Decision ‘08

Rove Is Safe…

…for the moment, as was widely reported last night from a leaker who was almost certainly Rove’s lawyer. The news conference will be at 1:00 p.m. central, I believe, and I will be on the road. It appears, though, that we can say with a fair degree of certainty that Libby will be indicted and Rove will not, and, from all appearances, no ancillary figures are taking the fall yet, either.

When I get back from the concert, I’ll digest the news and post what I think it means. For now, I’d have to say Fitzmas is a bit of a dud. We’ve known for some time now that Libby was in serious trouble, and Rove less so, and that indeed appears to be the case. The Dems may gloat a bit and put on their best ‘I’m outraged!’ face, but there will be little joy that the big fish has, for the moment, swam away…

…Unless, of course, the leaks are wrong; in which case, I plead innocent - how could I know? I’ll be on the road!

Commenter Phil, below, says what a victory, democracy threatened, outing agents, armageddon, you know the routine. Phil, chill…and read the MinuteMan. The Republic still stands…

6 Responses to “Rove Is Safe…”

1 Dennis Says:
October 28th, 2005 at 12:01 pm
So if this all shakes down as expected, and Fitzmas turns out to be something less than the orgasmic destruction of the administration the Kossacks envisioned, how long before some of them start attacking Fitzgerald as a Republican toady?
2 peter Says:
October 28th, 2005 at 12:52 pm
Ain’t gonna happen. Many (most?) on the right predicted that the Democrats would go batshit and filibuster John Roberts. He ended up getting a majority of Democratic votes in the Senate. Then many (most?) predicted that the Democrats would go ape over Miers. Well, they’re not the ones who prevented Miers from getting the “up or down vote” which Republicans purportedly cherish. Fitzgerald’s investigation was intensive but, from all appearances, upheld the highest standards of integrity and was leak-proof. Wherever the chips fall, I don’t think you’ll see much bashing of Fitzgerald from the left. You’re creating a straw man which doesn’t exist.
3 louielouie Says:
October 28th, 2005 at 1:13 pm
peter,
dennis was referring to the reaction of kossacks.
you start talking about democrats.
apples.
oranges.
get it???
4 peter Says:
October 28th, 2005 at 1:40 pm
Sorry, I don’t know what Kossacks are — I know that Cossacks are from Southern Russia — I figured it was a derogatory term for leftists, but the connection is unclear to me –
5 Dennis Says:
October 28th, 2005 at 3:36 pm
Kossacks are denizens of the Daily Kos, www.dailykos.com. It’s pretty much Bush-Hating HQ. It’s a handy term for those who think Bush made their cornflakes soggy for breakfast this morning or broke their shoelaces.

I don’t recall anyone predicting the Democrats would go ape over Miers, mainly because she was Harry Reid’s suggested nominee and because conservatives started going ape over her right from the get-go, so most of the left seemed content to sit on the sidelines and enjoy the fight. As for Roberts, again, I don’t recall many or most conservatives predicting a filibuster, as this was after the Gang of 14 deal, but he wound up getting the support over only half the Democrats - 22 for, 22 against - despite having impeccable credentials. (And by way of comparison, nearly every Senate Republican voted for Ginsburg and Breyer when Clinton nominated them.)

So while I agree that Democrats aren’t the same thing as Kossacks, Miers and Roberts aren’t exactly striking examples of lefty restraint.
6 peter Says:
October 28th, 2005 at 4:02 pm
Dennis: thanks for the explanation – I don’t spend much time on leftist sites because I don’t see the point of hearing from like-minded individuals – but I’m curious and I’ll take a look at the kos site.

Not to split hairs, but I believe Jeffords is in the Democratic caucus – if so, the vote is 23-22 for Roberts.

You may well be correct about the anticipation of Democratic behavior – politics these days resembling a WWF Smackdown, it’s easy to get the impression that each side is always expecting the worst from the other side.