Plame and Bush

Let's review the whole Valerie Plame incident. She worked for the CIA. Her husband, Joseph Wilson, made public statements in which he criticized the war with Iraq. Subsequently, someone or some group in the White House revealed Plame's employment with the CIA, which could have placed her safety in jeopardy.

When questioned under oath, several people said they had nothing to do with the dirty trick with the CIA. For example, I. Lewis Libby said under oath that he had nothing to do with the whole nasty business.

Libby was later found guilty of perjury and sentenced to 30 months in prison. Prez Bush promptly gave his old pal a pardon.

This brings us to Scott McClellen, Bush's former mouthpiece. In a new book to be released in 2008, McClellen makes statements that may or may not implicate Bush, Cheney, and Karl Rove in addition to Libby.

It's not quite yet a Bush-McClellen battle, because McClellen still has to clarify what he meant in the brief excerpt from the book revealed earlier this week. But when in doubt, the smart money always assumes that Bush lied. Never forget the WMDs.