The Plame affair: A quartet of betrayals

Shed no tears for Valerie Plame. It's easy to tell by the radiant smile on her face when she's out in public that, despite the designation "fair game" that Karl Rove slapped on her in a conversation with Chris Matthews, she's not a bitter woman. Besides, since she was once an employee of the CIA with its heinous history, the amount of sympathy she's got coming to her is pretty paltry.

Nevertheless, she's been betrayed yet again. On July 19, the lawsuit Valerie Plame had filed against Vice President Cheney, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby and Richard Armitage for both violating her privacy and taking revenge on her husband (for leaving their yellowcake out in the rain) was dismissed.

Federal Judge John Bates claimed his hands were tied by "special factors" — statutes enacted by Congress to cover alleged harm to CIA operatives and other federal employees. A Bush appointee, he's the same judge who, according to Truthout, "dismissed a lawsuit filed by the federal government ... access to Cheney’s energy task force documents."

But, along with the revelation of her identity as an undercover CIA agent, this wasn't the only other occasion that Ms. Plame suffered betrayal at the hands of the nation. Sandwiched in between were two other instances.

(Read the rest of Russ Wellen's post at Scholars & Rogues)