'Clellan it like it is.
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan is in full denial mode about his statements regarding prompt action against anyone in the Bush Administration involved in the Valerie Plame incident. He deflected some highly tempered criticism from the WH press corps a total of 23 times, and was so straitjacketed by legal rhetoric that not only was he
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Worst case scenario:
Rove is implicated but "can't recall" where he got the information from. He's fired. The administration has "successfully" excised the bad apple and diverts attention back to the war on terror. Draw curtain, have a cocktail.
Press rewind a couple of decades and recall Ollie North's testimony before congress on the Iran-contra affair. He played the bad-memory card on things anyone would've clearly remembered and now he's got a radio show. You can't convict someone of treason based on the word of one or two other people, and if the physical evidence against Rove was overwhelming (or even potentially existed), we wouldn't be talking about this right now. Put plainly, the BushCo bunch has about 101 well lubed exit strategies for this little flap, and I think any one of them will work just fine--because if Rove just says he can't remember who told him, then it's all good. The inquiry is stalled, and the collateral damage is minimal. The White House isn't going to let investigators do what they need to do. I mean, 9/11 was a much bigger deal than this, and how satisfied are the investigating bodies today?
It's fun to dream about the Bush administration being chased out of the White House with torches and pitchforks, but what's our exit strategy then?
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I'm aware, though, that there is a disconnect between what I want and what will actually happen. I want pitchforks and tarring-and-feathering, but in all actuality, this man will likely either get thrown into the soft gears of white-collar criminal justice, or walk away with a slightly smudged reputation. His reputation, though, is already beyond defilement, and it is not difficult to assume that those with integrity, in league with those who would stab Rove in the back in order to save themselves, will be quick to abandon this man at the penitentiary's doorstep.
This means nothing when one does not consider Rove's true status in the administration. His place is much more substantial than that of the pudgy, mildly unlikable, virgin-until-his-mid-30s chief advisor role he plays on Television's "The News" - once Rove is removed from the chessboard, which seems will be the case, the dynamic of the administration will change dramatically, out of necessity. I can't pretend to have the gambit predicted and mapped out, but I can at least say with some measure of confidence that Rove's downfall will turn an already hostile public sentiment even further against Bush's administration by shining a bright spotlight on the puppetmaster himself.
And if things do not escalate to such an somnorgasmic level, the attention given to Rove with his repeated performances of "I do not recall" and "I didn't mention her by name" will still force this administration to dedicate much of their efforts to damage control, as well as perpetuating a convincing image that justice will be dispensed. All without Rove at the helm.
See McClellan stonewalling the press? Totally ineffective, constantly on the defensive, zero credibility. There's no chance of regaining footing after a fall like this. As for decades into the future of human forgetfulness: I don't mind if Rove lands a cushy gig working for FOX, TBN or the Spice Channel; so long as he isn't in a position of influence and power over anything but a footlong hoagie. Whoa, Conan O'Brien's monologue-writing staff, here I come!
We'll see, though. I'm probably a bit too optimistic about this, but who can blame me for queuing up John Zorn's "Ingenious Ejaculation" at the thought of this?
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