The need to squelch the truth

The L.A. Times is reporting on a state of near-hysteria at the White House in the aftermath of Joe Wilson's 2003 revelation that the Saddam/uranium/Niger link was just so much horseshit:

Top aides to President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were intensely focused on discrediting former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV in the days after he wrote an op-ed article for the New York Times suggesting the administration manipulated intelligence to justify going to war in Iraq, federal investigators have been told.

[snip]

Although lower-level White House staffers typically handle most contacts with the media, Rove and Libby began personally communicating with reporters about Wilson, prosecutors were told.

A source directly familiar with information provided to prosecutors said Rove's interest was so strong that it prompted questions in the White House. When asked at one point why he was pursuing the diplomat so aggressively, Rove reportedly responded: "He's a Democrat." Rove then cited Wilson's campaign donations, which leaned toward Democrats, the person familiar with the case said.

The disclosures about the officials' roles illustrate White House concern about Wilson's July 6, 2003, article, which challenged the administration's assertion that Iraq had sought to purchase nuclear materials. Wilson's article appeared as Rove and other Bush aides were preparing the 2004 reelection campaign strategy, which was built largely around the president's response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

It is not surprising that White House officials would be upset by an attack like Wilson's or seek to respond aggressively. But special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald is examining whether they or others crossed the legal line by improperly disclosing classified information, or whether they perjured themselves in testifying later about their actions. Both Rove and Libby have testified.

What's astounding is how the Republicans are handling this situation in accordance with the meme that Joe Wilson is some kind of girly-man who got a job based on his wife's connections. If you watched Wilson on the Sabbath Gasbags yesterday, or in last week's Today show interview, you know that for all the flowing hair and expensive suits, and for all the carefully-modulated speech volume, Wilson is one tough motherfucker, and not someone to be trifled with.

It's also astounding the extent to which Republicans are hitching the entire party to Karl Rove's wagon. It's reminiscent of the kind of abusive marriage in which the abusee thinks she'll cease to exist without the abuser. On the other hand, Rove undoubtedly knows one hell of a lot about the inner workings of the Republican party, having architected much of it himself, and a weasel like him, who's tried to live vicariously through someone he perceives as a more charismatic figure, is likely to spill the beans if he's rejected.