I don't buy this Armitage crap for a second

[nam78_two]

not one second...

complete BS :grr:

[YDogg]

1. Me either. Check his bank accounts. I smell a rat.

[McCamy Taylor]

11. I am pretty damn sure POWELL was not part of the conspiracy, because

he knows better.

As for Armitage, here is why I think that he had a peripheral role.

Armitage came forward almost immediately and ID'd himself as the/a source for Novak. He claims that he did not know that Valerie Plame was undercover CIA. He only knew that she worked on the topic of weapons of mass destruction. Therefore he had broken no laws. If he was lying about this, I think that Fitz would have caught him. Fitz is damn thorough, and as a cooperating witness, Armitage would have had to answer all his questions, no taking the 5th.

Now, suppose Armitage was part of a conspiracy involving Cheney, Rove, Scooter (and maybe even Powell his boss), and it all went bad. If Armitage really did not know about Plame's CIA status, he would have been an obvious candidate to take the fall, since there would have been no way to press criminal charges against him. You have to be able to prove that the person in the gov't knew that the CIA agent outed was an undercover spy. All he would have been guilty of was gossiping about some stuff he heard about. He was going to leave the White House anyway with Powell, so it would not have been any big deal. Since he came forward voluntarily and cooperated there was no risk of any obstruction of justice charge against him. It would all have been a big "oops".

But Armitage did not take a fall for Cheney and the others. It looks like he may have cooperated in helping Fitz go after the others. This is the only way that a man in his situation could prove that his loose lips were innocent.

What I smell is a conspiracy cooked up by Dick Cheney who has modelled his White House on that of Dick Nixon. Armitage was either persuaded to tell Novak about Valeri Plame's WMD work or read Cheney's memo and gossiped about it, but he did not know about her undercover CIA status. When he realized that a crime had been committed, he rushed to cooperate with law enforcement was as happy as a clam to turn in the real criminals at the White House, Cheney, Rove and Libby.

It is no wonder that Cheney, Rove and Libby instructed Bob Novak to "out" Armitage last weekend. It is no coincidenc that right wingers like Nora O'Donnel keep talking about Armitage, asking if his involement means that Scooter is now off the hook and Powell is now in trouble. It is a bit surprising to see this kind of Karl Rove inspires craziness here at DU.

[acmavm]

2. It's bullshit. Too many liars and traitors are gonna get off

the hook.

[nam78_two]

3. Yup

as per usual :(.

[Nite Owl]

4. Me either

Three years later they dig this up? Comeon

And the law states that the person must knowingly tell someone an agent was undercover so they find someone for whom it was just a mistake, that had no idea? And right before an election too, what a coincidence.

[McCamy Taylor]

5. Huh? So you buy the Pin the Blame on Powell story that Rove is selling?

Why would Novak suddenly want to out ONE of his sources, Armitage? Think about it? It is because Armitage is POwell's man, and the new strategy is to claim that Colin Powell and Richard Armitage were the real leakers, not Cheney-Scooter-Rove. However, this is utter bs. Armitage has been cooperating with Fitz from day one. He got his info from a document that Cheney drew up about Plame and started circulating around the White House. In other words, Armitage is just a middle man in the Cheney sponsored leak. Armitage did not know that PLame was undercover CIA when he talked about her, the way that Cheney, Scooter and Rove did, so he broke no laws. It would have been very convenient for the WH had he chosen to take the fall for Cheney, but he did not--because he was not the one who started the conspiracy to out her.

I can not believe that people are still trying to blame Powell and Armitage for the Plame Affair at DU. We have gone over this so many times.

[nam78_two]

10. I just don't buy the-"it was harmless gossip" crap /nt

[Demeter]

6. What Part of "Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy" Eludes the Mind?

They're all in it together, and if there is a God, they will all go down together, pissing on themselves and their co-conspirators, as they have been doing for months now.

I'm waiting for the big ones: Rice, Rumsfeld, Cheney, and the Supremes.

[yellowcanine]

7. Me neither. It is Rosemary Woods and the 18 1/2 minute gap all over

again. The difference is that this time I think it is working.

[damntexdem]

8. Oh, I think he's guilty, all right.

It's just that the Bushistas are pushing this to try to take any focus off of Rove and, especially, Cheney. When will the MSM realize that there is enough guilt, and more, to go all the way around the Administration?

[nam78_two]

9. yup

and more importantly that it wasn't harmless water-cooler gossip :eyes: but a targetted take down....

[Sam Odom]

12. Come on GUYS !

Armitage is taking the fall. Is it legit? I dont think he would do it for bushco, do you? He is either fully 'guilty' or taking the fall for Powell. Besides, taking this fall isn't that bad. What's going to happen to him?

[hijinx87]

13. unbelievable.

someone outed an undercover CIA agent and no one is in prison. :grr: