The Scooter Libby Trial and the Need for Accountability in America

I was listening to NPR's Fresh Air the day that Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, was indicted on four of five charges brought against him in regards to obstructing justice and perjury in the Valerie Plame leak case. The news announcers spoke of jurors crying, muted victory by the prosecution, and a resigned Libby allowed to visit home until his sentence began. Indeed, even the impartial and experienced news people at NPR seemed to sound a note of finality to the issues brought up in the Plame leak case.

Unfortunately, Libby's indictment is only a superficial victory. It will satisfy the Republicans concerned about the Libby issue and the Bush Administration's air of secrecy in the 2008 elections. It will also satisfy the suddenly conciliatory Democrats, who are quickly mastering the art of presenting symbols, not realities, of progress to the American people. Finally, with the exception of a push by mainstream media announcers like Andrea Mitchell for a pardon, the good people at broadcast and cable news networks seem satisfied. They can move onto the next chapter in their hard-hitting series on Anna Nicole Smith.

Americans should not be, and by most accounts are not, satisfied by this indictment. According to a recent CNN poll, only 18 percent of Americans support the pardon of Lewis "Scooter" Libby. As well, there is a strong breeze of discontent throughout the United States as regards both parties and the free flowing pork projects wafting from the Capitol building. While the "experts" may be satisfied with the Libby indictment, Americans like myself only see it as the tip of the iceberg.

It is time to teach lawbreakers in our own government that their trumped-up importance is no defense against reason.

Credit: Michael Kwaja

Copyright: Morgue File