In a perverse sense, it seems fitting that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has been made a scapegoat. After all, he is Jewish (and scapegoating Jews was not an innovation by Adolf Hitler or ended when Hitler committed suicide), he was not generally known until he was indicted, Webster's Dictionary primary definition of "scapegoat" is "a goat upon whose head are symbolically placed the sins of the people after which he is sent into the wilderness in the biblical ceremony for Yom Kippur," and additional definitions include "one that bears the blame for others" and "one that is the object of irrational hostility."

It seems to me that Mr. Libby is not bearing any legitimate blame for either himself or others, but that his indictment has made him an "object of irrational hostility" (because it appears to me that he is not guilty of any crime and ultimately will not be convicted of one, even if he actually is guilty, because he will not be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt).

I am inclined to defend scapegoats and sacrificial lambs (including self-sacrificing ones like White House Counsel and former Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers), male or female, Christian or Jew, including:

Kenneth Starr, a Christian male who became the target of the Clintonistas because he learned that President Clinton somehow decided that the highest and best use of former White House intern Monica Lewinsky was for oral sex and committing perjury and obstructing justice were permissible, at least for him, if they involved sex and telling the truth would be personally and politically embarrassing and would give additional credence to Paula Jones' charges against him and cost him money.

Harriet Miers, a Christian female who was targeted by the rule-or-right right because she had not joined The Federalist Society or made Judge Robert Bork's list of acceptable Supreme Court candidates.  (And ticked off Ann Coulter big time, because she had gone to nearby SMU for both college and law school, instead of an Ivy League college and a top tier law school like Ann.)

And now Mr. Libby, a Jewish man whose reputation as a brilliant and experienced lawyer who went into government service to serve instead of to loot means to me that, about him, all who want the best of the best in government should give a hoot.  (Ann, are you with me on this one?)

The New Testament teaches: "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.:  That's good news for Ms. Miers, whose decision to have her nomination for Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court withdrawn was a noble act of self-sacrifice, and Mr. Libby, Vice President Cheney's former Chief of Staff, whose resignation likewise was a praiseworthy act of humility.  But bad news for many others, including two Pats: Buchanan, because he reacted to the withdrawal of the Miers nomination by comparing her to "a school marm indulging a teacher's pet" and claiming she "just gave George Bush permission to retake the final exam he booted badly': and Fitzgerald, a United States Attorney and Special Persecutor (whoops, Prosecutor), because he not only sought an indictment against Mr. Libby from a District of Columbia grand jury that seems to be an abuse of power and waste of time, talent and treasure, but also because he conducted (a bit nervously) a press conference in which he made a bad baseball analogy, comparing the disclosure of Valerie Plame's CIA connection to beaning a batter, and charged without providing proof that Mr. Libby had deliberately disclosed classified information about a CIA agent, endangering not only her but national security and CIA recruitment.

Take it from former assistant United States attorney general Victoria Toensing, who drafted the criminal statute designed to criminalize the outing of covert agents:  the disclosure of Valerie Plame Wilson's CIA connection did not fall within the ambit of the statute.

Mr. Fitzgerald was speaking of something far less important that outing a covert agent.  And there is much doubt as to just how secret Ms. Plame Wilson's CIA status long before it became public knowledge, thanks to Mr. Robert Novak.

Mr. Fitzgerald realized that.  But he opted to continue his investigation and finally indicted someone, that someone being Mr. Libby, on five counts--obstruction of justice, making false statements (2) and perjury (2). All five arising out of Mr. Libby's claim that he had heard first about Ms. Plame Wilson's CIA connection from the press. Why five counts instead of one? To raise the maximum prison time to 30 years and the maximum fine to $1,250,000.  Presumably to have as much possible pressure on Mr. Libby, in the hope that he will turn state's evidence to stay out of the slammer altogether, or in it as briefly as possible and pay as small a fine as possible.  Perhaps Mr. Fitzgerald has confused the Bush Administration with organized crime.

The United States State Department's official biography of Mr. Libby does not yet reflect his resignation or his five-count indictment, but it does let a read appreciate Mr. Libby's great ability and accomplishments.

