Take One For The Team

Digby, as usual, has a nice take on a portion of the Judy story. It's his theory (and mine) that the administration's real fear is that Fitzgerald will explore the entire conspiracy to trump up Iraq's WMD before the war:

If Scooter and Turdblossom have to go down that's one thing --- revealing the true scope of the Iraq lies is another. Doing time for the GOP has become a badge of courage and it never stops anyone from finding their way back to the halls of power and making big money if they want to. As long as everybody keeps their mouths shut about the war, the family will take care of them.

I think this is about right. There is a much larger conspiracy here that must be protected. Losing Rove and Libby are small potatoes compared to yet another Republican President going down.

Digby concludes:

I predict that there will be no trials if Fitzgerald indicts. A public spectacle in which the possibility of someone spilling the beans about the Big WHIG Problem is much too risky. I think this will be plea bargained. I'll bet that Rove and Scooter are looking at poncho patterns as we speak.

I've got to agree. Taking one for the team in this case is no big deal. A few months in Club Fed is no biggie. They can get Judy to give them some tips on keeping busy, and I'm sure the family will provide plenty of visitors to stimulate the mind. There will be plenty of jobs and money still available a little later. End of story.

Or is it? Then we have this bubbling tidbit:

In an interview yesterday, Wilson said that once the criminal questions are settled, he and his wife may file a civil lawsuit against Bush, Cheney and others seeking damages for the alleged harm done to Plame's career.

If they do so, the current state of the law makes it likely that the suit will be allowed to proceed -- and Bush and Cheney will face questioning under oath -- while they are in office. The reason for that is a unanimous 1997 U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that Paula Jones' sexual harassment suit against then-President Bill Clinton could go forward immediately, a decision that was hailed by conservatives at the time.

Oh the irony. Ain't politics great? I've got my wallet out already to donate to the Wilson legal defense fund. Or is it the Flame legal defense fund? And watching Scalia and Thomas squirm in drawing distinctions between the need to get to the bottom of a blow job vs. putting the intelligence community at risk...priceless.

This is exactly why the Cheney administration needs Ozzie's mom on the Supreme Court. A favorable opine, or even recusal on her part, can only help the family cause when the GOP scream foul at putting a sitting President up for trial on civil charges. Darned...another two years or more of testimony to be given by administration officials. Hey, maybe they'll insist that Scrub actually testify all by himself this time? He's should be thoroughly potty trained by now, don't you think?

Sweet.