After linking to Tom Maquire who is “unconvinced” that Plame was covert, Glenn Reynolds says, “I’d just like to see this kind of outrage generated on behalf of leaks that actually hurt the war effort.”

No admission of error or apology on Reynolds part, he plays coy as usual, not saying much of anything. And then he cites the only prism to view events that matters: whether or not it “hurt the war effort.”

He doesn’t even consider whether this leak (Plame’s identity) hurt our national security or comprised what she and others were working on, or revealed the identities of other CIA operatives that were using the same “agency” as a front for their covert careers in the CIA. Nope, “does this help us promote the war?” is the only question that matters.

That same standard applied to the intelligence for the wingosphere. Does it help promote the war in Iraq or our next war in Iran? It doesn’t matter to them whether the intelligence is good or bad, true or false – does it help promote their warmongering is the only yardstick by which all intelligence is measured.

They’ve built up their fantasy world, and their sticking to it, reality be damned. Anything that helps them prop up their fantasies and their war(s) is good and will be embraced while everything else will be condemned as false, laughable, or treasonous and evil.

That’s how they view everything. And it’s why facts (like Plame’s true status) simply don’t matter.

http://instapundit.com/archives2/005766.php

amazingly revealing ...

That meme seems to have died off somewhat ... probably receiving new life today .... but the disconnect between this purported "reality" and verifiable history as to who Joe Wilson is/was and why he was an excellent choice for the trip, did so, irrc, without remuneration ... yada yada ...

Pathetic.

Too few inquiring minds, apparently.

to merit an apology. Shows how much some folk respect their government.

Tenet in WaPo: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A11208-2003Sep27

Hayden statement before Congress: http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/16/hayden-cia-plame-covert/

Full Plame timeline: http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/DOJ,_CIA_call_for_Plame_investigation,_investigation_starts#September_26

Karen M: It's already been done: The Recruit w/ Al Pacino and Colin Farrel (http://www.chron.org/tools/viewart.php?artid=588).

For more see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-official_cover

For the actual leakers, that is. We can't legislate against sheer stupidity, so that lets the Washington punditry off.

But seriously, anyone know what kind of legal penalties can be imposed upon the original leakers should they ever be found?

if pressed, the White House will tell us that our fearless Decider also has the power to "de-covert-ify" a CIA agent any time he wants to (just like he can declassify classified docyuments, or parts of documents). And he de-coverted Ms Plame the day before Novak's column appeared. (But maybe Ms Plame didn'r get that email on her new status because it was sent from Karl Rove's comuter). See? No harm done!

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/casecode/uscodes/50/chapters/15/subchapters/iv/sections/section_421.html

Disclosure of information by persons having or having had access to classified information that identifies covert agent.

Whoever, having or having had authorized access to classified information that identifies a covert agent, intentionally discloses any information identifying such covert agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert agent's intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

Just because she traveled "undercover" doesn't mean she was "covert". A covert agent has dealings only with their handler and that person is the only one who knows what is going on. Plame was known to many people at the CIA. Not only that, but she drove in the front gate at CIA headquarters everyday for five years. I don't see how you can be "covert" when you openly enter the gate of a spy agency everyday.

The CIA classified her as covert, dumbass. You don't think the secretaries, janitors, and mailroom staff also drive up to the building every day?

... about "Why can Tony Snow say with impunity that Plame "wasn't a covert agent" when their own CIA confirms that she was?" is that a group of RWA's bold enough to fix the intelligence around their policy of invasion (as the Downing Street Memo showed) thinks nothing of fixing the information in the press around their desired reality.

It's an inconvenient truth for them that Plame was covert or that Scooter was convicted but they can quite easily minimize the damage, and create a convenient untruths, by constantly repeating lies such as "Plame wasn't covert" or the "Fitz was on a partisan fishing expedition." They do this even when the CIA says otherwise and despite the fact that Fitz is a decorated Republican terrorism prosecutor chosen by Comey.

The real question for me is how do you deal with an opponent who cares nothing about the truth and who believes he is above the law when the institution charged with enforcing the former lets them get away with lies and the institution charged with enforcing the latter is headed by Alberto Gonzalez, who takes his orders directly from Turdblossom?

A covert agent has dealings only with their handler and that person is the only one who knows what is going on.

... you just pulled this out of your butt. The real world is more complicated than James Bond. Don't embarrass yourself again in this way, it's downright unseemly.

Did you read Fitgerald's summary at all? Or just immediately jump on the keyboard and type away?

The CIA declassified more information so that Fitzgerald could include it in his arguments for stiff sentencing. One assumes that the CIA is sick of the rightwing meme that Plame wasn't covert.

The declassified information says Plame took at least seven overseas trips to 10 countries under her own name or other names and under NOC or "official" cover as part of her duties.

I guess it's in response to people like you that this information was revealed. You (and Novak) won't even accept a letter of the CIA director as proof she was covert.