JOHN DEAN: Joe Wilson's War-A Fight That Flushed Out Much Of The Truth

[kpete]

Joe Wilson's War:
Though He and His Wife Valerie Plame Lost Their Lawsuit against Cheney and Others,
It's Only One Battle in a Fight that Flushed Out Much Truth
By JOHN W. DEAN
----
Tuesday, Jul. 24, 2007

Former ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, lost their lawsuit seeking to hold a number of defendants responsible for the personal damage they caused when they revealed her CIA covert status, but they won the battle to get to the truth. Joe Wilson has exposed much more than the bogus claim underlying the efforts to justify an invasion of Iraq. In the larger picture, the ruling dismissing their lawsuit is of little long-term historical significance, compared to the information the Wilsons have forced to the surface. It is only unfortunate that the Wilsons had to pay dearly in order to speak the truth.

Dismissal of the Wilsons' lawsuit, in fact, illuminates yet another oft-forgotten truth: Officials like Vice President Cheney, his former top aide Scooter Libby, White House political adviser Karl Rove, and former State Department official Richard Armitage can easily escape civil legal liability for even highly irresponsible conduct. U.S. District Court Judge John Bates's ruling reminds us that the federal judiciary today, under the dictates of a conservative Supreme Court majority, has a remarkable array of technical rules it can invoke to prevent anyone from holding high-level federal officials civilly responsible for irresponsible or illegal behavior.


Although the Wilsons plan to appeal Judge Bates's decision, it was based on a phalanx of prior holdings denying such relief against high level officials, so do not hold your breath anticipating a higher court reversal. Instead, it seems an appropriate time to tally a few high points of the impact of Joe Wilson's actions. It is easy to forget that his actions were the catalyst to the public's learning how this very secretive White House truly operates, and coming to understand the inadequacy of the law protecting covert agents (even from their own government playing politics), and the propensity of conservatives to play dirty and get away with it.

A half-dozen or so examples of the revelations the scandal prompted make the point:

EXCELLANT READ - more at:
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20070724.html

[H2O Man]

1. nominated

thanks!

[kpete]

3. more:

It remains unknown why Ashcroft recused himself. This much is clear, however: Comey was a straight-shooter when serving as Deputy Attorney General, and Ashcroft appears to have greatly respected his judgment. In addition, we know now that some seventy days after Ashcroft recused himself, White House counsel Alberto Gonzales traveled (with White House chief of staff Andrew Card) to the hospital to get a semi-conscious Ashcroft, barely out of emergency surgery, to overturn Comey’s refusal to sign off on the illegal surveillance of millions of Americans, contrary to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The White House only backed down from this push when it was learned that the entire senior management staff of the Justice Department - that is, all of Bush’s political appointees - were universally ready to resign if the White House insisted on going forward. This threat of a mass resignation could not have been prompted by a single event; rather, this must have been a reaction to many such events. So it is not a great leap to think that Ashcroft likely recused himself from the Plame investigation because it was one of many efforts by the White House to politically strong-arm the Justice Department.

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20070724.html

[BOSSHOG]

2. You know that Joe and Valerie are honorable and brave citizens

just by listening to the hate and vitriol tossed their way by the right wing noise and hate machine.

[checks-n-balances]

4. Likewise, if we don't give up trying for impeachment, we win the battle for truth

Sorry, I just had to say that (with apologies to Dean and to readers, and I'm NOT trying to hijack this thread).

The Wilsons showed amazing courage for taking on this rogue government and, as sad as it is that their case was recently dismissed, it certainly brought out a lot of ugly truths about what they were dealing with and to what length it would go through to shield the truth from the American people. That's how the whole thing started - with the lie about WMDs, continued with the "anybody in this administration who did that will be fired", and ended with the kind of stonewalling and deception that has become the one of the identifying marks of this regime.

John Dean certainly can identify with the Wilsons, so his opinion holds a great deal of credibility with me. Thanks for posting this.

(Edited for grammatical clarity)

[DemReadingDU]

5. afternoon kick

[scarletwoman]

6. "Excellent read", indeed. k & r (nt)

[MetaTrope]

7. Dean has become a national treasure

Too bad he doesn't get broader media exposure.

[puebloknot]

8. K&R Thanks for this! nt

[Octafish]

9. Impeach the treasonous turds of the Supreme Court on down throughout the judiciary.

They deserve Gitmo as much as Gonzales, Bush and Cheney.

Joe and Valerie Wilson deserve our thanks as true Patriots.

[Gabi Hayes]

10. this only serves to demonstrate just HOW despicable the M$M have become.

even worse than they were under Reagan, 41, and Clinton....worse and worse, every single day, right along with this regime.

stenographers to treason

they deserve to be treated the same way the French and Italians treated, well...you get the idea...after WWII