Basically this boils down to Wilson getting caught in a lie that he and his wife perpetrated to bash bush and sell books and getting caught they screamed that Plame was outed by a Bush official.
The libs picked up on it and fed it to the press. Miller said she didn't want a part in this, got a conscious and now the Times is throwing her under the bus.
I think the thing that may have precipitated it was the Wilson publicity grab.
But a lot of people at the CIA had it in for Bush, and I suspect it was easy for them to pile on board. I think a lot of them had been looking for some way to get at him and this was their golden opportunity.
I believe Wilson, following instructions from the Clinton/Kerry camps, lied to undermine a President during wartime. The assistance given and credibility leant to Wilson by the mainstream media has weakened resolve and emboldened our enemies. The selling of books was merely gravy to the greater meat offered by the democrat smear machine. Joe Wilson is a traitor.
Let me add that I think that Watergate would have happened sooner or later, under one pretext or another, too.
I think Bush was being set up for a fall from the very start, and the anti-Bush contingent had probably set other traps, too. But this one really took hold and gave them their chance because Wilson the publicity hound brought in that crucial factor: the press.
"Miller said she didn't want a part in this, got a conscious and now the Times is throwing her under the bus."
Miller would have written a story on Plame and Wilson, but her editors at the New York Times wouldn't let her. Probably didn't want further damage to Wilson's credibility.