The Plame Blame Game:a comedy of errors

This would certanly be a dream come true play for Willam Shakespeare...


The Plame Blame Game

No one comes out looking especially good in the Valerie Plame affair

THE VALERIE PLAME AFFAIR, which once seemed like a political morality play, has morphed into a dark comedy of errors. One more scene remains to be enacted — the criminal trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney — but it would have been better for all concerned if the curtain had been brought down on this drama long ago.

Some supporters of the administration are gloating over the disclosure of Armitage's role, suggesting that it shows Fitzgerald was on a witch hunt. Some are demanding a presidential pardon for Libby. That's premature, and it's worth recalling that Libby is accused of something serious: lying to federal investigators. Still, the latest twists and turns in the Plame-Wilson affair make us wish that we had been right when we observed, almost exactly three years ago, that "no one should count on catching the leaker, at least in a legally airtight manner." More on the editorial..