The blogosphere is abuzz with the implications of George Step's assertion on this program this morning that a couple of sources had told him that George and Dick were both in on the early discussions of Joe Wilson and his wife.
At the risk of ending up with egg on my face, let me repeat what I've been saying (on BFA) from the beginning of the Plame controversy, that it was probably George W. Bush who let the cat out of the bag about Wilson's wife.
While he probably didn't have anything to do with sending Joe Wilson to Niger, to prove once and for all that no yellow cake had been ordered or purchased by Saddam Hussein's Iraq, so making the claim that it was wouldn't be revealing any secrets, when former Ambassador Wilson turned out not to appreciate having been made a patsy and complained about it in the New York Times, George W. may well have remembered Wilson from his days in the Administration of Poppy and popped up with the observation, "oh, yeah, that's the fellow who's got a wife in the CIA."
Which is why nobody remembered where they first heard it and why nobody knew her name, to begin with. Because George W. never remembers people's names--only the nicknames he gives them.
But that's not really important. What's important from where I sit is the pattern of going after political rivals by targeting their wives. Think of Edmund Muskie being brought near to tears because of vicious attacks on his wife. Think of Michael Dukakis being forced to defend Kitty from a hypothetical rape. Think of John McCain being accused of fathering a black baby because his wife adopted a brown baby. Think of Howard Dean having to justify why his physician wife continued caring for her patients instead of shaking (germy) hands on the campaign trail. Think of John Kerry's wife Teresa having to explain why her first husband left her a fortune that needs to be administered. In every instance there was an implication that the wives were flawed when, in fact, none were.
So, why would it not be logical to suggest that the same people who had engaged in this kind of underhanded attack weren't behind the assault on the reputation and career of Valerie Plame? The only difference is that this time the wife happens to "enjoy" the protection of the law. It's a crime to reveal the identity of a clandestine employee of the CIA.
Wouldn't it be ironic if the connection to the CIA, which the Bushes have gone to such great lengths to down-play, were to trip them up? Perhaps, in retrospect, it would have been smarter to be truthful about George's activities while he was AWOL from the National Guard. But Bush in the CIA is not to be talked about. Wasn't it strange that Jimmy Carter took him out of the top slot when the norm is for Agency heads to stay even as administrations change?
Posted by Hannah at October 2, 2005 03:13 PM