Plamegate: More Pathetic Than We Knew

Richard Armitage has come clean and admitted through his lawyer that the Newsweek story was accurate: he was Robert Novak's source.

What's even more stunning is the confirmation that Armitage disclosed his talks with Novak to the FBI before Patrick Fitzgerald was ever appointed as special prosecutor.

Think about that: there was never anything "there" for Fitzgerald to investigate in the first place! Yet millions of tax dollars have gone down the drain in this investigation, and one person, Scooter Libby, has lost his job and been indicted because his memory of events differed from someone else's. And, as Rush Limbaugh pointed out, the media, Fitzgerald, and Democrats used this non-case as an excuse to smear the Administration, particularly Karl Rove.

One must also ask how Richard Armitage could, in good conscience, remain quiet for three years as Fitzgerald's investigation went on and hurt so many people. It wasn't enough to tell the FBI; he should have gone public and put a stop to the speculation and stories at the outset. Just One Minute has written a good story on "The Hubris of Richard Armitage."

Rush Limbaugh also pointed out that the complicit media, rather than excoriating Armitage, are trying to paint a picture of him as a lovable guy who meant no harm. The Newsweek article describes Armitage as "a well-known gossip who loves to dish and receive juicy tidbits about Washington characters." They certainly wouldn't do that for Karl Rove. Armitage, in remaining publicly quiet, gave the media a weapon to use to damage the Bush Administration, so now the media is returning the favor in letting him off the hook.

Christopher Hitchens on "Plamegate's Ridiculous Conclusion." Hitchens points out that David Corn, one of the co-authors of the Newsweek article and forthcoming book, HUBRIS, had attacked the administration for the "thuggish act" of supposedly disclosing Plame's identity. (Which was never a secret, anyway, but that's another part of this entire convoluted non-case.)

Ed Morrissey, a couple of days ago: "Just a Plame Waste of Time".

A postscript: Armitage has apparently been aiding John McCain behind the scenes. One more reason not to vote for McCain for President.

Update: National Review's Byron York has written today on the lack of contact between the authors of HUBRIS and Rove and Libby, as well as the strangeness of David Corn co-authoring an "investigative news" book when he was part of the story himself. According to York, Corn also maintains a website called "Bushlies.com."

More from Jack Kelly: "Mr. Fitzgerald knew in his first few days on the job that Mr. Armitage was the leaker; that the leak was inadvertent, and that the Intelligence Identities Act hadn't been violated. Yet he has persisted in a sham prosecution."

And don't miss John Podhoretz, who seems to have had the whole "case" figured out from the get-go.

Podhoretz concludes: "Fitzgerald indicted Libby while claiming he was the first 'known' official to have talked to reporters about Valerie Wilson. But Fitzgerald was simply wrong about this central contention in his case. He was wrong to indict Libby on questionable charges of having been deceitful about a matter that wasn't in fact criminal to begin with. Valerie Wilson's boss was wrong to go along with her nepotistic plan of giving her vainglorious liar of a husband a few more days of government service. And Joseph Wilson - the word 'wrong' doesn't even begin to describe him."