Thu, 08 Mar 2007 21:29

By Larry Johnson
Contributing Editor

Guilty! Four out of five. Now what? Let’s see. Will Scooter Libby be a hot date on Sadie Hawkins day once he’s in the pen? He took such delight in screwing political foes, perceived and real, that he is about to discover an ancient Indian truth–Karma can be a bitch.

Then there is the civil suit Joe and Val filed against Dick Cheney, Scooter, Karl Rove, Richard Armitage and others (John Does one thru nine) for damages. If that case is allowed to move forward Joe and Val will become leaders in philanthropy akin to Warren Buffet because they will win a shit pot of money.

They are not in it for the money, but by God they deserve a heaping big reward for the vile lies and smears they have endured since Cheney and his gang attacked them for daring to tell the truth about one of the White House lies behind the case for attacking Iraq. Beyond the personal damage the White House gang also ended Valerie’s covert career and also did lasting damage to an extensive intelligence network. The details of that story will never be told in order to minimize the harm already done.

Although Patrick Fitzgerald indicated he has no plans to file further charges in this case, there is still work for Congress to do. At a minimum, charges of impeachment against Dick Cheney should be introduced.

The evidence presented in the trial shows beyond any reasonable doubt that Dick Cheney was organizing and leading the attack on Joe Wilson that led to Valerie’s exposure. It is time for Congress, the House and the Senate, to conduct hearings on the falsified case for going to war and to look specifically at the smear campaign launched against the Wilsons.

If a President can be impeached for lying about a blow job then by God a Vice President should be impeached for setting in motion the forces that destroyed an intelligence network during a time of war. Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Scooter, Armitage, Bartlett, Matalin, and Fleischer need to be subpoenaed and marched before an investigative committee. I still want a frog march. They must testify under oath and explain how their campaign to quash the truth about yellowcake uranium was used to whip up public frenzy for an unnecessary and feckless war.

This matter goes far beyond any damage to the Wilsons and their reputations. This raises the question of whether we are a nation of laws or the mere subjects of a gang of bullies. Whatever teflon George W. Bush might have had is now completely scraped off. The debacles of Katrina, Iraq, and Walter Reed provide mountains of evidence of the incompetence and malevolence of this Administration.

Now it is settled that several senior White House personnel participated in an organized campaign to smear Joe Wilson and expose his wife. There must be accountability and it is up to the Congress to do more than demand something be done. The House and Senate must act and act decisively to expose the lies of Cheney and his gang.
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Larry C. Johnson served several years with the CIA’s Directorate of Operations and later become deputy director of the State Department’s Office of Counter Terrorism. He is CEO and co-founder of BERG Associates and is editor of the blog NO QUARTER (http://tinyurl.com/dds6x).