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"It is a lame accusation. And it seems to suggest desperation on Joe Wilson's part. As if he wanted to shift the focus from his wife sending him to Niger to imagined evil-doing by the White House."

It's always seemed that way to many of us; the "outing" theory seemed implausible. And it may indeed be true that Wilson dreamed up this theory not just because it was damaging to Bush, but because he had his own reasons for not wanting his wife's role known. And those reasons may have included that his wife had arranged a previous trip in 1999, and that questions of Wilson using government resources to subsidize personal business trips might have been raised. And the specific nature of his business activities might also have proved embarrassing.

I would love to know Wilson's itinerary for both Niger trips - exactly who he talked to, and about what, and how much of his time was spent on personal business and how much on his "investigation." His account of his 2002 trip raised questions in my mind about how much investigating he really did, or intended to do. If I recall correctly, he said that flights went in to Niger only twice a week, and the flights were spaced only about 10-12 hours apart, which is why he stayed eight days. He actually implied that 10-12 hours was almost - but not quite enough - time to do his investigation. That seems absurd. At any rate, he described dinner parties, sightseeing, etc, along with his investigation, in which he claimed he interviewed "dozens" of people. I really doubt he had time for that.

Again, I wonder if Wilson tossed out the "outing" theory to immediately distract attention from the shoddy and half-baked - indeed unprofessional - nature of his investigation, and it was partly to conceal this that elements in the CIA were so quick to rally behind him.

And, as usual in this case, we find ourselves asking the obvious questions that the MSM usually asks but has never asked in this case. No one in the MSM has taken a close look at Wilson's claims, why he was really in Niger, why he went there in 1999, did he really conduct a proper investigation, or any of this. The "Bush outed Plame to 'get' Wilson" theory was just too damned attractive to the MSM; as the general said after Katrina, the MSM is "stuck on stupid."