"Lewis Libby, Vice President Cheney�s Chief of Staff and Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs

"Mr. Libby first entered government service with the United States Department of State in 1981 as a member of the Policy Planning Staff in the Office of the Secretary. He also served in the United States Department of State as Director of Special Projects in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 1982 to 1985. Mr. Libby also served as the Legal Adviser to the U.S. House of Representatives� Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the Peoples' Republic of China, commonly known as the 'Cox Committee.'

"During the George H. W. Bush administration, Mr. Libby served in the United States Department of Defense as Principal Deputy Under Secretary (Strategy and Resources), and later was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.

"Prior to joining the current administration, Mr. Libby served as the Managing Partner of the Washington office of the international law firm of Dechert, Price & Rhoads. He was a member of the firm�s litigation department and chaired the Washington office�s Public Policy Practice Group.

"In 1993, Mr. Libby was awarded the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Award and the Department of the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award. He received the Department of State�s Foreign Affairs Award for Public Service in 1985.

"Mr. Libby graduated magna cum laude from Yale University in 1972, and earned a law degree from Columbia University in 1975. He is a member of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security, and serves on the Advisory Board of the Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies of the RAND Corporation. Mr. Libby is the author of a novel, The Apprentice, published in 1996."

Republican strategist Mary Matalin, a former counselor to Vice President Cheney and a friend of Mr. Libby, describes him as someone who did "for the vice president what the vice president does for the president.  He's exceedingly analytical, detailed, strategic, bright; and he's discreet."

Nothing in there about self-destructive behavior.  Or rank stupidity.

Mr. Fitzgerald apparently likes baseball analogies.  So here's one for him to consider:

THE Scooter, the New York Yankees' star shortstop Phil Rizutto, played for thirteen seasons and committed 261 errors during the regular seasons. Mistakes happen even to the best.  In 1950 Rizutto was Major League Player of the Year as well as the American League's Most Valuable Player. In that year his errors dropped to 14 from 23 the year before.  But he still commited fourteen errors.

Mr. Libby apparently forgot how he first found about Ms. Plame Wilson's CIA connection.  In his hectic life, was that fact really a BIG DEAL to him?  It was not something that necessarily seers into one's memory, even Mr. Libby's reputedly excellent memory.  It was not necessarily something he would make a special effort to commit to memory.

Do I think Mr. Libby will be convicted?  If a white Jewish Republican man who served as a key player in the Bush Administration can get a fair trial in a District of Columbia federal court (and I am hopeful), he will be acquitted.

Why?

Because there is so much reasonable doubt as to call into question the propriety of seeking the indictment in the first place!  If there was a black mark on Mr. Libby's reputation before Mr. Fitzgerald began his investigation, I'm not aware of it.  And, much more importantly, the way Mr. Libby conducted himself during the investigation strongly suggests his innocence. Did he hire a white collar criminal lawyer to represent him?  No.  Did he invoke his Fifth Amendment rights? Apparently not. Did he turn over documents, including personal notes, that contradicted his alleged recollection? YES!

Let's repeat that: Did he turn over documents, including personal notes, that contradicted his alleged recollection? YES!

What does THAT mean?  It means he's innocent...or he's the dumbest genius in America's history.  If a brilliant lawyer like Mr. Libby was going to make knowing misrepresentations to FBI agents or to commit perjury before a grand jury, he  surely would have destroyed any contradictory documents instead of turning them over to Mr. Fitzgerald, or concocted a false story that was consistent with any documentation that it was foreseeable Mr. Fitzgerald would receive.

Is it plausible that Mr. Libby would risk spending the rest of his life in prison in a hopeless attempt to convince Mr. Fitzgerald that his own meticulous person notes were wrong?

NO!

Is it plausible that Mr. Libby made an honest mistake?

CERTAINLY!

There are innocent misrepresentations, negligent misrepresentations and willful misrepresentations.  Only the willful ones can be a basis for a criminal conviction.

Scooter Libby made an error. THE Scooter made plenty of them over his career. Neither Scooter is a criminal.  And, fortunately for THE Scooter, Mr. Fitzgerald never was tasked with investigating him.

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