I couldn't have told you several weeks ago who Lewis Libby was, and I straight up don't care who he is now. Is it a shocker to anyone that politics is a dishonest game.

The Libby indictment topped off one of the worst weeks of Bush's Presidency. This was the first time in over 135 years that a White House staffer was forced to resign due to an indictment. The indictment stems from an investigation of an incident back in June of 2003, when someone blew CIA agent Valerie Plame's cover in retaliation for her husband's whistle-blowing activity. Her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson was sent on an expedition to Niger to investigate allegations that Saddam Hussein had bought Uranium there for the purpose of constructing an atomic weapon. The allegations turns out were based on false intelligence. The White House political operation nonetheless decided to use that piece of information as part of their justification for going to war. Bush even used this erroneous information in his 2003 State of the Union address. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation has revealed that the Vice President's office went to a variety of depths to build a case for war with Iraq and to personally slander political opponents. It is noteworthy however that Libby was not charged with outing Plame, which was the retaliatory activity in question, rather he's being charged with perjury, for he lied to federal investigators about his role in revealing Plames name to the media. Washington insiders, acting within the rarefied atmosphere of high office, tend to forget that many times it's not the crime that kills you, rather it's the lie. In this case, the special prosecutor probably does not believe that he has enough to indict Libby or anyone else based on the CIA Agent shield law in question. Some believe that Libby has some information that will implicate officials as high as the Vice President in illegal activity, but I don't think it will get that far. In Washington, what really happens is that broad directives are issued and staffers work out the details, thus shielding the high official from any specific fallout. Speaking of fallout, this scandal is going to continue to create bad press for this administration for the next few months. This is a scandal involving our justification for going to war with Iraq. Some of the most damaging information will probably not be found admissible in a grand jury, but nonetheless, the evidence is incontrovertible that gross exaggerations took place in the lead-up to the war. Given that the outcome hasn't turned out exactly like we wanted it to, the results of the investigation will only add to the public perception that the war was a mistake and that our leaders rationales for it was wrong. Unlike some of Clinton's scandals, it is very difficult to separate the Bush administration's current legal troubles with broader political trends. Like I've pointed out before, it is still early enough in Bush's term to make a clean break and bring new blood into the White House. Doing some subtle changes to staff will lead to new perspectives. So far, it looks like Bush is planning on hunkering down. People like to see a President who is willing to admit some mistakes and who learns from them. Bush has had a rough second term so far, but he can salvage it yet.

Didn't your daddy teach you to never trust a man named "Scooter"?

Regardless of the merit of the allegations surrounding the indictment, this is incredibly damaging news for the Administration. Any hint of scandal, particularly as it pertains to the War in Iraq, which is ultimately what this scandal arose from, will erode the President's support among Americans even further. While Bush has not and probably will not be personally implicated, this indictment and any that come later will significantly weaken his standing with the American people, and prove his promise to "change Washington politics" for the better to be unfounded.

The indictment of a high-ranking Administration official is big news. The partisan hatred has a chance to brim over during the week-end and there will be hyperbolic extrapolations about how it's an indictment of the whole administration, it indicates a widespread problem of corruption, the evil-doers (read as 100% of the current administration) all do things like this, etc., etc. The explosion of hateful rhetoric will last at least 6 months. Knowing what Scooter did, I agree with the indictment. He lied to a Grand Jury, as did Bill Clinton. He lied to FBI agents, as did Martha Stewart. They were convicted and punished. He "outed" a CIA agent whom he should not have been talking about to reporters (even though they already knew who she was and who she was married to and what she did to "help" send him to Niger) and when you possess the highest of National Security clearances, you should be more responsible and put the partisan attack machine on hold, placing National Security on your list of priorities HIGHER! This isn't unique to Bush's Administration. It isn't unique to republicans. But, government officials, responsible for the safety of America, which depends on the secure cover of covert agents, now have a frightening precedent to point to when deciding how important it is to comply with the law. Sorry, Scooter, what you did was wrong. And in defying the law of the land as you have, you also have dealt an ugly blow to your president's dwindling stash of political capital. Was it worth it? Look for Bush to suddenly realize how important that base of conservatives is to him now. Forget any re-election mandate (real or imagined) he might have enjoyed. Anything that gets done now will be directly and singularly attributable to how well he reconciles with his conservative base. The hatred directed at Bush over the past 5 years will soon seem like a game of pat-a-cake. Evangelical Christians are about to become a very influential group of people.