Notice how the lying MSM still pushes the false and discredited ‘retaliation’ theme even though not a shred of evidence ever emerged to support that lie — quite the opposite, it turned out that it was the war opponent Richard Armitage who revealed the name to war opponent Robert Novak. NEITHER of them is associated with the White House or at all sympathetic to Pres. Bush, VP Cheney, or their staffs. Neither of them had the slightest interest in ‘retaliation’ against critics of the WH, when in fact they (Novak and Armitage) liked seeing critics of the WH emerge. Yet, the lying Wilsons and the lying MSM just go right on spouting the ‘retaliation’ propaganda without any challenge in the media.
Hmmm.
While I think this Plame thing is unclear at best, I don't think your statement holds water, unless in your book the Deputy Secretary of State (http://www.state.gov/s/d/former/42439.htm) is not considered to be part of the White House or their staffs.
Armitage's tenure in that post, which included the time in which Novak disclosed Plame's employer, makes him a pretty high State Department official, second in line, if I recall correctly, to the Secretary of State.