Where's Jeff Gannon When You Need Him?

Some of the best television you'll see all year was today's White House press briefing. Some of the journalists covering the White House (most notably NBC's David Gregory) were actually asking questions and not taking the usual right-wing propaganda at face value. There's nothing like watching White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan squirm for entertainment value. Watching him try to find a reporter – any reporter, from any obscure news outlet whatsoever – who would serve him up a dependable softball question in the face of a hostile press asking tough questions was a joy to behold. It's too bad that former member of the White House press corps (and former male prostitute) Jeff Gannon wasn't there to lend him a hand, so to speak.

Here's what's going on, in case you haven't been paying attention lately. It is now known that, contrary to his previous denials, Karl Rove, the president's top political strategist, was the source of the leak of the name of Joseph Wilson's wife, who at the time was an undercover CIA agent, to the press. This means that it is entirely possible and indeed likely that Karl Rove committed a criminal act while working in the White House, because to knowingly leak the name of an undercover CIA agent is a federal offense.

The White House press corps was using Scott McClellan as a piñata today – and rightly so. Rove denied being the leak, and McClellan piously asserted that Rove had nothing to do with it. Both those contentions are now known to be, at the very least, what Churchill used to refer to as "terminological inexactitudes," or what Republicans used to refer to during the Clinton Administration as "lies." One of the most amusing aspects of this whole story is watching the White House spin explanations for Rove's conduct that would, at least in theory, exonerate him – explanations that sound downright Clintonesque: you see, he mentioned "Joe Wilson's wife" while talking to reporters, but he didn't mention her specifically by name. And he said she was with the CIA, but he never specifically said that she was an undercover agent, and it's only by saying specifically that she's an undercover agent that makes it illegal. I guess it all depends on what your definition of "undercover" is.

This is an important story, because finally someone in this criminal administration is being held responsible for their lies – and on live TV. It's clear that, with a member of the press currently doing time in prison for not disclosing the name of Karl Rove, they are in no mood to put up with the lies they've been fed by the right-wing propaganda machine operating out of the White House. And it's about time.

It's clear that Karl Rove should be forced to resign from the White House and should probably do time in prison for breaking the law by leaking the identity of an undercover CIA agent to the press. Will it happen? Will George W. Bush do what he said he would do, and see to it that whoever leaked the name of Joseph Wilson's wife be punished to the fullest extent of the law?

Are you kidding? Knowing Bush's penchant for rewarding incompetence and illegality, I wouldn't be surprised if Bush nominated Rove to the Supreme Court. But make sure to tune in to the daily White House press briefing on C-SPAN. For the moment anyway, it might be the best show in town.

Tom Moran