Larry Johnson - It Is About Death, Not Sex (new info on Plame?)

[yodermon]

http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/10/25/13433/682

The patethic whiney column by Nicholas Kristoff in the New York Times today makes one wonder if we must see the actual bodies before we understand the damage done to this country when White House officials exposed the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame. Valerie, who was still working under non-official cover, was in the process of converting to official cover. All that means is that she would no longer have to travel overseas and face the threat of death if caught while carrying out espionage activities. No, in the future, she would have traveled with a black U.S. diplomatic passport and would have been entitled to Geneva Convention protections. However, she would have still been undercover and still protected by the law.

Unfortunately the media appears to be helping spin the spin by suggesting that Patrick Fitzgerald is a prosecutor, a la Ken Starr, run amuck. While Starr brought the Clinton White House to its knees because the President lied about sex with an intern, the current case is far more serious than blow job from a willing adult.

The activities of the Bush White House, their politics as normal, involves trashing the reputation and motives of anyone who dares speak the truth. If Joe Wilson had been the only victim of this tactic one could make the argument that this was an isolated, unusual event. But that is not true. Just ask Secretary of Treasury Paul O'Neill, Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki, Secretary of the Army Thomas White, Counter Terrorism Czar Richard Clarke, and any other American who dared speak up about the Administration's flawed record on fighting terrorism and dealing with Iraq.

Did we know she was in the process of transferring to Official Cover?
Regardless, great article, kudos to Larry Johnson once again :toast:

[applegrove]

1. Right. The scapegoats & people who have been made example of

to buy silence and instill fear in other truth tellers. Thank god Plame & Wilson both hare the "fruit" to tell the truth and stand up.

[Uncle Joe]

2. Excellent column, good post yodermon.

You definitely have to keep your eye out for Republican Talking Point B.S. words such "blame game" or "criminalizing politics".

[The Traveler]

3. Yes.

And it is a necessary process, by which the NOC is extracted from the non-official cover position a fashion which does not jeopardize the rest of the network and the cover apparatus.

[bunny planet]

4. Once again. Larry Johnson, cuts through all the crap, right to the truth

of the matter.