Some Chatter about Woodward

So Bob Woodward was informed of Valerie Plame and her position at the CIA by a high level White House Official a month prior to the now infamous Libby Leak. An interesting development but I can't say that I am surprised. His statement in the Washington Post was very much an exercise in word parsing and carefully constructed admissions. Lets examine a couple:

"Fitzgerald asked for my impression about the context in which Mrs. Wilson was mentioned. I testified that the reference seemed to me to be casual and offhand..."

So it was casual and offhand. That makes me feel better. I guess it is not really a crime if done casually. In fact I sleep well now knowing that high ranking White House Officials are comfortable when they divulge classified material. The next time I commit a felony I'll do it from my Barcalounger.

Woodward continues:

"....And that it did not appear to me to be either classified or sensitive. I testified that according to my understanding an analyst in the CIA is not normally an undercover position."

So at the time, over two years ago, Bob didn't think that this info was sensitive. He didn't think she was undercover. I'll give him that one.

.......BUT ONLY FOR A MONTH!

You see the Novak article came out about a month later. At that time everyone knew that this was a big story. And for the last two years Woodward has been appearing on various news programs talking about the case, never revealing his own involvement. He has been publicly critical of Patrick Fitzgerald and his investigation and he lied about the results of a CIA damage assessment report which the CIA says has not been completed. These actions will tarnish Bob's resume for a long long time.

Finally, Woodward's entire reason for coming forward now stems from the fact that his source told Fitzgerald about their conversation. This would be the source that Woodward is still protecting. If Fitz knows who it is, why does Woodward still need to keep the secret.

I guess old habits die hard.

Pssst.......................Bob, I've got a secret for you. You used to be the most respected investigative journalist in America - but know we all know you are just a political hack!