Byron York: A crushing disappointment for the Dems

Sometimes it’s hard to hide your disappointment when you didn’t get what you wanted for Fitzmas.

In the days leading up to CIA-leak prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s announcement of his decision to indict the now-former vice presidential chief of staff, Lewis Libby, on perjury, obstruction and false-statements charges, the sense of anticipation among some Democrats was almost overpowering.

The president’s adversaries were hoping for very, very big things. “At least three high-level Bush-administration personnel indicted and possibly one or more very high-level unindicted co-conspirators,” predicted former Democratic Hill aide-turned-Hollywood type Lawrence O’Donnell.

There was also talk of some sort of far-reaching conspiracy indictment, in which Vice President Cheney, Libby, presidential political adviser Karl Rove and maybe others would be charged in a scheme to lie the United States into war in Iraq.

So you can imagine the crushing disappointment felt in some Democratic hearts when Fitzgerald took to the podium at the Justice Department to announce that just one person had been indicted. And then Fitzgerald said this:

“This indictment is not about the war. This indictment’s not about the propriety of the war. And people who believe fervently in the war effort, people who oppose it, people who have mixed feelings about it should not look to this indictment for any resolution of how they feel or any vindication of how they feel. ...

“The indictment will not seek to prove that the war was justified or unjustified. This is stripped of that debate, and this is focused on a narrow transaction. And I think anyone who’s concerned about the war and has feelings for or against shouldn’t look to this criminal process for any answers or resolution of that.”

Ouch. Fitzgerald was careful to point out that he has not finished his investigation — although it is mostly done — but it seems clear that the grand hopes that Democrats placed in him have not worked out.

“This case is bigger than the leak of highly classified information,” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said after Fitzgerald’s news conference. “It is how the Bush White House manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to bolster its case for the war in Iraq and to discredit anyone who dared to challenge the president.”

Now, it’s not that the Libby indictment isn’t a story — a high-ranking official facing criminal charges is very big news. It is that Democrats, after raising their own hopes so high, could not be satisfied with what actually happened.

After a weekend of talking, and the change-the-subject effect of the president’s announcement of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito on Monday, Reid & Co. had had enough. They had to do something.

But what? On Tuesday, Reid, working from an old playbook written by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), came up with the answer: Blindside Republicans by forcing the Senate into secret session, and then demand that lawmakers talk about the subjects Fitzgerald avoided.

“Alito had his day,” a Democratic aide told The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank. “We’re going back to our story.”

Playing into Democratic hands, Republican leaders blew their stacks and at the same time managed to appear whiny in impromptu press conferences.

“Since I’ve been majority leader ... [never] have I ever been slapped in the face with such an affront,” said Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.).

He and other GOP leaders called Reid’s maneuver a stunt — which, of course, it was.

But it worked, at least for a while. After about two hours behind closed doors, Democrats emerged with an agreement for a new redebate about prewar intelligence.

It was an undeniable success for them, but it fell far short of what they really wanted, which was a series of high-profile indictments that in effect accused top administration officials of lying about the war.

Still, those disappointed Fitzmas carolers on the left found a reason to be happy. Democrats showed “leadership and fight,” wrote Markos Moulitsas of the popular website DailyKos. “Very nice. Democrats creating a media narrative around Republican stonewalling of a real investigation into prewar intelligence. Also very nice.”

Very nice indeed. And Democrats no doubt have some other clever maneuvers up their sleeves by which they might be able to reroute future news cycles.

And it may be that Fitzgerald has another indictment up his sleeve, which would certainly give Democrats another news cycle or two.

And then there’s the Libby trial — if there is one. Reid and his allies will try their best to capitalize on that.

That’s their right. But does it add up to anything? A policy on Iraq? A plan for leadership? A winning Democratic strategy for 2006?

Probably not. But it’s the best you can do when you’ve pinned too many hopes on having a merry Fitzmas.

York is a White House correspondent for National Review. His column appears in The Hill each week. E-mail: byork@thehill.com

",,,predicted former Democratic Hill aide-turned-Hollywood type Lawrence O’Donnell"
Ahhh, the modern casting couch. In order to get into Hollywood you have to first be a Dem aide...

That explains so many things...

So what do those Democrats do now?

Same thing as they always do: DEMAND several heads on a platter anyway ... regardless of what was [not] under the Fitzmas Tree ...... /sarc off

We should have the debate, in public, once and for all. For the last two and a half years we have had one side calling the President a liar and the other side staying silent.

Four investigations have looked into this. All concluded the CIA got it wrong and, more importantly, didn't let on how tenuous their supporting data was.
This should all be laid out so the American public can put themselves in the shoes of our President and Congress. You are being told every day that Saddam has chemical and bio weapons and is pursuing nuclear weapons. The President and the Congress reviewed the data and drew the exact same conclusions.
Now Congressional Democrats have been working hand-in-glove with the MSM to propagate a new standard: It's true until President Bush says it. Then the same words uttered by Clinton and Congress magically turn into lies.
The entire record needs to come out. Sen Rockafeller was the only elected official to called Saddam an "imminent threat".

Let the chips fall where they may.

The best defense is an offensive - it should be needless to state.

The Plame-Wilson-CIA conspiracy needs the shining light of truth upon it. Now.

Our accomplishments in Iraq and Afghanistan and home defense need to be touted.

The men and women in our military have brought hope to millions of people in Iraq and Afghanistan. Do not let their service and sacrifices be denigrated by the left, which at the core loathes the U. S. and our military.

"After about two hours behind closed doors, Democrats emerged with an agreement for a new redebate about prewar intelligence."

Not so. They had an agreement that the Senate committee already studying this would continue to study it and would issue a report - something already agreed to. They got zip, except for looking like whiney, petulant children.

When it became plain that LBJ blatantly lied about North Vietnam attacking our ships in the Tonkin Gulf, getting Congress to pass the Tonkin Gulf Resolution which effectively declared war in Vietnam, there was no talk of investigating his administration and indicting his advisors. This is plainly a conspiracy hatched by Democrat operatives in the CIA left over from the Clinton regime to get VP Cheney, if possible. The corrupt CIA needs to be investigated.

Seems to me we (the US) was luxuriating in the success of Afghanistan with steps to deal with Iraq moving ahead on schedule when the President was told my Putin that Iraq had plans to attack the US. At this point the invasion of Iraq was moved to the front burner. It was Putin's assertion that Iraq was readying an attack on the US that forced the President Bush's hand and resulted in the invasion coming when it did.

Did I dream this?

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