By Matthew Bisanz
Lewis Libby was convicted this week of something. Now I’m a pre-law student and even I can barely figure out what exactly he is charged with. It seems that he lied about what order of people he talked to when he was learning that Valerie Plame was Joe Wilson’s wife.
Apparently, Dick Armitage leaked Valerie Plame’s identity to journalist Robert Novak as part of a plan to discredit Joe Wilson for his opposition to the war. While it was illegal to leak the fact that Valerie Plame was a CIA agent, Vice President Cheney had President Bush declassify her identity.
However, this declassification was secret and hence no one knew that Armitage had not committed a crime. Later Libby was used as the confirming source for Plame’s identity, albeit a bad source, in that he misspelled her name “Flame”.
Now, reading over what exactly took place, I’m a bit puzzled. It seems like Libby was maybe the only person who did not actually attempt to harm another person in this whole scenario. Armitage wanted to ruin someone because they disagreed with his view on the war in Iraq. Cheney and Bush secretly declassified information to help Armitage. Libby may have leaked a name, but only after Armitage had leaked it. So in a sense, Libby was convicted for lying about the order he spoke to people about a crime perpetrated by another person, which was not really a crime because the President had secretly approved it.
Now Libby did lie to the government, which is wrong, and he should be punished for it. But what about all the other people in this story?
Shouldn’t Armitage be punished for attempting to wreck someone’s life and using information he had from his service to the country, for a petty political gain?
Moreover, how do Bush and Cheney have so much free time in running the country that they can be bothered to discuss how to assassinate the reputation of a political opponent?
Former President Richard Nixon tried that with Daniel Ellsberg and failed for reference. Wouldn’t Bush and Cheney’s time be better spent on issues people care about, like education, healthcare, terrorism, and unemployment?
Libby should have been on trial, but his should not be the only trial. When the prosecutor says, “We’re all going back to our day jobs,” he’s basically admitting that if you’re high enough in the government, you’re safe from prosecution.
Libby satisfied the public’s need for the 22-month investigation to yield something, and now everyone can go back to their normal lives.
However, by not investigating further and bringing more backroom aspects of this scandal to light, Fitzgerald is failing the American people.
Is Fitzgerald afraid he will be fired like those other justice department officials were for disagreeing with the Bush administration? Probably not, but he owes it to the American people to convict those who did something wrong. Libby was the easiest because his crime was clear. Nevertheless, Libby could not have acted alone, and it’s time to convict those who acted with him.
Matthew Bisanz is a senior political science major. You can e-mail him at [email protected].