Lynch Mob Mentality Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry


I can't say I'm surprised, but it speaks volumes that not a single Bush administration official, nor Bob Novak (warning: rancid link), nor your typical mouth breathers (additional rancid link warning) have issued so much as a statement of regret about the Plame matter. Not even an abstract statement, although Plame herself has been abstracted to such an extent that I doubt Bob Novak even considers her a living, breathing human being (unlike Bob himself, who died fifteen years ago and is still waiting for someone to give him a decent funeral).

Jonah Goldberg, on the other hand, does manage to fill his vile little screed with a mix of juvenile sarcasm and envy...I guess he's jealous. Unlike Plame, Jonah still needs his mommy to open doors.

Indeed, you've not even seen any statement of regret--or an inquiry from the media--as to the assets basically destroyed by Team Bush in their zeal to put a rope around Joe Wilson's neck (interestingly, yet another parallel with Saddam's regime). Not that any information is likely to be forthcoming, but I know of no one who will suggest that Plame did anything other than an exemplary work, and that Brewster Jennings was anything other than an exemplary front organization charged with a significant task, that is, limiting the spread of unconventional weapons. Hell, I don't even like the CIA all that much--at least the "cowboy" elements--but I'm realistic enough to recognize the necessity of obtaining and analyzing information on a global level, which is a major function of the agency.

Instead, the media's focus is all on poor, brave little Scooter, who, if he's not pardoned, might have to go live with the big, bad, scary men in the clink for a few years...and he'll forever be a felon. Poor, poor Scooter.

You know, Joe Wilson, regardless of what the mouth breathers think of him, struck the proper tone Tuesday evening--he noted that while sastisfied with the verdict, it was not a cause for celebration. And while Ms. Plame/Wilson was inconvenienced, it's not even in the same league as those who've been killed or wounded in a war based on lies (nor is it in the same league as the family members and survivors).

But it's still something. Something that was flat out wrong, and something that Team Bush KNOWS is flat out wrong. I can't speak for the mouthbreathers--hell, they can barely speak, period--but a simple admission of regret, if only for the loss of what looks like a significant operation to limit the spread of unconventional weapons, would seem appropriate. But, with an administration where the "brains" are Karl Rove and Dick Cheney, you won't see that...because there's no tangible political benefit.

I guess that's what they meant when they said they were going to "change the tone" in Washington.