Democrats' reactions to the Libby Indictment in the Valerie Plame Non-Scandal
From my favorite collection of left-wing nutbags, the Democratic Underground:

Farsee was concerned about Democrats' reputations:

I was getting worried that there would be nothing and we would look completely stupid.

No worries there, mate -- you looked completely stupid already.
CityDem is not relieved, however. Far from it. He wanted Rove:

Rove is an evil bastard and the architect of AWOL's mean spirited policies. Libby will fight these charges for years and no one will hear about it. If Rove gets off, the last two years have been wasted.

Never mind, of course, whether Rove actually did anything illegal or indictable.
Arger68 is at least honest in his self-description:

I just feel like a spoiled child that didn't get what I wanted for Christmas. I do think there'll be more before it's over, though.

"Spoiled child" is precisely right.

Sigh. As a lawyer, and as a citizen, this bothers me greatly. It is part of an ongoing descent into the criminalization of politics. For the past thirty-five years, criminal indictments have become political weapons. The Democrats have been more responsible for this, in my opinion -- Watergate, Iran Contra, etc., etc. -- but Republicans have engaged in it as well (Bill Clinton, etc.). In my opinion, it is a waste of time and resources.

Look at today's indictment. The original investigation delved into whether administration officials violated laws regarding the identification of an individual who has, within the preceding five years, served as an overseas, undercover CIA agent. There is no question that the underlying statute was not violated. Valerie Plame had not been overseas in an undercover capacity for more than six years (if ever). Moreover, her identity as a CIA employee was well known. In short, there was no crime!

So what are the charges brought in the indictments? Obstruction of justice and perjury, primarily. The special prosecutor alleges that Libby intentional misled or lied to the grand jury, or took steps to impede the investigation (probably through the misleading or lying).

That sounds straightforward, but it isn't. You see, perjury can be charged when you OMIT information. If the prosecutor asks you a question about a brief telephone call you made three years earlier, you had better remember every bloody detail, or you too could be indicted -- even if the initial incident that led to the investigation is determined to be within the law.

We, as a nation, will regret this criminalization of politics.
- posted by MrSpkr @ 13:06