Can you help a brother out?

On Friday, Rove was spared an indictment; Scooter Libby was hit with five counts for perjury, obstruction of justice, and false statements to a federal investigator. Most media reports I’ve read to date have painted Libby as a sympathetic figure. Even so, it’s difficult for me to muster much pity. It is not so much that I disdain the White House’s hardball political tactics; the Bush administration, at least for me, has lost its capacity to shock. Back in 2000, Rove orchestrated a direct call campaign in advance of the South Carolina Republican primary which accused McCain of having an out-of-wedlock child by a black woman, notwithstanding the fact that it was a matter of public knowledge that McCain’s dark-skinned daughter was a Bangladeshi orphan whom he and his wife had adopted. So no, the Sopranos-style outing of Plame was par de course for these assholes, and not something that I felt all too antagonized about.

Libby brought this on himself. I haven’t personally read the indictment because that shit is boring; I’ve relied on the integrity of our media to give me the straight dope. Based on those reports—and leaving aside the fact that the indictment is only the government’s side of the story—Libby is a monumental idiot. Testifying before a grand jury is some serious shit. If you’re going to perjure yourself, you need to think these things through if you plan on getting away with it. Instead, Libby gave a version of events that was plainly contradicted by Russert, Miller, Novak, and probably Karl Rove. It was amateurish, and completely inconsistent with Libby’s reputation for pain-staking meticulousness. The only possible explanation would be Libby’s misguided belief that the reporters were never going to testify before a federal grand jury, but even that’s moronic. Federal law doesn’t recognize a reporter’s privilege—Miller argued the issue all the way to the Supreme Court and was rebuffed at every juncture. Well, what should he have done? He could have done what Rove probably did—“Yes, I leaked; no, I didn’t know that doing so would be a violation of the espionage act.” Libby would have lost his job, but he wouldn’t be facing a year in prison and a seven-figure legal bill.

If you're interested, I believe some of his friends are starting a charitable fund for his impending legal costs. Which reminds me of a sentiment that often comes to mind when I see certain kinds of panhandlers in Argyle. A white, establishment power-broker looking for a hand-out? That's not the way the good Lord meant for things to be.