One third of Washingtonians are functionally illiterate.

DC always struck me as a canary in a coal mine for what the fate of the entire country would be if liberal Democrats got all their federalized social-programs hearts’ desires.

Mrs. Wilson seems to have trouble keeping her story straight.

Steve Gilbert has put together the time line that makes it look most likely that Joe Wilson did so, and when and why.

In a nutshell, up until no WMD were discovered in Iraq, Wilson didn’t say anything about the “sixteen words.” But once he saw the political opportunity, and had joined the Kerry campaign, he decided to try to pretend that he’d told the administration otherwise beforehand. And he used his wife’s connection to the CIA to enhance his credibility with his fellow Democrats. Particularly damning is the fact that Armitage spilled the beans to Woodward before Wilson’s op-ed piece (and thus before the White House would have had any reason to “punish” him). He most likely got the information from Democrats or other reporters, or from Wilson himself.

[Update in the evening]

Looking at the responses from commenters who often disagree with me, but are sane (and occasionally, but not usually, correct when they do) and the usual nutballs, I think that Steve Gilbert’s post might prove to be this year’s “Rathergate,” once it starts to bounce around the blogosphere. This seems to me like irrefutable evidence that the entire leftist myth about Plamegate (that the media has always eaten up like ice cream in a Houston August) is, and always was, completely bogus.

Steve Gilbert has put together the time line that makes it look most likely that Joe Wilson did so, and when and why.

In a nutshell, up until no WMD were discovered in Iraq, Wilson didn’t say anything about the “sixteen words.” But once he saw the political opportunity, and had joined the Kerry campaign, he decided to try to pretend that he’d told the administration otherwise beforehand. And he used his wife’s connection to the CIA to enhance his credibility with his fellow Democrats. Particularly damning is the fact that Armitage spilled the beans to Woodward before Wilson’s op-ed piece (and thus before the White House would have had any reason to “punish” him). He most likely got the information from Democrats or other reporters, or from Wilson himself.

[Update in the evening]

Looking at the responses from commenters who often disagree with me, but are sane (and occasionally, but not usually, correct when they do) and the usual nutballs, I think that Steve Gilbert’s post might prove to be this year’s “Rathergate,” once it starts to bounce around the blogosphere. This seems to me like irrefutable evidence that the entire leftist myth about Plamegate (that the media has always eaten up like ice cream in a Houston August) is, and always was, completely bogus.

Steve Gilbert has put together the time line that makes it look most likely that Joe Wilson did so, and when and why.

In a nutshell, up until no WMD were discovered in Iraq, Wilson didn’t say anything about the “sixteen words.” But once he saw the political opportunity, and had joined the Kerry campaign, he decided to try to pretend that he’d told the administration otherwise beforehand. And he used his wife’s connection to the CIA to enhance his credibility with his fellow Democrats. Particularly damning is the fact that Armitage spilled the beans to Woodward before Wilson’s op-ed piece (and thus before the White House would have had any reason to “punish” him). He most likely got the information from Democrats or other reporters, or from Wilson himself.

[Update in the evening]

Looking at the responses from commenters who often disagree with me, but are sane (and occasionally, but not usually, correct when they do) and the usual nutballs, I think that Steve Gilbert’s post might prove to be this year’s “Rathergate,” once it starts to bounce around the blogosphere. This seems to me like irrefutable evidence that the entire leftist myth about Plamegate (that the media has always eaten up like ice cream in a Houston August) is, and always was, completely bogus.

Based on a post by Randall Parker (who I really need to add to the blogroll), John Derbyshire isn’t optimistic:

Looking round the world right now, the prospects for an advance of liberty are not very encouraging.

I don’t know if I’m as gloomy as he is, but this is one of the reasons that I think that space is important.

Listening to that obnoxious ass, Henry Waxman, saying in opening statements of his show hearing, that Valerie Plame’s identity was “one of our nation’s most closely guarded secrets.” I’ll bet he managed to say it with a straight face, too.

[Update a few minutes later]

Mark Hyman explains:

Plame had been living in the U.S. for several years when her identity was revealed in Novak’s 2003 column. The Intelligence Identities Protection Act was crafted not to protect Plame and other classified employees from the FedEx driver, the Safeway cashier, or from threats commonly found in the school carpool line. The Act was to protect the identities of classified employees (typically known as “case officers”) and their contacts while overseas.

