The Plame Game
Editor and Publisher has been doing a good job of keeping tabs on the Valerie Plame situation. Perhaps I'm being optimistic, but this case seems to have all the ingredients of a high profile gatey gate gate. That is to say it will make good TV. There appears to be quite a line-up of Pandoras, each with her own spring-loaded box. I'm going to make an out-of-hand prediction that this case will go LIVE. Here's why:
1. Big names. GWB, Cheney, and Rove will be subpoenaed for the grand jury testimony. Certainly reporters from NY Times, Time Magazine, and Robert Novak will be part of the parade. Perhaps Kato Kaelin.
2. The case has an actual legal teeth - Rove's illegal blowing the cover of an acting CIA officer, what could in these times easily be cast as a breach of national security.
3. Very sensitive questions about the existence of an Iraq-Niger yellowcake connection will have to be asked and answered. It is highly likely that there will be an investigation of the forged documents. Until now, everyone had agreed that the documents were forged, but no press entity has had the guts to ask who forged them (the documents apparently fell from heaven like the forged CBS National Guard memo that so conveniently diverted attention away from GBW's military record and toward "uncooperative" reporters like Dan Rather). Forging documents is a very deliberate act of deception - much more damning than a "misstatement." Unfortunately for the neo-cons, Rathergate has already whet the public appetite for forged documents.
4. Plamegate arrives in the midst of general discontent regarding the necessity of the war. Less than 50% of Americans believe "the war is worth it." Yes, the survey question is weird - phrased as though the war is an end in itself - but the trend is real. (If anything, the question ought to be whether "it" was worth a war.)
5. The Downing Street Memo is on the verge of a boil. Toss in a little yellowcake forgery, let soak, sprinkle with a little espicy perjury, and I think the average American will have a satisfying, prime time, red meat meal.
6. If the interrogators are really on their toes, and public opinion being what it is, questions of Halliburton's loss of $9 billion of taxpayer money might become salient. This is further down the laundry list given the order of mainstream American values these days: 1) national security; 2) our soldiers; 3) our money; 4) the trust of our leaders; 5) the rest of it - Iraqi civilians, human rights, international law.
So there you have it - made for TV: international intrigue, a husband-and-wife spy duo, trust betrayed, hard evidence, a wild card president who could say anything on the stand if left to his own devices, a sneaky new puppetmaster character, legal bite. The whole thing has got a "everybody knows but nobody tells" intrigue about it. Much like Jerry Springer, the dramatic skeleton is a simple one. The secret guests wait in the wings, and they will no doubt sass their way onto the stage. The spectacle will be as satisfying as it is predictable. But I could be wrong.
1. Big names. GWB, Cheney, and Rove will be subpoenaed for the grand jury testimony. Certainly reporters from NY Times, Time Magazine, and Robert Novak will be part of the parade. Perhaps Kato Kaelin.
2. The case has an actual legal teeth - Rove's illegal blowing the cover of an acting CIA officer, what could in these times easily be cast as a breach of national security.
3. Very sensitive questions about the existence of an Iraq-Niger yellowcake connection will have to be asked and answered. It is highly likely that there will be an investigation of the forged documents. Until now, everyone had agreed that the documents were forged, but no press entity has had the guts to ask who forged them (the documents apparently fell from heaven like the forged CBS National Guard memo that so conveniently diverted attention away from GBW's military record and toward "uncooperative" reporters like Dan Rather). Forging documents is a very deliberate act of deception - much more damning than a "misstatement." Unfortunately for the neo-cons, Rathergate has already whet the public appetite for forged documents.
4. Plamegate arrives in the midst of general discontent regarding the necessity of the war. Less than 50% of Americans believe "the war is worth it." Yes, the survey question is weird - phrased as though the war is an end in itself - but the trend is real. (If anything, the question ought to be whether "it" was worth a war.)
5. The Downing Street Memo is on the verge of a boil. Toss in a little yellowcake forgery, let soak, sprinkle with a little espicy perjury, and I think the average American will have a satisfying, prime time, red meat meal.
6. If the interrogators are really on their toes, and public opinion being what it is, questions of Halliburton's loss of $9 billion of taxpayer money might become salient. This is further down the laundry list given the order of mainstream American values these days: 1) national security; 2) our soldiers; 3) our money; 4) the trust of our leaders; 5) the rest of it - Iraqi civilians, human rights, international law.
So there you have it - made for TV: international intrigue, a husband-and-wife spy duo, trust betrayed, hard evidence, a wild card president who could say anything on the stand if left to his own devices, a sneaky new puppetmaster character, legal bite. The whole thing has got a "everybody knows but nobody tells" intrigue about it. Much like Jerry Springer, the dramatic skeleton is a simple one. The secret guests wait in the wings, and they will no doubt sass their way onto the stage. The spectacle will be as satisfying as it is predictable. But I could be wrong.
posted by thebaffler at 8:26 PM
1 Comments:
Just for the facts sake, it is flat out, dead on illegal to reveal the names of clandestine agents in the CIA or any intelligence organizations to those who are not cleared to receive the information. In no way is it legal at any time, by any American.
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