The senior official back in '03 -- wouldn't that have been Powell who had reason to be smarting from being made a fool in front of the UN? He wouldn't be Fineman's current inside source, of course. But, Powell was on AF1 the day the memo was circulated and it's obvious he's the one who leaked, "I saw Ari reading it, too," after it was leaked that Powell had it in his hands. He was there in the middle of the little party they had plotting to discredit Wilson. He was there while phone calls were made from the plane to reporters.

Remind me: when did Powell resign? When did Ari resign? Maybe these guys didn't imagine the scandal that would follow but they felt uncomfortable about what was being done and got out while the getting was good.

This whole Plame Game is like an Alternative Reality Game (ARG) and I'm really enjoying it. I hope it ends like most of those games where the villians are destroyed, the heroes win and the mysteries are solved because of all the players watching and speculating and contributing to the storyline.

Unless Rove is already as good as in jail it is almost impossible to imagine anyone openly defying him. Even to bad-mouth Rove off the record would ordinarily be too risky for members of the administration.
Karl Rove has run roughshod over people his entire career. He's made a lot of enemies, some of them kept very close. People who build their careers that way are punished badly on their way down. When all those people who were bound through fear get their first whiff of blood, they all start taking their shots. That's what will happen to the whole administration ultimately. Tyrants get destroyed, when they finally fall, and everyone who isn't wholly enmeshed and loyal takes their pound of flesh.

"I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or prostitute." ~ Rebecca West

Oh Yeah, this really is loaded with both intrigue and entertainement value for sure. In fact rumours and gossip is the main topic of my diary today, Under the Radar, Gossip Edition. I'm not pushing my diary, it's just that gossip is so much fun. You'll find links to Tweeties's interview with Fineman, as well as Bush vs. Cheney gossip and the latest on Bush's worsening temper tantrums. Wait, there's more... an article by Carole Coleman, the irish reporter who interviewed Bush for real and earned an official protest by the US to the Irish government. She wanted to slap him during the interview. Carole's article is a fun read.

I think second source is Condi.  Also, MSM talking heads made it sound somewhat like they are going to throw Karl under the bus to save the President.  I just can't believe this, because I don't think Rover has the loyalty of a dog, and I think if they don't toe the line and fight to keep his fat arse out of jail, he will take the lot of them down with him.

Unless there is an unfortunate small plane accident in Rove's near future.

"Have you no sense of decency, sir. At long last, have you left no sense of decency?" -- Boston Attorney Joseph Welch, taking down Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

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~ Cross-posted from earlier diary Under the Radar, Gossip Edition ~

Editor & Publisher link plus additional reference NationalJournal.com

WSJ Edition ::
Focus of CIA Leak Probe
Appears to Widen

PS Very sorry Condi is no mole, she belongs to the rats.

▼ ▼ ▼

Well, these are political rats we are talking about, not patriots and we all know what rats do to a sinking ship.

No surprises here, it just didn't happen sooner because of a purposely sleeping (due to corporate ownership/involvement) press.

that Karen Hughes took a "family leave" ?

Dudehisattva...

I figured the '03 guy was Tenet. If you've just had a leak of a CIA agent wouldn't you go to the head of the CIA and ask them about it?

As to the more recent comments... I think it is White House spin at work. It is also possibly truth. I think the White House is in serious distress and disarray but read Billmon today for more info on Andy Card.

The 10,000 Things

We'll know this has become an important story when we tune in to Anderson Cooper and he says, "Next up: Everyone in America is wondering... Who is... the Mole?"

...to watch this drama unfold... Weren't his books really about PNAC anyway???

Come visit my new blog! A Canadian View of American Politics

The few pictures taken lately of VP Cheney remind me of my compatriots in old age who have gotten that message that you don't want to hear of how many months you have left.  On top of that there appears to be a cabal in the White House who are pushing to make Scooter Libby, the VP Chief of Staff, the fall guy.  Karl Rove is too important to President Bush.  It all is enough to understand why there are rumors of a falling out between POTUS and VPOTUS flying through Etherville.

How about Andrew Card?

Mary Matalin.

I love a good mystery...motive, method, opportunity, plus access...hmmmmm.

Interestingly, many of the 'suspects' already listed were originally part of the WHIG, White House Iraq Group, put together in the Summer of 2002 for the express purpose of marketing the 2003 invasion of Iraq to the public:

      Andrew Card
      I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby
      Karl Rove
      Karen Hughes
      Mary Matalin
      James Wilkinson
      Nicolas E. Calio
      Condi Rice
      Stephen J. Hadley

It is not unreasonable to assume that all of these people had access to this information, especially in light of the fact that the major press offensive to 'prove' that Iraq had a major nuclear weapons program began in earnest in Aug/Sep 03.

It also ties in rather conveniently w/ Judy Millers early Sep 02 article(s) reporting on the 'aluminum tubes' and 'uranium enrichment', and we all know how that turned out.

Oh yeah, don't forget the Downing Street Minutes from July 02 and the ...intelligence being fixed around the policy... assessment therein.

Lots of people w/ access to classified information who represent the highest level staff of both Bush and Cheney, as well as State and CIA and DOD...the potential for this investigation to expand to an ever widening scope is phenomenal.

Stay tuned.

Peace

the revolution will not be televised...

I don't think cabinet level.  Who in the White House opposes him now? Is it Card?  I would bet whoever is feuding with him now, was the one then.  

What goes around....

We need to push for Progressive change, now more than ever.

Who is the mole?

It's Andy Card, the White House Chief of Staff, that's who.

Card has much to gain by destroying Rove, who has always undermined Card's influence with the President.

Card has much to gain by destroying Scooter Libby, who has also undermined Card.

And Andy Card knows where all the bodies are buried...so to speak.

There are three types of people: those who see, those who see when shown, those who do not see.

The mole, or ex-mole, since he is no longer in the WH, is definitely Powell.  Andrea Mitchell blurted out his ID on Tuesday's Hardball.  First Isikoff:

ISIKOFF:  How they learned about Wilson`s wives identity, we do know there was this classified state department report that was circulated in that time period and that the paragraph that had the information about Wilson`s wife at the agency was marked not just secret but N.F., no foreign.

So, that it was so sensitive that it could not be disclosed, it would be harmful to national security, if it was...

Then Mrs. Greenspan:

MITCHELL:  We also know that, that paragraph, that document was circulated on Air Force One as the president was flying to Africa, that Ari Fletcher saw it, Colin Powell testified to that.  And that could be one of the key facts in this.

By the way, after she said this Matthews, Isikoff, and a reporter from the ChiTrib had frozen smiles on their faces, obviously  reacting to Mrs. G's slip of the tongue.  The nipped, tucked, and botoxed Mrs. Greenspan, however, always looks frozen, so it's difficult to know if she realized she spilled the beans.

transcript:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9671487/