Scooter Scoots

Many people say it is a sad day for America and nothing to gloat about when “Scooter” Libby, an Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the Vice President, has to resign his office because he is indicted for obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements, all in an effort to conceal his centrality to the story of the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame.

To me, it is a happy day. I have been accused before of “not being happy until everybody is unhappy”, a charge which misses the point about the source of my happiness. I believe with all my heart in the value of truth and in having that truth learned by those who have believed the lies. As Prosecutor Fitzgerald said in his press conference today announcing the indictment, telling the truth is a fundamental value of our American government. Libby is a liar in an administration built on lies, designed by the “Chief Architect”, Karl Rove, and nominally headed by George W. Bush, though some day the truth may be revealed that Dick Cheney is actually running the show. I am happy today, because our American government is finally starting to legally expose the lies this administration has been telling the American people.

Libby’s lies were part of a foolish coverup attempt. The indictment against him seems to confirm a Bush administration mentality similar to that of the Nixon administration at the time of Watergate. Though Prosecutor Fitzgerald has indicated there will be further inquiry, he has also said his investigation is limited in scope. Republicans cite the 22 month length of the Fitzgerald investigation as very extensive, but they fail to mention that Libby’s obstruction and perjury are the main reasons the investigation took so long.

The Republican Congress is not likely to investigate the CIA leak matter at all, unless the American people or the families of soldiers killed in Iraq effectively demand an investigation like the families of 9/11 victims did. The Fitzgerald press conference was jam packed with reporters. Meanwhile, only a handful attended an appearance by Cindy Sheehan at the National Press Club, where the activist mother of a soldier killed in Iraq reminded us that it took 4 years to reach 2,000 American deaths in Vietnam, but only 2 ½ years in Iraq. The sooner the truth comes out about how the Bush Administration lied us into invading Iraq, the happier all Americans should be, if we in fact value the truth as we say we do.

In reluctantly accepting the Libby resignation, George Bush, who had told the American public he wanted to learn the truth about the CIA leak, did not seem happy that the truth had come out when he today praised Libby and then quickly scooted away to a spin planning session at Camp David, ignoring the reporters asking questions on behalf of the American people.