Karl Rove and I. Lewis Libby should be excused with pay from their duties at the White House. Temporary suspension with pay is a standard safety and public relations precaution and the men and women who comprise the Bush administration are not beyond reproach. \nAlready we know that Rove and Libby put together most, if not all, of the puzzle that was the identification of CIA agent Valerie Plame. Evidence shows that, with or without giving up Plame's name, Rove was ready to back up columnist Robert Novak's assertions that Ambassador Joseph Wilson, Plame's husband, was awarded a trip to Niger because his well-connected wife pulled the right strings. The trip was to investigate President Bush's claim that low-grade uranium went from there to Saddam Hussein, which Wilson concluded never happened -- a conclusion he published in The New York Times.\nAny involvement in this crime places Rove and Libby under the category "suspect"; the evidence places them in sore need of reproach.\nLike any public servant accused of malicious negligence -- police officers, firefighters, prosecutors -- Rove and Libby must take seats on the bench. \nOtherwise they take seats in meetings that have direct and immediate consequences for the safety of all Americans. Our troops, our loved ones, us -- decisions determining our liberties and safety are being directly advised by men thought to have callously placed the life of a CIA agent, her family and everyone she has worked with in mortal danger. \nBush might not like the public relations nightmare he is in and the questions he would face about their absences. The White House pressroom might get uglier (as it should), but the cover-up is worse than the scandal. Follow in the footsteps of President Richard Nixon and the outcome is inevitable and obvious.\nWill Rove or Libby sit? No. The administration has won nearly every major public relations campaign and this particular administration is known to be rabidly opaque. \nBut the advice is out there, President Bush. Do with it what you will.
Dissent\nLiving by your word in presidential politics sounds great in theory, but in practice has not always been smart. It makes very little political sense for Bush to consider putting Rove on leave. If the theory that the intent of the leak was retaliation for placing the administration in a bad light proves true, then Rove's guilt implicates the entire administration, not just Rove, and Bush knows this. If Rove is innocent, then placing him on leave will cripple the administration's ability to perform. \nWhat will be accomplished by placing Karl Rove on leave? Besides giving Democrats a little more clout and finger-pointing ability, nothing. It is naïve to believe that this is the first time a high ranking government official has potentially leaked information of national security. The battle of information between the press and presidential administrations is legendary, the present administration being more notorious than most, and the press should not expect it to get any easier. We cannot expect the administration, to "do the right thing" and implicate themselves. This is unrealistic. Speculation and Monday morning quarterbacking in this situation is also inefficient. Someone knows the truth. But until it is uncovered completely and unquestionably by the press and investigators, no matter what the perception of Rove is, he is innocent until proven guilty.
