We have sat by for months now waiting for the web to completely untangle. We waited while we saw the White House Press Pool finally awaken from their slumber. We waited while we watched the target move from "unnamed administration officials", to Karl Rove and now Scooter Libby. I keep waiting for this administration to blink, but surprisingly, they still have not. Sure, they trotted out John Roberts far earlier than they intended to try and smokescreen the press, but aside from that, this administration still acts like they are in this poker game. The still act as if there are other cards yet to be played.
That means the web runs deeper than this, far deeper. You need proof? Ask yourself one question then, why is Judy Miller still willing to rot in jail? The press and others have tried their level best to make Miller into a saint, but the truth is she is a criminal. She is not protecting a source, but rather, THE source of the treason at the heart of this story. I thought originally it was Karl Rove but Judy still sat in prison even after Rove publicly said that he released all reporters he spoke to from their confidentiality. Then I thought it might be Libby, but the Cooper testimony now reveals the proof that Libby is also involved. With that out in the open, it is no longer Libby whom Miller is protecting. Who is it then Judy?
The answer has to logically start with the fact that the person she is protecting is a LARGER story than Rove and Libby. Digest that for a minute. The architect of this administration and the chief of staff for the Vice President, are not as consequential as the person still being protected by Judith Miller. For those of you who are unaware, Judy Miller is not just any reporter. She spent a lot of time and ink writing propaganda for this administration and their desire for war. She propagated many of the administration lies and loaned credibility to them. The White House knew that if they wanted a favorable story in the New York Times, they just needed to call Judy and plant the story. Miller pimped the WMD lies that led this country to war, so do not lose sleep over her plight. The fact is she is not protecting a news source. The person who spoke to her was not a whistleblower; they were leaking national security secrets. Those are crimes against this country.
The Office of the Vice President asked Joe Wilson to investigate the Niger-uranium story. Don't believe the GOP talking points, it is an established fact that Cheney's office did indeed ask Joseph Wilson to go to Niger, and not at the behest of his wife either. His report though was factual, in that the yellowcake claims were bogus. Never one to let the truth get in his way, Bush proceeded to lie to the American people and kept beating the Niger-Yellowcake fantasy. Joe Wilson has served his country faithfully, and for both parties, for over 20 years so he felt compelled to tell the truth. That led to a calculated decision to assassinate Wilson's credibility and pay him back for having the temerity to speak out against the administration. Calls were made and sources were used to smear Wilson. Among those sources, was Judy Miller.
Keep in mind, Miller NEVER wrote a story about this, never mentioned that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA, yet there she still sits in jail. That removes any pretense of her protecting a journalistic source. No, she is protecting her source. Her inside the administration source that had not only told her the national secret of Valerie Plame's identity, but also had told her all of the other lies about Saddam and WMD that made her the media darling she was three years ago. It is THOSE lies that have led us to war and taken the lives of at least 1,800 American soldiers. It is those lies she is really protecting. Who is your source Judy? Who are you protecting?
It is now coming out that the true source may indeed be one, John Bolton. Steve Clemons has now reported that "John Bolton was a regular source for Judith Miller's New York Times WMD and national security reports." A little digging reveals that Bolton had testified to the prosecutor, Fitzgerald, a stubborn little fact Bolton omitted when he was before the Senate. Digging through the web a little further and we find that two of Bolton's assistants, David Wurmser and John Hannah, also worked in Cheney's office. Remember Libby now, stay with the web.
So, just what was John Bolton's job at that time you ask? Why he was the State Department deputy secretary in charge of "weapons of mass destruction", the point person that means for the Niger-uranium mess. Is this web starting to make more sense now? Bolton calls Judy Miller to reveal the Niger connection, knowing it is false. Later he has to call her again to reveal that Valerie Plame is a covert secret agent, to smear Joe Wilson. He sends his two aides to let Libby know. Rove would obviously follow. Libby and Rove call their sources, Novak and Cooper (as well as others). In 1992 Rove had been dismissed by George Bush Sr.'s campaign for leaking secrets to Robert Novak, so this is all commonplace. Bolton gets nominated to the UN as his reward but the administration tries to hide his involvement in this entire mess.
The web tightens, Fitzgerald suddenly gets closer. Miller is willing to go to jail to avoid revealing the name of the person who violated federal law, compromised the security of this nation, and committed treason. Fitzgerald is now discussing the possibility of changing Miller's contempt charge to a criminal charge. Kudos to him. Until Miller is willing to tell us who the real criminal is, she is an accomplice and needs to be treated as such. She is holding the last card this administration has left in this poker game. That is the card that unravels the rest of the web. It leads back to impeachable offenses that have led to deaths of at least 1,800 brave American soldiers. Dead for lies concocted three years ago designed to convince us to go to war.
Judy Miller sold us that war based on the lies given to her by her administration sources. Now she refuses to give those sources up and expose the truth for all to see. She is willing to stay in jail in defiance of Fitzgerald, and in defiance of all that is still decent in this country. It is her sources in conjunction with the Downing Street Memos which can take down this administration and put an end to this poker game. Until Judith Miller is willing to show us her cards, she should rot in jail. The blood of the lives lost because of her lies demands nothing less.
