I'm not surprised but I'm still disappointed that Valerie Plame's civil suit was dismissed. It was thrown out on jurisdiction though, not on the merits, so I was wondering why the judge added this little gratuitous aside to the decision.
"But there can be no serious dispute that the act of rebutting public criticism, such as that levied by Mr. Wilson against the Bush administration's handling of prewar foreign intelligence, by speaking with members of the press is within the scope of defendants' duties as high-level Executive Branch officials," Bates said.
I for one, have some serious dispute with that reasoning when it involves compromising national security, which his Honor conveniently ignores. But thanks to Steve Benen, it all becomes clear.
Bates was named to the federal bench by — you guessed it — George W. Bush. Better yet, Bates was a prosecutor on Ken Starr’s Whitewater team, and in 2002, ruled in Dick Cheney’s favor in keeping his energy-task force secret.
Need I say more?
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