Lynn C. Woolsey: “Scooter Libby was arraigned this morning, and the Bush administration defenders continue to insist that the…”

“Scooter Libby was arraigned this morning, and the Bush administration defenders continue to insist that the administration of the CIA leak was ``much ado about nothing.'' They say that the crime of perjury and obstruction of justice are mere technicalities, nothing to worry our heads over. Ha. Let us leave aside the obvious hypocrisy. We all know that there was quite a hue and cry over perjury in this town 7 years ago when the President's party was on the outside of the White House looking in. Dare I say, the underlying issue at that time was just a little more frivolous than the matters of life, death and war that are at the heart of the current episode. More importantly, of course, Scooter Libby's lies matter. Libby's lies are exactly what is keeping us from knowing the truth about the original crime, the outing of a covert CIA operative as part of a campaign to scare the Nation into a war based on the lie that Saddam Hussein was poised to use nuclear weapons on the United States. Columnist E.J. Dionne makes the important and distressing point: the Scooter Libby cover-up was successful. {time} 1830 You see, 1 year and 1 day ago, the President was reelected by a narrow margin. Why does that matter? Because Libby is stonewalling. His tall tale about having learned about Valerie Plame's status from gossiping reporters was all about gumming up the investigation just long enough so that the clock would run out on the last campaign season.…”