Today the first card in the house of cards that is the corrupt Bush administration fell as Scooter Libby was indicted on five counts in the Plamegate saga. Libby represents only one card. He is not the end, nor the beginning. This is not a day for celebration as the job remains far from over. The truth is still hidden. The real criminals are still at large. The real crime remains untold.
Libby was charged with five crimes. They are serious crimes. They are crimes against this country and represent treasonous behavior against the people of the United States of America. Let no one tell you any differently. Do not believe the spin you will hear about fantasy tales involving second tier crimes. These are real crimes. If guilty, Libby deserves the fate he faces. I say if because this country is founded on the principle that we are innocent until proven guilty. That makes Scooter Libby innocent as of today. Libby will get his day in court and the nation waits for the truths left to be revealed from those proceedings.
Beyond Libby there are more crimes and more criminals. Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has empanelled another Grand Jury to continue his investigation into these traitorous matters. Karl Rove is still in serious legal jeopardy and while that may send chills of joy through some, Rove only represents another bit player. The real criminals are the people behind these cards. They are the people who are in control of this country and have recklessly led us into a war based not on "faulty intelligence" but on planned and known lies. That is the real crime.
The real story is the Iraq War. The real story is about weapons of mass destruction that never existed. It is about a president that scared us into his war of choice. To scare us he needed material and the forged documents about Saddam and The Niger served that purpose. When the veracity of the president was challenged by Joe Wilson the administration went after his wife. It is clear now that the information of Plame's identity was given to Libby by Dick Cheney. The real story is how America has leaders who have sold out their humanity and have presided over the deaths of tens of thousands of innocents, all based on contrived lies. It is our collective soul that is still on the line in this tale. It is believing that our country still stands for what is right and decent in the world. It is believing that the rule of law counts for everyone and that a soldier is only asked to sacrifice under the most righteous of circumstances. There is no righteousness in deception. There is only ulterior motive and iniquity.
Revealing the identity of a covert CIA operative is a felony and rightly so. So is perjury, making false statements to a Grand Jury, and obstruction of justice. Valerie Plame had two lives. One was known to all as she had friends, family and a life she led. The other was her job which was protecting you and me and every person in this country. Do not let anyone tell you that this was not a big deal. Her very job was to protect this country against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. If Scooter Libby is guilty then he gets what he deserves. He is but one card though. This is not a day for celebration but a tremendously sad day in the history of this country. It is a day that hopefully will begin the process of revealing the truth behind the lies. With each passing day your attention will be drawn away from the real crime. I am sure that next week will bring a controversial Supreme Court nominee designed to drag press away from this story. Even when dealing with this story the press will engage us in debate about Libby, perjury, and Valerie Plame. While they are all important topics, the real crime is still out there and the truth remains hidden. It is not time to take our eye off the ball. The legacy of 2,000 dead American soldiers hangs in the air waiting for the truth to be told about why they had to die.