All Over But The Whining

L'affaire Plame is toast, as Richard Armitage has been identified at the initial person who leaked the name of Valerie Plame to the media.

It follows that one of the most sensational charges leveled against the Bush White House -- that it orchestrated the leak of Ms. Plame's identity to ruin her career and thus punish Mr. Wilson -- is untrue. The partisan clamor that followed the raising of that allegation by Mr. Wilson in the summer of 2003 led to the appointment of a special prosecutor, a costly and prolonged investigation, and the indictment of Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, on charges of perjury. All of that might have been avoided had Mr. Armitage's identity been known three years ago.

That doesn't speak well of Fitzgerald, who was conducting the investigation and only managed to find someone, Scooter Libby, whose inability to recall certain details of conversations had years prior led to a perjury charge that will likely not stand the scrutiny of a trial.

And who else should be blamed for this fiasco? Joe Wilson. Ed Morrissey has the details. AJ Strata has details on Wilsons other trip to Niger, and a potential connection to the AQ Khan nuclear proliferation network. Macranger notes that when the WaPo bails on you, that your 15 minutes are nearly up. And yet, we know that this will not close this sorry chapter in intel follies.

Tom Maguire wraps up the latest revelations in a bow.

UPDATE:
There was no Fitzmas. There will be no Fitzmas. There's no chance that there will be a Fitzmas. If that means I'm the Grinch, so be it.

So, what about those odds I had set on the primary figures? Well, looks like I wont have to pay out because I correctly chose no odds for the possibility that no crime was committed.

The hard left was dreaming the impossible dream, but just to refresh your recollection:



I wish I could say that this will mark the end of this sorry chapter, but the hard left is too vested in this nonsense to let it go.

UPDATE:
The wailing from the left is worse than fingernails on a chalkboard. They can't believe that Plamegate was a nonscandal wrapped in a media hailstorm.

Hot Air has more. James Joyner points out (as many others have done) that Joe Wilson is most to blame for the end of Plame's career at CIA, not anyone at the White House.

Others blogging: Flopping Aces, Tigerhawk, and The Real Ugly American.

Others blogging

Technorati: Plame, wilson, niger, yellowcake, judy miller, rove.