It's sad that before being proven guilty, Karl Rove is being marked by some as a criminal. Obviously Democrats are eager to strike a dagger in the heart of the President's administration, and they will do so at any cost, even that of justice and fair investigation.\nThe concern of possible criminal activity by Rove stems around a series of e-mails and notes released by Time Magazine and belonging to one of their own, Matthew Cooper. None of these e-mails, according to an article in the Economist, make it clear that Rove knew Plame was a spook.\nI do believe the President should stick by his word and fire those responsible, but more importantly, proper justice should be served. Mr. Rove should be seen as innocent until proven guilty and Democrats should calm down and let the special prosecutor do his job. Once the investigation has been completed, then we can point fingers.
Rove should take leave of absence\nIt is pretty clear to me that Karl Rove leaked the identity of Valerie Plame to Robert Novak, Judith Miller, Matthew Cooper, and other journalists, and that he should be held accountable for his earlier statements denying this. As to whether he committed a criminal act, that remains to be seen, since it is still to be determined whether he knew that Valerie Plame was a covert operative of the CIA rather than just a CIA employee. If he knew, he should be convicted and punished for the crime. It is the job of the special prosecutor to explore this possibility. In the meantime, if I were President Bush, I would ask Mr. Rove to take a leave of absence.
