The Nation: Cheney's Henchman Gets His

Cheney's Henchman Gets His

Nicholas von Hoffman

Scooter's guilty: Was justice served? Cast your vote in the Nation Poll--and tell us why.

Well, they nailed Scooter. The news of I. Lewis Libby's conviction had hardly been out on the Internet before the Democrats were letting loose with war whoops of delight. "It's about time someone in the Bush Administration has been held accountable for the campaign to manipulate intelligence and discredit war critics," quoth Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid.

To which some thoughtful people will reply, "Pipe down, Harry, there but for the grace of He or She whose name may not be invoked on some but not all public occasions goes you or one of your Democratic pals."

The story behind the story of Libby's conviction is that he should never have been in Washington in the first place. What was his job? He was the chief of staff of the Vice President and the Vice President's National Security Adviser.

Why does a Vice President have a chief of staff? The Vice President has no administrative functions. Why does he need a staff or a chief to run it? And why should he have a National Security Adviser? The President already has one. Why should the Vice President have one, too?

History shows that Vice Presidential aides and staffs either occupy their time by feuding with the President's staff or by being up to no good à la Scooter. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070319/howl2