Libby takes the fall

GNUS INTERNATIONAL

No, Libby Purves hasn't had an accident. Don't worry - her smug tones will be gracing the airwaves next Wednesday morning on Midweek as per usual.

No, this is Cheney's aide, Lewis 'Scooter' Libby (is he called Scooter because he wears glasses and has a floppy mop hairstyle? Thought not; there's no logic to these American names. It took me years to discover that Jesse Helms wasn't a woman). He's been charged with perjury by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald for revealing the name of a covert CIA agent. Or, rather, for lying about it. In other words, he told the truth, then lied about telling the truth. Or so the allegation goes.

This is bad news. Not because someone's copped it for undermining Joseph Wilson, one of the few Americans of stature to criticise Bush over the Iraq War - that's very good news, although let's remember that Libby may still get off - but because Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and Bush himself have not been indicted (Rove remains "under investigation" but, let's face it, if anything were going to happen it would have happened today). What's more, Bush's ratings can hardly sink any lower. I'd rather he'd have had a good kicking when he was on his way down, not when he had hit bottom, as he seems to have.

(And I'd rather they'd have got Rove. Nothing would give me more pleasure than seeing the smile wiped off that fat fuck's face.)

There'll be no resignation this time, folks. Anyway, the one thing that would be worse than President Bush would be President Cheney (this is called "the Dan Quayle principle").

More over at Think Progress, Democratic Underground, Steve Clemons, Blogenlust (links via Kathy) and the other usual places, like Kos.

Oh, and having believed myself to be the first British blogger to comment on these developments, I go and find that Curious Hamster has beaten me to it by over four hours, damn his eyes!

(Incidentally, Kos also has anecdotal evidence that the Republicans are taking a big hit from all this.)

[UPDATE: On this last point, Gary Younge in the Guardian agrees that the Republicans are in trouble, but reckons the Democrats are in no position to do anything about it. I think he's right.]