The Architect and the Covert CIA Operative

My feelings about Karl Rove, deputy White House Chief of Staff, largely credited as architect of the reelection of President Bush?

He is a Cromwellian behind-the-scene king maker, a Machiavellian nasty-maker.

He probably had a hand in the SwiftBoat character assassination of John Kerry and he is currently suspected of leaking a covert CIA officer's identity as a means of retaliation against her husband, a former ambassador who actively voiced doubt about the existence of weapons of mass destruction before the second Iraq war.

Mr. Rove has strong feelings about the patriotism of liberals: "Rove ... told a gathering of the New York Conservative Party that 'Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers.' ” (MSNBC)

But now Mr. Rove's own patriotism is under a bright, white light: "For two years, the White House has insisted that presidential adviser Karl Rove had nothing to do with the leak of a CIA officer's identity. And President Bush said the leaker would be fired. But Bush's spokesman wouldn't repeat any of those assertions Monday in the face of Rove's own lawyer saying his client spoke with at least one reporter about Valerie Plame's role at the CIA before she was identified in a newspaper column." (CNN)

"White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove spoke with at least one reporter about Valerie Plame's role at the CIA before she was identified as a covert agent in a newspaper column two years ago, but Rove's lawyer said yesterday that his client did not identify her by name." (Washington Post)

So the defense of the White House Deputy Chief of Staff, largely credited for President Bush's reelection ... when accused of something that most conservatives would declaim as an act against the nation's interest ... a man who has recently accused liberals of providing aid and comfort to the enemy ... would be that he apparently just said a covert operative worked for the CIA and she was Ambassador Wilson's wife: "I didn't actually say her name."

You'll notice nowhere above was the word treason mentioned. I'm not Ann Coulter, after all.

Today's fragrance: Tranquility by Sonoma Scent Studio. My review, which i publish at every possible opportunity: Incense lovers, I am a convert: Tranquility is haunting .. this is a beautifully done incense and amber blend that is much different than I expected. Somehow it has a lighter texture, a contrasting airiness as if you're just catching wisps of scent as they rise from the incense stick. A pale, delicate incense. I like this a lot. And even more so when a surprising orange blossom note appears at drydown.