First, I’m not going to pretend that I’m a scholar of print media, or even an avid reader of the opinion section of a newspaper. This post is more of the “I’m willing to wager” variety. When it comes to sitting down and writing something that’s to be reprinted in the opinion section of a major newspaper, What I Didn’t Find in Africa has got to go down in history as one hell of a doozy. On July 6, 2003, Joe Wilson dropped a rock in a pond that is still making waves: Court Hears Libby Describe Cheney as ‘Upset’ at Critic .
Libby’s portrayal of the zeal to discredit Wilson’s claims, reaching to the White House’s highest echelons, reinforces Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald’s assertion that the criticism of war provoked such a political crisis among Bush’s top aides that it is unlikely the defendant simply forgot his role in the leak, as defense attorneys contend.
I think it’s pretty easy to make the case for Joe, actually. Think about it. His little piece in the NYT set off a chain reaction of events that were described in national headlines that read things like “CIA Agent Outed”, and “Reporter Goes To Jail”, and “Vice President Testifies”, and is finally drawing to a close with a perjury trial…three and a half years later. Forget the subject matter, this op-ed could be placed on a pedestal based on the chaos it caused alone.
Update: I reprinted this entry, with a poll, at dailykos.
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