The Rove Feeding Frenzy

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.

The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Alan Keyes, RenewAmerica, or its affiliates.

The fundamentalist democrats are living a joke I heard years ago. " A drunk (the rats)is on his hands and knees in the street looking for something. Several people(the media) see him and when he says he is looking for his keys they get on their hands and knees and also look. After a half hour someone asks the drunk if he is sure he lost his keys here? he replies No, I lost them up the block, but the light is better here."
The investigation should be after Novak, but going after Rove (Bush) is far more important than the truth.

An okay piece, but it doesn't ask enough questions. It only disposes of the allegation that Rove was the leak.

Since Plame's status as "covert" was questioned by the media itself, in a legal brief filed in March of this year, what is driving them to assert the opposite today?

And then there are the questions about who did first inform the media of Plame's CIA function? of her role in securing the Niger mission for Wilson? Or why the CIA didn't request confidentiality of Wilson? And a host of other questions that swirl around the media-created smoke screen.

At this point, IMO, the only handle the Democrats can grab on this story is the fact that McLellan told the press that Rove wasn't involved when he was.

Go back and parse the context of "wasn't involved." I believe the assertion (by McLellan) was that the -covert status- of a CIA agent was not disclosed by Rove. The press is advocating that any discussion by administration about the Wilson/Niger trip, even an offhand "I heard that too" when told that Plame advocated Wilson for the trip, constitutes "involvement" that merits termination.

If they get their way in that regard, if the hurdle for "involvement" is that low, it will have a chilling effect on comminications between officials and reporters.

You know that they will get as much mileage as possible out of this... until the official report comes out which may prove that Rove is innocent.

If Rove and others are innocent, I wouldn't count on any apologies from the left, though.

"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.".....

They squark like crows but I hope they eats lots of them.
These putrid DimRats and their LSM co-lying conspirators deserve a good whooping for their shameless displays. Stank awful the whole lot of these 'Rats.

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