Spinning the Bush Leak

First, it was a Washington Post Sunday editorial, "A Good Leak" justifying Bush's declassification of the October, 2002 NIE in July, 2003 to allow Libby to attack Joe Wilson. Now, New York Times reporters David E Sanger and David Johnston jump on the bandwagon as well in their article, "Bush Ordered Declassification, Official Says".

The White House, via press secretary Scott McClellan has said it would not comment on the declassification because it was part of an "ongoing investigation". It appears Bushco has changed its mind.

WASHINGTON, April 9 - A senior administration official confirmed for the first time on Sunday that President Bush had ordered the declassification of parts of a prewar intelligence report on Iraq in an effort to rebut critics who said the administration had exaggerated the nuclear threat posed by Saddam Hussein.

But the official said that Mr. Bush did not designate Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby Jr., or anyone else, to release the information to reporters.

That's a ridiculous claim. The NIE's key findings were officially declassified on July 18, 2003, but Bush did so privately many days before - to what end? If there was no political reason to do so, why do it at all if there was no intended audience?

Moreover, the disclosure seemed intended to suggest that Mr. Bush might have played only a peripheral role in the release of the classified material and was uninformed about the specifics - like the effort to dispatch Mr. Libby to discuss the estimate with reporters.

The explanation offered Sunday left open several questions, including when Mr. Bush acted and whether he did so on the advice or at the request of Mr. Cheney. Still unclear is the nature of the communication between Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. Also unknown is whether Mr. Bush fully realized what information Mr. Cheney planned to disclose through Mr. Libby or was aware of the precise use that Mr. Cheney intended to make of the material.

So, the president of the United States is a complete idiot who does whatever Cheney tells him and doesn't ask any questions. Well, okay, that might be somewhat believable, but it's clear that this "senior administration official" is desperately trying to place all of the blame on Cheney. And who cares, really? Cheney's approval numbers already sit at around 18%, so heaping more grief on his shoulders doesn't really hurt him much.

What's more palatable to the American voters? Having a president who leaked classified information to attack a political opponent or believing that evil Darth Cheney manipulated the boy king? Time will tell...