that her outing placed any lives in jeopardy.
The Democrats' much anticipated feeding frenzy is reminiscent of a classic cartoon by Gary Larson, creator of "The Far Side." It depicts two sharks relentlessly following a trail of what they thought was blood. As they approach the source of the long trail, they discover, to their dismay, that the feeding frenzy was not to be. The caption reads: "What the? — Ketchup? We followed a ketchup trail for three miles?"
Sooner or later the Democrats will have to accept what everyone else knows. Only after the waters clear and the investigation is concluded will they realize that Karl Rove has committed no crime, and what was titillating their taste buds and scintillating their salivary glands was certainly not blood.
.............................
Peter Lemiska is a freelance writer and former Senior Special Agent of the U.S. Secret Service. He has a BA degree in psychology.
Having spent more than 28 years in government, including eight years in the Air Force, he is deeply concerned about various issues affecting our society, particularly ethics in government.
Peter has lived abroad at various times for more than seven years, and had the opportunity to learn Italian. More importantly, his extensive worldwide travel has given him a broad perspective on American politics.
You can see more of Peter's opinion pieces at opinioneditorials.com. He welcomes feedback at plemis2@hotmail.com.
© Copyright 2005 by Peter Lemiska http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/lemiska/050718
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Alan Keyes, RenewAmerica, or its affiliates.
Former presidential candidate and Vietnam Vet John Kerry demanded that "Karl Rove ought to be fired,"
LOL!!!
Liberals and the MSM are still trying to somehow avenge the outing of Dan Rather and his lies and Newsweek and theirs.
ROVE laughed at them, the MSM is being HAD!
Now thats funny right there! the Democrats saying that they care about National Security. HA!
It's interesting that after all this time and all this fuss, we still don't know the actual CIA status of the Plame dame. I mean, doesn't this lapse speak volumes about the incompetence of our news media?
Those six words made the article worth posting! LOL!
If you want to follow the Ketchup trail, stalk Kerry.
Right. Their playbook demands that revenge be visited whenever a blow is landed against them. And it is driving them to distraction that they cannot exact the revenge they need; in fact, the harder they try, the more their own noses are bloodied.
In a sense, this whole situation reminds one of the John and Alice Martin case back in late 1996 and into 1997. Remember?
The Martins were two ordinary, everyday Floridians, out to do some christmas shopping in December 1996. They just happened to have in their car a type of radio receiver that allowed them to -- ahem -- intercept cell phone conversations. And the receiver just happened to be listening to said receiver. And they just happened to be following the car of House representative John Boehner. And that's how they just happened to overhear a conference call between Mr. Boehner and four other senior Republican house members: Republican Majority Leader Dick Armey, Republican Majority Whip Tom Delay, New York Congressman Bill Paxon, and House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
And they just happened to know how to reach the office of Congressman Jim McDermott, that well-known scion of down-home, all-American values from John and Alice Martin's home town of Lake City Florida. Wait a minute. Oh. I was wrong about that. McDermott is not from Lake City. He's not even from Florida. He's Oregon. But never mind that. It doesn't matter. Just like the fact that the Martin's interception of the telephone call was illegal. And the fact that they recorded the call on tape was illegal (did I mention that they got the whole thing on tape?). And the fact that they committed a crime by vouchsafing said recording to a third party, namely McDermott. And the fact that he handed the tape to The New York Times. All criminal acts, but of no matter. Why?
Well, because the aforementioned acts aided the liberal hive in its pursuit of The Prime Directive, which is to thwart all Republican undertakings, and to damage or destroy all Republicans, no matter what the cost, and no matter to what extent reality must be stood on its ear.
As in the Martin-McDermott case, telephone conversations involving powerful members of the GOP are being spun into mountains of perfidity.
The only problem is that the only people who buy this line of crappola anymore are the Democrat/media nutcases who are already over their limit. Everyone else is either laughing at them or going on with their lives, trying to earn some more money to pay their taxes and ever-increasing gasoline bills.
Another freeper said it best last week: there's blood in the water, but the press doesn't yet realize that it's their own blood.
(steely)
It's not how serious the facts but how serious the charges.
Sure.
And what happened to the Downing Street Memo frenzy?
(steely)
Personally, I'm sick of this whole thing. My ambition now is to not hear another word about it. Nothing wrong was done by anyone that I can see---and yet it's still being yapped about constantly!
He's not in jail yet?
Didn't you leave out that their receiver "just happened" to include a recorder? ;-)
Amazing string of coincidences!
The libs smell blood in the water, but it is all coming from chum.
Eventually, they should start feeding on each other.....
Woll, gooooollllleeeeeee.
Good points made.
The beauty in all this is that the blood the sharks on the left smell is their own!
bump
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