John, John, John...

Assrocket:

There is a sense in which Risen is correct in saying that the leakers in the two cases are exact opposites: Scooter Libby is a Republican, and the anti-Bush bureaucrats who leaked classified national security information to Risen and his colleagues are, in all likelihood, Democrats. But Risen's suggestion that his leakers, unlike Scooter Libby, are "patriots," is risible. As we've said before, nearly all leakers believe that their motives are pure. The Plame leakers were motivated by their admirable desire to counter lies that were being told by administration critics, especially Joe Wilson.

One possibly legitimate distinction between the two groups is that the Plame leakers may not have known that there was anything secret about Valerie Plame's CIA employment--prosecutor Fitzgerald apparently concluded that she was not a covert agent--while there is no doubt that the NSA leakers were well aware that they were compromising highly classified intelligence operations.

In any event, under the governing law, the leakers' motivations are irrelevant. They committed a crime, and should be prosecuted and jailed.

Really now, where is the optimism? Where has your certainty in the infalibility of the Bush administration gone? Where are all the sunny, smiley gleeful happy faces?

John, Scott, Paul:C'mon, you remember the good old days:

It must be very strange to be President Bush. A man of extraordinary vision and brilliance approaching to genius, he can't get anyone to notice. He is like a great painter or musician who is ahead of his time, and who unveils one masterpiece after another to a reception that, when not bored, is hostile.

As TBogg correctly points out, Scooter Libby is a manly memo leaker just like Bush is a manly man who needs no one defending him. Instead, here's what we should be hearing from you, John:

"In an extraordinarily brilliant move approaching the same genius as his 'Bring Em On' statement against Iraqi terrorists, President Bush in one single action manages to undermine and confuse both the terrorists as well as the liberal MSM. By allowing the NSA to supposedly 'leak' the eavesdropping story to the NYTimes, the President has made the terrorists mistakenly believe they now know something that they previously didn't know before. This will lead to the utmost confusion of Ossama & Co while we already have far superior surveillance technology available. At the same time, Democrats can be exposed as the anti-American cut-and-runners they are for engaging in cheap political tricks against a war-time President and some NYTimes reporters might be prosecuted and charged for high treason along the way."

Well, that's how I thought he'd write it, but oh well, maybe it's yet to come...