"SCOOTER" INDICTMENT MAY BE PART OF WHITE HOUSE STRATEGY

When Patrick Fitzgerald presented the indictment of Lewis "Scooter" Libby last week he expressed the wish that witnesses had testified when subpoenas were issued in August 2004, and "we would have been here in October 2004 instead of October 2005."

Well, October 2004 would have been before the presidential election. As Fitzgerald put it had Libby not "thrown sand in the eyes of the prosecutors" the investigation would not have been dragged out.

So Libby pretty much falls on his sword. He lies, knowing what the consequences might be, but as long as he claims that journalists were spreading Plame's name, he knew that news organizations would resist having reporters testify. So the journalistic shield becomes Bush's shield of the coverup. Strategically genius evil.

So here we are in November 2005 and concern over the cat being out of the bag Bush nominates another controversial candidate to the Supreme Court in Judge Samuel Alito. So now he "unites his base" and distracts attention from the Fitzgerald investigation . . . at least temporarily. But with their playbook of terror alerts, avian flu and anything else they can use to scare and draw attention away from their troubles, they just pull another deceptive play out of that playbook.

This administration needs to come clean on this issue, which I have low-hopes that it will happen. Cheney is in this up to his eyeballs. It is inconceivable that someone as careful and loyal as Libby is just a "loose cannon".

Fitzgerald has made clear that he wants to keep this case going if doing so will bring us closer to the truth. Lawyers not involved in the case suggest that the indictment was written in a way that could encourage Libby, facing up to 30 years in prison, to cooperate in that effort.

Of course there's a hitch. If Libby knows that at the end of Bush's term he will receive an unconditional pardon, he'll have no interest in helping Fitzgerald and every interest in shutting up. Bush needs to be pushed to announce that he will not pardon Libby so Fitzgerald can finish his work unimpeded otherwise we will be a country of duped dopes like we were for the past two elections, the war, tax cuts, etc., etc., etc.