We know who outed Valarie Plame. It wasn't Karl Rove. It wasn't Dick Cheney. It wasn't President Bush. Nope, it was Richard L. Armitage, a former deputy secretary of state, someone who has been an outspoken critic of President Bush all along. Someone who the media has always loved from day one.

And gee, suddenly, the calls for impeachment and criminal charges (if it had been Karl Rove or Cheney) have gone silent. Everyone just shrugs their shoulders and lets Armitage off without even a hand slap (he just made a minor boo boo).

And no apologies to Rove. No apologies to VP Cheney. No apologies to President Bush. Nevermind their names have been tossed about constantly in speculation about outting Plame this past year. Nevermind the articles calling for impeachment over this issue. No...because it's someone perceived to be an opponant of President Bush, let's all just pretend the whole thing never happened - no harm, no foul.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/30/washington/30armitage.html?hp&ex=1156996800&en=a6e9275f2042ee8c&ei=5094&partner=homepage