One thing that confuses me is why everyone is so hung up on how obvious it was that Valerie Wilson == Valerie Plame.
I think it's because people are confused by Superman.
See, here's the Republican Logic:
if you can prove that Clark Kent is Superman, then it means you've proven that Clark Kent is a superhero, because it's OBVIOUS to everyone that Superman is a superhero.
Therefore,
If you can prove that Valerie Wilson is Valerie Plame, then it means you've proven that Valerie Wilson is a spy, because it's OBVIOUS to everyone that Valerie Plame is a spy.
I mean, sure, it was obvious to ME that Valerie Plame was a spy, wasn't it to you? I mean, come on! That name SCREEEEAMS James Bond, doesn't it? It's an anagram for "Lie, Reveal, Map", which are all toootally spy words! (Hmm, it's also a "Veep Lie Alarm"....)
Therefore, since they didn't take huge efforts to occlude the Wilson/Plame connection, it means it was no big state secret, therefore, no treason.
Obviously, it's horseshit:
- Valerie Wilson: Clark Kent
- Valerie Plame: Superman
- Spy: Superhero
This is why Superman doesn't apply. The secret was never that Wilson equals Plame. It was her frigging maiden name, for chrissake. She's listed in Who's Who. The secret, and let's repeat it to ourselves (and others) very slowly, was that Plame was a spy. That was the secret. That's what the public didn't know. Hell, she probably had other more secure cover names that we don't even know about, for security reasons.
And Rove tries to get off by saying that he never said "Plame" was a spy... "Wilson", or "Wilson's wife" being another matter of course. That's like me saying that I never outed L. Libby as a leaker because I never referred to him as "Scooter".
So, the thing about Plame being in Who's Who actualy works for us, because it underscores that the whole thing about Wilson equals Plame was never any big secret to begin with. The issue was that the GOP outed that woman as a spy. That's treason.