Woodward Ho!

Almost everyone thinks this WaPo article is bizarre in claiming, as it does in the headline, that the Woodward revelaton will somehow be a "boon" to Scooter Libby's defense. Without ever really explaining why Bob Woodword being told of Plame's CIA status before any other reporter would prop up Libby's defense in perjury and obstruction charges, the headline attempts to preclude any other judgement. In reading the story, you realise that nothing about Woodward's involvment has anything to do with Libby's indictments.

Some so-called "legal expert," a one John Moustakas, claims, or attempts to claim, that discussions involving White House officials and reporters regarding Plame and her CIA affiliation were so damned casual that, hell, who knew it was bad ... or maybe even illegal ... to talk about?

Now, here's the good part. The reasoning goes like this. Because Bob Woodward has "unprecedented access" to the White House, when he says discussions about Plame were "nonchalant and casual," well, we should believe him. And just why is that? Why, Moustakas seems to think that having all that "unprecedented access" to the White House confers upon Woodward "considerable credibility" regarding the questions surrounding the Plame affair.

So when Bob Woodward says there's nuthin' to any of this, by god, you better believe him. Because he has tea with Karl Rove every afternoon, which is served to them in a lovely service that is fashioned from the phophorous-scorched skulls of small Iraqi children.