((Please don't yell at me! I saw another post on this but felt it was sort of just a head's up. I sort of have a reply after the flip. So no being mean. Looooooong few days. :))
So it would appear that the RNC's new talking point isn't that Rove didn't out Ms. Plame; it's that Ms. Plame was evil and so was all of that Niger stuff! Rove should be slapped on the back for that! You should check out this video to watch the video of the Fox talking head vomiting out RNC talking points.
After the flip:
Now the answer to this...obviously absurd bit of logic is the following: It is not Karl Rove's job to handle the affairs of the CIA. If Ms. Plame is in fact wanting to play "evil spymaster" as she is accused of doing, it is the job of the people in the higher positions of the CIA to handle that mess. Since they are, you know, the CIA- I can imagine that they would be able to handle that problem with a bit of discretion.
Splashing her name across the pages of nationally read newspapers is the last thing, I believe, they would do. Even if I am wrong, the thrust of this is that the situation with Ms. Plame's "evil spymaster <insert maniacal cackling>" is a situation for the CIA to handle. It is not an issue for a sniveling little thug--who believes the lowest common ethical denominator is perfectly fine--to decide.
That is the issue. He did not heroically out a threat to America. He destroyed and compromised everything she ever touched. Resources that will not be available for later cultivation were alienated. He put people's lives in danger. If she had networks of contacts and anyone knew of the relationship, that person could be in very real danger. And he put Ms. Plame in danger as well. Have you noticed how throughout all of this she has had very few public appearances? Have you noticed how Mr. Wilson keeps trying to bring the attention back to him?
They put this woman and her family in jeopardy. And now they want a medal? No. It was not their place. There were proper channels and given the delicacy of this issue it is a felony to go outside those channels. If your action results in this--and given his position any half-hearted affirmation of someone's identity (a confirmation of a rumor) is dangerous--then you should be expelled from government. At the very least.
He is not a hero. He is a sniveling scoundrel who broke the law. Our President has never been held accountable in his life. His lack of accountability is strewn throughout his past. No one has ever made him stand up and say: do what you said you were going to do; stop making excuses. It's time that that ends. He must be made to be accountable for this. He must make good on his promise.
If he does not, then he is as dishonorable as Mr. Rove. And that will be the hallmark of this administration: endless dishonor.