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So Why Out Plame To Begin With?
Dafydd ab Hugh asks "Why bother mentioning Wilson's wife at all?" and goes on:
All right, so there was a problem: the public was being spoonfed the Joe-Wilson confabulation that he had debunked the claim that later made its way into the president's speech. And I agree, that needed to be countered.
But how the hell does it counter that point to say that Wilson was suggested for the job by his CIA wife, Valerie Plame? Who cares?
Dafydd goes on to suggest what he thinks should have been done instead of outing Valerie Plame. Go read the rest of his post here. I'll agree that what Dafydd suggests should have been done in addition to outing Plame, but I also think there are valid answers to Dafydd's question: 1) As I said in Dafydd's comments, I think there was a desire to point out that Wilson was sent because he "had connections," as opposed to being selected because he was highly qualified, as a means to call his credibility into question. Sort of like saying that due to her friendship with GWB Harriet Miers didn't have to be as qualified to be nominated to SCOTUS as someone else would have had to be. In the Miers case we'll never know how things would have worked out but in Wilson's case I think the facts are obvious. If not for his wife's influence someone more qualified and trustworthy might have been sent.
2) As "paul" points out in Dafydd's comments, Wilson was spreading the lie that he'd been sent on a secret mission by the VP's office. "By bringing her in it was pointed out that this was a nepotistic CIA operation with no relation to the White House."
3) As "pbswatcher" (who blogs here) says in Dafydd's comments: "There was probably also an element of exposing the anti-Bush insurrection at the CIA." I think it's been obvious for quite some time now that there are elements within the CIA, and the State Department, who consider themselves more qualified than the President and his Cabinet to set this nations foreign policy and will do whatever they can to undermine the President's authority.
I won't claim the ability to read the mind of anyone in the White House, but I will wager there are people there who'd love to see Joe Wilson in jail just as much as I would.
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Linking to Stop The ACLU's Open Trackback Party and Mudville's latest Open Post.
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