Swopa cites Mark Kleimen on the AIPAC spy scandal — who points out that Larry Franklin and his cohorts are “simply charged with giving classified information to those without security clearances, in pursuit of a political agenda” — and makes the Plame-AIPAC-gate connection:
“Looking ahead to the future of Plamemania for a moment, let’s imagine the closest adviser to the President of the United States. And the chief of staff to the Vice President of the United States. Indicted for violations of the Espionage Act.
“I wonder how well they’ll be able to spin that.”
There’s another important factor that links the Plame-Rove-Libby imbroglion with the AIPAC spy scandal, underscored by the news that prosecutor Patrick J. “Bulldog” Fitzgerald is widening the investigation:
“Special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald has asked not only about how CIA operative Valerie Plame’s name was leaked but also how the administration went about shifting responsibility from the White House to the CIA for having included 16 words in the 2003 State of the Union address about Iraqi efforts to acquire uranium from Africa, an assertion that was later disputed.”
Both Fitzgerald and Paul McNulty, the prosecutor in the AIPAC spy case, are targeting the same group of committed neoconservative ideologues. The neocons tried to discredit Ambassador Joe Wilson and “outed” CIA agent Valerie Plame because Wilson was an obstacle on the road to war with Iraq. And now they are trying replicate the same scenario in support a military strike at Iran — the issue at the root of the AIPAC spy scandal. In both instances, their ruthlessness and lawlessness was their ultimate undoing.
Plame-gate + AIPAC-gate = Neocon-gate.
Sit back, and enjoy …