Hot Karl

I did a real double-take when I came across this picture on the net earlier today. No, it isn't real; it's a little creative photo-shop work courtesy of a total rogue over at the thought peddler. But who knows what the future might bring.

Much of the blogosphere has been abuzz today with news that The McLaughlin Group's Lawrence O'Donnell now says that Karl Rove, George W. Bush's head political consultant and resident Evil Genius, is the person who leaked former undercover CIA agent Valarie Plame's identity, which was eventually published by Robert "Douche-Bag for Liberty" Novak. In case you're wondering, yes, revealing the identity of an undercover agent like that is a violation of federal law, as is perjury, which Rove would have committed if he lied to the Grand Jury investigating this leak. It was apparently done simply for revenge, since Ms. Plame's husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, had written an article critical of the Bush Administration's claims that Iraq had attempted to purchase yellow cake uranium from Niger. O'Donnell says Newsweek is planning to release a story on this, probably tomorrow. If true, this means that Rove violated federal law and might even have put the life of an American agent and her family at risk, just because her husband wrote something the Administration didn't like.

What poetic justice it would be, to see the man who basically said that people like me were traitors more concerned with the psychological well-being of terrorist than the lives of their fellow Americans, revealed to the world as a traitor and a criminal himself, willing to violate the law and anything resembling ethical standards just to spite someone he views as a political enemy. I don't know if what O'Donnell says is true; perhaps the buzz is just wishful thinking, and honestly, even if Rove did do this despicable thing, prison time is pretty unlikely. But it will be very interesting to see how this plays out.