I Don't Know How Else to Say it: The AP Sucks

Today the AP fired off the most biased, fact-less, and pointless article I have ever read. You'd think it came from the NY Times! The title should give it all away: Sources: Rove Won't Be Indicted Today. Yes, and we're all so very concerned about that. The AP would like you to believe it's the biggest story of the century. Of course, when a grand jury is going after Republicans I can understand the AP's delight.

Some lawyers have raised the specter of broader conspiracy charges as well. Any trial would shine a spotlight on the secret deliberations of Bush and his team as they built the case for war against Iraq

Bush ordered U.S. troops to war in March 2003, saying Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction program posed a grave and immediate threat to the United States. No such weapons were found. The U.S. military death toll climbed past 2,000 this week.

Here is the traditional media spin. 1) the WMD's were only one of many reason for the US to go to war in Iraq, not the only or even the most important one. 2) Saddam had intent, plans, and a structure to begin to produce WMD's as soon as he bribed enough UN ambassadors to pay for it. 3) How does the 2,000 soldiers fit onto this?

The lack of an indictment against Rove is a mixed outcome for the administration. It keeps in place the president's top adviser, the architect of his political machine whose fingerprints can be found on virtually every policy that emerges from the White House.

The ever-repeated "Rove is the ultimate master of all" claim. How silly.

Libby is considered Cheney's alter ego, a chief architect of the war with Iraq. Any trial of Libby would give the public a rare glimpse into Cheney's influential role in the West Wing and his behind-the-scenes lobbying for war.

Is there any proof for this statement? Was Cheney in the west wing"lobbying for war?" How can they get away with making this stuff up? Facts, anyone?

After weeks of hand-wringing about possible indictments in the investigation, Bush and his advisers kept an upbeat appearance Friday.

I'm sorry, but I must have missed all that "hand-wringing." The AP would like you to believe that the White House is all terribly concerned about this whole thing. Does anyone remember Bush describing it as "background noise"? That's what Bush thinks about this - the "hand-wringing" invention is to make you believe that Bush is in trouble... he's not.

Senior Republicans inside and outside the White House have wondered whether the case has been a distraction for Rove. They point to the failed Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers, which was derailed by conservative activists, many of them allies of Rove.

Ah! I see! Everything that has gone "wrong" with the administration is due to the evil master Rove and his all-controlling powers being distracted! I understand!

On July 7, the president told reporters that if anyone in his administration committed a crime in connection with the leak, that person "will no longer work in my administration." Weeks later, he backpedaled from that assertion.

This is as false as it can get. Bush did say that "if someone committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration" on July 7. However, he never "backpedaled" from this assertion. In fact, at the time this statement was made he was criticized for it! Democrats at the time said that the statement was a "backpedaling" from June 2004 when Bush said he would fire anyone involved in the leak case. Of course, it's not the AP's purpose here to report facts - it's only to make the Bush administration look bad.

Let's not forget the overarching missing information here, either. The fact that no crime was committed. Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA agent is about as secret as George Takei being gay. Everyone knew she was in the CIA, and in fact Libby and Rove and Cheney thought that she was in a non-secret CIA division, which is what they told Judy Miller! So, the real truth of the story is this:

1) Plame's identity as a CIA agent was not a secret
2) Libby thought that Plame worked for a non-secret division of the CIA
3) It's only a crime if you intentionally leak that name of an undercover CIA agent

Therefore:

1) No crime was committed
2) The grand jury had to indict someone, and it seems that Libby misled them
3) The is a non-issue for Bush, Republicans, and the administration for the above reasons

Also:

1) The AP is immensely biased and irresponsible