very very interesting ravingnutter, true to form, of the MSM, this is the first time I've heard of this.....
I also remember quite clearly that Novak, backed up by a few other Washington columnists said at the time the scandal first hit (which was ignored by most then Wilson brought back to life to promote his book a few months later, good thing the report proving him a liar didn't come out until several months after his book and his Vanity Fair photo shoot) that the fact that Plame was a CIA operative was the worst kept "secret" in Washington which is why Novak didn't think he was doing anything wrong and given the way the Wilsons behaved after the fact, again, book deal and Vanity Fair photo shoot with wife in the photos)
query, was it not possible Gannon/Guckert if not lying about even getting this so called memo got it from another member of the press rather than the administration
I do wonder though why are Matthew Cooper of Time and Judith Miller of NY Times facing contempt and not Novak?
Did Novak divulge his source or is there some reason he's not on the hot seat?
raving nutter seems to have the pulse on the story but I'll give it a go
I believe that Plame was an undercover operative, but she was no longer an active operative at the time of the scandal
and there was some question as to whether it was her intent to return to that line of work by some of the articles I recall reading, of course, it is now out of the question I imagine, I believe she was doing a desk job as an analyst on the subject of WMD at the time of the scandal
the concern of course is that even if she wasn't active then, you could compromise the safety of the operatives she was working with out in the field and who were still out in the field
however as ravingnutter noted and Bob Novak noted, it was not the best kept secret in Washington
Remember Novak said the first "administration" official who told him about Plame's job was "not a partisan gunslinger" and with whom he had a long conversation when this came up? I thought it could be Ari Fleischer but it didn't jump out at me that a spokesman for a president would be described as other than "partisan."
During this Gannon Affair Fleischer spoke up and perhaps he does see himself in a way that would fit Novak's description.
"I found out that he worked for a GOP site, and I didn't think it was my place to call on him because he worked for something that was related to the party," Fleischer said in a phone interview. "He had the editor call me and made the case that they were not related to the Republican Party. He said they used the GOP name for marketing purposes only."
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ep/20050217/en_bpiep/arifleischertellsephespoketogannonguckertsboss
One is held in contempt when they aren't cooperating.