I've been having an intriguing exchange of views on Just One Minute regarding the Plame affair and the most recent news on a State Department memo. As I mentioned in a previous post, I think this memo will provide a sufficient escape route, because it provides the information that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA and was involved in the Niger trip (however minimally) without identifying her as a covert operative.
I still maintain that Novak is still in the hot seat, however.
And I'll just say one more thing about Novak. At the same time we were hearing a lot of rhetoric in the this country about what should and shouldn't be reported for the safety of the country as well as troops abroad, when media organizations had been censoring themselves left and right to minimize the vision of a divided nation before the war--Novak makes his own judgement about the potential harm to Plame and her work? Does he really have that level of arrogance?
In fact, and here's a new thought--is it really credible that Novak would take it on himself to make that judgement about Plame? Or is it more likely he received assurances from someone he considered higher up the food chain than the CIA personnel he talked to?
Again, I think this will all come down to whether Novak finds it preferable to take his punishment (if any) and keep his mouth shut, or whether he rolls.
