Can We End The Hype Now?

Bush has stated now clearly that he will fire anyone convicted of a leak over the Plame affair.

"It's best people wait until the investigation is complete before you jump to conclusions. I don't know all the facts. I want to know all the facts," Bush said Monday. "I would like this to end as quickly as possible. If someone committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration."

You know what? He has the right of it as long as he sticks to those words, much as it pains me to say it since I am one of those who has called for Rove to resign or be fired. I still agree with Mr. M writing at the UPC when he says:

Don’t get me wrong, though. Indictable or not, Rove’s actions were without a doubt, wrong. The moment Wilson and Plame came up in that phone conversation between Rove and Bob Novak, Rove, as an American, should have deterred Novak from divulging that information to the public.

There is no doubt that the administration's credibility should be damaged by the undeniable fact that Rove did not do exactly that.

But it has to be said, if the roles were reversed the Democrats would insist on a conviction before firing a high-placed aide too. Not an allegation, however well it was backed by evidence, not a criminal charge even - a conviction.

The truth is that a hell of a lot of people have become water carriers over this issue, backing partisan political talking-points from the Democratic and Republican leadership for little more reason than scoring points off the opposition. Each has mobilised the base - including an army of partisan bloggers - in an attempt to attack or defend one man. Let's face it, when even ABC's "The View" is discussing it, the situation is definitely over-hyped. And it's all due to fear.

Democrat leaders are so scared of the bogeyman they have made out of the "Architect" that they actually believe they cannot win against him. Republican leaders are so scared of the puppetmaster they have conjured out of Rove that they do not believe they can win without him. That is what lies at the core of the current hype, not any wish for justice. Both parties leak every single day when they see an advantage in it for themselves.

Both parties' leaders value their own political fortunes over that of their country. Need I point again at the Bankruptcy bill and the large number of Dem politicos who voted for it? Just one of many instances where individual Dem politicos valued campaign money and thus their own political fortunes over the people they represent and their country.

The ruling elites of both American political classes have more in common with each other than with those currently carrying water for them. They have equal opportunity access to the revolving door between big business and the government. Few are genuinely interested in the common people. To them, this is about using their supporters to further an agenda that will help only themselves.

In the meantime, bigger issues go without their due attention. The slide into multiple civil wars in the Middle East and how both Democratic and Republican leadership seem to be setting up an excuse to look the other way; whether the outing of a British double-agent in Al Qaida by the Bush administration contributed to the deaths of Londoners on 77; the breakdown of what has been called the "flypaper theory" of counter-terrorism and other issues are all secondary to the big hyped story right now. That's not what's best for the people.

Can we end the hype now?