. I don't know how this image of "cute little Scooter" got started, but I think it's important to remember that he was not only a huge neocon warmonger, but one of the architects (with David Addington) of Bush's torture policy, and as such was part of the push to quash Matthew Waxman:

Waxman, a young lawyer who headed the Pentagon's office of detainee affairs, departed soon after he had a major confrontation with Addington over the issue of clarifying military rules for the treatment of prisoners. Waxman believed that international standards for the humane treatment of detainees should be followed, and argued for reforms in the Army Field Manual. He hoped to reinstate the basic standards that are specified in the Geneva Conventions. This meant the prohibition of torture, overt acts of violence, and "outrages on personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment." Although the Vice-President's office is not part of the military chain of command, last September Addington summoned Waxman to his office and berated him. Waxman declined to comment on the incident, but a former colleague in the Pentagon, in whom Waxman confided, said that Addington accused Waxman of wanting to fight the war on terror his own way, rather than the President's way. The Army Field Manual still hasn't been revised, and, according to those involved, Addington and his protégé Haynes remain the major obstacles.

Scooter may have spent the trial looking diminutive and sporting one of those Laura-Bush-on-Xanax grins but let's remember the OVP's appetite for unlimited power to engage in barbarism, and Libby was Cheney's Cheney.  He's not a "fall guy," he's a willing accomplice in a plan to obstruct justice and thwart the efforts of federal investigators, and no matter how Charles Krauthammer may wax nostalgic for blow jobs he's never had it does not change the fact that Scooter's claims to have "forgotten" nine conversations was considered by a jury of his peers to be rank absurdity.  He's not some sports hero "taking one for the team," his actions have led this country down a very dark road and he must not be allowed to re-invent himself.  He's not going to be on the road with Arrowsmith or Clapton; he'll be playing golf with OJ.

(As a side note,  during the trial I spent a lot of time sitting behind Libby's wife, who liked the cameras but didn't seem to cotton to the criminal aspect of her new found attention.  She reminded me of Veronica Cartwright's line in The Right Stuff where she breaks down and starts crying because other astronaut's wives got to meet Jackie but she was "Mrs. Squirming Hatch Buster."  That pretty much summed up my impression of how she saw herself in this whole thing -- cast out of the Rose Garden.) 

.  Howie Klein has been on Dave Obey's ass all week over his war record and it looks like he finally worked his last nerve (see YouTube above where Obey is now denouncing "idiot liberals.")  Go Howie. 

.  I'll be appearing with Dan Rather in his keynote interview at South By Southwest on Monday, March 12 at 2pm.  Just had a 45 minute chat with him and it was amazing.  He has a lot to say and I am really looking forward to it. 

.  And Jay Rosen writes -- well, just read it.  We're all blushing.