I believe it was him, or was someone directed by him.

That said, want to lay bets on whether the allegations stick?

It's not really a question of belief, for me. It makes perfect sense that Rove would be the source. The question is whether he'll actually be punished or held accountable in any substantive sense. If true, the appropriate response would be jail time.

Do you really think that's going to happen? Ralph Nader is having a hard enough time convincing people that Bush and Cheney can and should be impeached.

And why the fuck isn't Novak in the same boat as Cooper and Miller?

... the thing that I think we must remember is that this is a war which a brutalitarian force has won to a greater extent than any brutalitarian force has won a war in the history of the world before.

For example, Christianity, which has been in existence for 2,000 years, has not converted, convinced nearly as many people as this Communist liberal brutalitarianism has enslaved in 106 years, and they are not going to stop.

I know that many of my good friends seem to feel that this is a sort of a game you can play, that you can talk about communism the Democratic Party as though it is something 10,000 miles away.

Mr. Jenkins Speaker, in answer to your question, let me say it is right here with us now. Unless we make sure that there is no infiltration of our Government, then just as certain as you sit there, in the period of our lives you will see a red liberal world.

Here's Editor & Publisher on the story.

but what about the wapo piece from a year ago that said Liddy was the source? (I can't find the link now, but I believe it was linked by someone here the other day).

god I hope it's Rove, and that somehow he is fried for it.

Well, I uh, huh, wow...*scratches head* I don't know quite what to think, except I really thought I couldn't be surprised by turns of events in this administration anymore. Once again, I can't decide if they're truly brilliant in their powers of obfuscation or blathering idiots of such epic proportion that they render opposition ineffective by stunning them into paralyzed confusion.

In any event, it's bound to be a spectacle. I'll supply the pillows and blankets if someone else will bring the snacks.

but of course, we're enraged that journalists are being forced to divulge their sources or face jail, right? because the vast majority of times it's the little guy in need of protection, right?

and we're not losing sight of that just because for once it's the fat bastard that's getting it, right?

right?

ah, fuck. you just don't have a clue, do you?

Journalists? They still exist? I haven't seen one of those since the 70's.

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Rove and the other devils involved will slither out of this potential problem with very little effort. Most of the stenographers masquerading as journalists covering the White House and the various puppets on the cable news channels won't handle this story in an effective way so the public will scratch its collective head and tune out.

Rove is no more a master of the media than a train is master of the tracks. Rove succeeds because it would be very, very hard for him to fail.

Funny that this breaks on a Friday before a three day weekend. There was a bit on NPR the other day about how the Administration always likes news that's bad for them to break late on a Friday.

They also like news that's bad for them to break just so they can debunk it and make themselves look better (and their accusers look like fools). I wouldn't be too surprised if this was one of those.

It's pretty effing easy to manipulate the current media so Karl Rove's craftmanship may be overestimated (though his eee-vill is not). Still, it is interesting to watch ol' "turd blossom" work it. This story is big to the blogosphere (most newshounds knew Rove was the leak) and that's where it'll prettymuch stay, unfortunately. Sometimes I get the feeling the net's a coffin; we're all screaming and no one on the outside is really listening.

I'll be interested in seeing where this goes, but feel pretty cynical. Regarding modern (U.S.) media... I'm thinking that there are several factors at work: more marketing-oriented, fewer old-school investigative reporters with skillz (almost none, it seems), and much, much greater reluctance to approach any story that isn't almost completely facile, both in terms of producing the goods, and what the public is willing to digest/consume.

Media didn't dig the dirt on Clinton, that was done for them - but in terms of what they could use to grab an audience, it was a silver-platter story: SEX, PRESIDENT; BLOW JOB; in the OVAL OFFICE! So easy, so thrilling. This one is like, "Plame? Who was that again?". They hate that.

I think the truth is that the media is neither left-leaning nor right-leaning, really. I think they are sort of politically amoral, very willing to go with the flow, and are primarily interested in ads/ratings and for this reason "report the news" at something like a fifth grade comprehension level. Anything that rises above this benchmark just doesn't make it through. Kidnapped children, celebrity gossip, serial killers and terrorist threats are very simple themes - the audience has seen hundreds of movies and TV shows with these plot lines, and can easily grasp the basic concepts. Even slightly complex White House machinations and manipulation, not so much. If it requires more than two sentences of backstory, it's too complicated to be good modern media fodder. Your daily newspaper or news show is no different than a pair of athletic shoes or a fast food lunch: it's 90% marketing and 10% content. The news is a just a product.

Good points, taz. I'll just add that I think politics is something the general public believes they're not capable of understanding. Much like the fear many of them had towards computers more than a decade ago, they believe it's something best left to those smart geeks. The thing is, unlike the successful effort to inform them about that technology, the media has shirked their responsibility with regards to politics. But it's a two way street. The public buys the idea that they're too stupid to learn and the profit-driven media keeps selling it. And the White House benefits from a public who thinks that government is best left to those who can understand it.

It's also an issue of apathy, though, because a lot of people wouldn't be willing to admit to themselves or others that they lack the intelligence to follow politics. The problem, in their eyes, is that politics is too boring, and being informed doesn't empower them anyway.

True. Apathy and boredom are definitely a part of it in that they're the result of giving up any effort to try to understand. They are a defense and an excuse.

Apathy and its sister-child, Laziness. Want to solve the youth-voter-apathy problem? Initiate online voting. Not that a bunch of additional, unconsidered votes will necessarily improve the process any, but it'd clear up all that "I don't see myself represented" BS. Make it as easy as Hot-or-Not and watch the votes roll in.

We can all complain about the inefficacy of an uninformed democracy, but no one will motivate people to learn about what's really going on if it can't fit into a headline. People have to motivate themselves. But comfort is the antithesis of such motivation. Want to see men, women, and children who care enough to invest time and energy learning real politics? Visit an old Soviet republic. If Americans are going to start actually caring about politics, decisions America makes have to start hurting Americans. Badly. Unfortunately, there's plenty of other targets/distractions/coveted-resources to ensure that the majority of suffering occurs elsewhere for quite some time.

First, the fact that journalists are losing constitutional rights should be the biggest story. That a reporter who never even *wrote* about the story is about to go to jail is obscene.

Secondly, I'll grant that Rove is a font of Eeeevil...but this will disappear just like the Memo and the powder that ol' Uncle Tom Powell took to the UN, and the yellow cakes, and the WMD, and questions of why the jets weren't scrambled on 9/11.

This administration is almost bullet proof...and this isn't the bunker buster that will bring them down. Sad as it is, we're stuck with treason in the White House as long as they keep playing the God card, real Republicans continue to be fooled by it and the puppets in the press corps continue to lick the boots of their master.

I've had my very old relatives over this weekend...the folks that not only remember WWII, but some of whom took part. Every one of them has been a life long Republican, and every one of them has defected from the party because they think it's been hijacked by fascists who mean to rule the world and that's what they fought against.

Our country is a mess, and I don't know what can be done to fix it. Convicting Rove would be fabulous, but not at the cost of destroying reporters ability to protect sources. The price is too high.

That said, if there were any honor, Rove would do us a favor and commit sepeku.