easyt65

The verdict is in for Scooter Libby, and that verdict is 'Guilty'.

The real story is not what the jury said with their vote but rather what they said in the press conference immediately after:

"We felt sympathy for Libby. He was the fall guy."
"This sucks - we wish we weren't judging Libby."

The jury pointed out that this was political retribution and vengance played out in the court room. The sad thing is that the new agencies across this country will completely either miss or ignore that main point in all of this.

Joe Wilson tried to discredit the Bush administration with hsi report about yellowcake Uranium and his trip to Nigeria. He lied about his wife recommending that he go on the trip, a fact that came out in this whole matter. The Bush administration went on the offensive in response to Wilson's effort, pointing out 'incorrect' items in what he was declaring.

The left fired back in another attempt to discredit the Bush administration after a newspaper article mentioned that Valerie Plame, Wilson's wife, worked for the CIA. The Left claimed that she was a classified 'covert' agent and that the Bush administration had exposed her, jeopardizing her life and ending her career. In the end, the NYT reporter who wrote the article stated that no one in the Bush administration was his source and that everyone in Washington already knew Plame worked for the CIA. He called it 'the worst kept secret in Washington', citing occassions when Joe Wilson had introduced his wife at Washington functions as his wife "who works for the CIA".

A court ruling even declared that Plame was NOT considered a 'covert' agent and therefore no crime had been comitted. (During this time, and I doubt many people will remember, a whole list of REAL CIA operatives had been released to the public by accident, jeopardizing REAL agents, some of who were under cover at the time. The CIA had to scramble to bring in many of the agents whose lives were in danger - no other report was made after the news broke, and no one ever was even charged with a crime in this incident.)

No crime comitted, yet a criminal charge came out of the investigation.

Many would jump in here and ague that the same thing happened to President Clinton. I am no tgoing into those waters, but I will point out the biggest difference - the HUGE difference - between then and now:

Liberals trying to discredit the Conservatives and the Conservatives trying to discredit the Liberals, both parties trying to have each others' representatives and staff members removed from office, has been going on for a long time, but it has always been kept (for the most part) in the POLITICAL realm. Clinton never got charged with a crime, as many Liberals have argued, and he certainly was not found guilty and never faced any jail time.

The big picture in this is that the circus surrounding - at the very CORE of - this whole Scooter Libby's is the Liberals attempting to discredit the Bush administration, as both have been trying to do for years, but the Democrats are not satisfied with discrediting Libby and forcing him to step down - keeping it in the political arena, discrediting Cheyne, or discrediting the entire Bush administration, they intend to exact a pound of flesh by sending Scooter libby to jail for years to settle a political score!

One juror asked how Joe Wilson can say things that have been proven incorrect about the Bush administration and yet not face the same punishment that libby was forced to face. Why aren't other conservatives whose lies have been exposed throughout this trial forced to face what Libby has had to do?

The answer is simple: Libby's 'un-truth' ( I will not judge if he deliberately lied or not) was told under oath. In Washington, politicians and 'players' on both sides of the aisle are 'cleared hot' to lie and do whatever it takes to discredit the other as long as it is not under oath! THAT is sadly what everyday politics has become.

Libby's biggest mistake in all of this was believing he had nothing to hide and thus did not go before the Grand Jury with any counsel/lawyers present. The Jury asked if the prosecution had to provide physical proof that Libby 'just didn't forget'. That proof could not be provided by anyone other than God and Libby himself, which in my mind provides even the most minimal/miniscule room for doubt. Then again - that is all moot because he has been found guilty.

The Politics of Personal Destruction is not only alive and well, but is growing more and more! The Grand Jury should have announced their findings, believing Libby lied, he should have been discredited, he should have been made to step down, and the Bush administration should have been discredited, but the POLITICAL Fight between the Democrats and Republicans should not have manifested into this CRIMINAL trial!

In the aftermath, if TRUE justice and a pound of flesh is required, where are the charges against the NYT Reporter? Where are the charges against Armitage (the supposed source of the NYT reorter)?

There is going to be an appeal, as the defense attornies pointed out a Jury Bias in their comments after the sentencing. The Jury also was quoted as saying: "Where is Rove? Where is Cheyne?"
-- This, the Defense Attorney claims, shows a bias of the jury towards these 2 figures and that since they did not have them to 'try' thay had to settle for Libby. Rove was never charged with anything, so why bring him into it? Cheyne was nvever charged with anything, so why bring him into it? Again, there was no crime - a judge claimed Plame was NOT 'exposed' and no crime was ever committed, except for the counts Libby has been convicted of that happened only after the investigation into the possibility of an initial crime began. since there was no original crime, why even mention Rove and Cheyne? This bias is the foundation for the forthcoming appeal.....

and in the end, the BIGGER, overall picture of what is really going on will be lost to everyone: Politics out of Control! All of this is just one party trying to discredit the other...except this time the fall guy faces jail time.

"This sucks - we wish we weren't judging Libby."