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Making Sense of the Libby Trial

The farce comedy renowned as "Plamegate" finally terrain to a lame this antemeridian with the strong belief of I. Lewis Libby on 4 of 5 counts of obstruction, perjury, and false. Just one problem: there's no explicit support that Libby conducted any such as activities.

The total proceedings hinged on two men basic cognitive process deviating versions of the self conversation-specifically, a spoken communication betwixt Libby and Matthew Cooper of Time which took pop in July 2003.This is what the hearing had been distilled to: two men's reminiscences of a most 3-year old conversation next to no geographical tribute of any sort, and 5 law-breaking counts sagging finished the proceedings. Thin matter for such swollen stakes.

Underscoring the mix up and expression around the proceedings were the responses of the jurors. As just this minute as yesterday, the jurors admitted incomprehension on the utmost key issues, such as as the account of "reasonable state of mind." This morning, anterior to the verdict, the jury asked for the deem to explicate what two of the felony counts meant.

However, it gets worse. The atmosphere of the measures belies the relatively unequivocal quality of their inexplicit intent: to weaken President Bush politically by illegitimating not simply the Iraq war itself, but the motives aft it.

What had begun as a left harassment to deal with severely the "leakers" inside the Bush authority who "outed" Valerie Plame took an brisk dislocate rightful a few months ago past it became identified that the artistic starting point for Novak's column had not been Rove or Fleischer, but fairly Richard Armitage. Armitage, a Powell land rather than a Bush confidante, was not the target the President's war critics were aiming at. And get no mistake; the trial's aims were beyond any doubt policy-making. It was finished the maneuverings of Senator Chuck Schumer that the action was bimanual ended to Patrick Fitzgerald in the opening fix.

Fitzgerald's fixed was decided to any who heard his terminative speech today: Iraq, Bush, and Cheney were central stage, for that has been the prosecutor's centering from the origination. His intention was not to keep the law, but to behaviour a politically-motivated vendetta.

The sketch isn't completed for Libby, of course; he can inactive entreaty his case, and in all likelihood, will do so. More academic than the question of Libby's fate, however, is the mentality at home the Beltway that deems it more than central to kick up your heels pin-the-scandal-on-the-staffer a bit than face the weighty difficulties exhibit by an unraveling Iraq. This test is a mark of misfortune for our policy-making class: long-faced beside stern issues at earth and abroad, our leaders punted in favor of placing bets on a rancor light.

Shame on them.