The first person to bust Plame’s identity was likely Plame herself. In using a commercially available data base it took me less then three minutes to learn that Plame had listed “American Embassy, New York, NY 09255” in 1991 as her official address. This, it turns out, was the APO address for the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece. Cover busted.

In addition, Brewster-Jennings & Associates was the name of the fictitious company she used as her cover story that she was a business consultant living and working in Europe. Another three-minute database research revealed that Brewster-Jennings reported annual sales revenues of $60,000 and a work force of only a single employee (presumably Plame). Even the most gullible foreign intelligence service would not swallow the whopper that the so-called Brewster-Jennings company could afford to send its only employee to work in Europe on total revenues of $60,000 a year.

[Update a few minutes later]

Bob Novak is now pointing out the absurdity of a “covert operator of the CIA” who drove to and from Langley every day.

[Update in the late afternoon.]

Tom Maguire, who despite his ongoing desecration of the Instapundit web site, remains the go-to guy on these issues, doesn’t think that the pro-Wilson folks had such a great day. He also thinks that Valerie has some ‘splainin’ to do.

[Update at 4 PM EST]

Cliff May writes that if Valerie Plame did recommend her husband for a Niger trip, it wouldn’t have been the first time she did such a thing.

[OK, one more]

Scott Ott has broken the code.

Listening to that obnoxious ass, Henry Waxman, saying in opening statements of his show hearing, that Valerie Plame’s identity was “one of our nation’s most closely guarded secrets.” I’ll bet he managed to say it with a straight face, too.

[Update a few minutes later]

Mark Hyman explains:

Plame had been living in the U.S. for several years when her identity was revealed in Novak’s 2003 column. The Intelligence Identities Protection Act was crafted not to protect Plame and other classified employees from the FedEx driver, the Safeway cashier, or from threats commonly found in the school carpool line. The Act was to protect the identities of classified employees (typically known as “case officers”) and their contacts while overseas.

The first person to bust Plame’s identity was likely Plame herself. In using a commercially available data base it took me less then three minutes to learn that Plame had listed “American Embassy, New York, NY 09255” in 1991 as her official address. This, it turns out, was the APO address for the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece. Cover busted.

In addition, Brewster-Jennings & Associates was the name of the fictitious company she used as her cover story that she was a business consultant living and working in Europe. Another three-minute database research revealed that Brewster-Jennings reported annual sales revenues of $60,000 and a work force of only a single employee (presumably Plame). Even the most gullible foreign intelligence service would not swallow the whopper that the so-called Brewster-Jennings company could afford to send its only employee to work in Europe on total revenues of $60,000 a year.

[Update a few minutes later]

Bob Novak is now pointing out the absurdity of a “covert operator of the CIA” who drove to and from Langley every day.

[Update in the late afternoon.]

Tom Maguire, who despite his ongoing desecration of the Instapundit web site, remains the go-to guy on these issues, doesn’t think that the pro-Wilson folks had such a great day. He also thinks that Valerie has some ‘splainin’ to do.

[Update at 4 PM EST]

Cliff May writes that if Valerie Plame did recommend her husband for a Niger trip, it wouldn’t have been the first time she did such a thing.

[OK, one more]

Scott Ott has broken the code.

Listening to that obnoxious ass, Henry Waxman, saying in opening statements of his show hearing, that Valerie Plame’s identity was “one of our nation’s most closely guarded secrets.” I’ll bet he managed to say it with a straight face, too.

[Update a few minutes later]

Mark Hyman explains:

Plame had been living in the U.S. for several years when her identity was revealed in Novak’s 2003 column. The Intelligence Identities Protection Act was crafted not to protect Plame and other classified employees from the FedEx driver, the Safeway cashier, or from threats commonly found in the school carpool line. The Act was to protect the identities of classified employees (typically known as “case officers”) and their contacts while overseas.

The first person to bust Plame’s identity was likely Plame herself. In using a commercially available data base it took me less then three minutes to learn that Plame had listed “American Embassy, New York, NY 09255” in 1991 as her official address. This, it turns out, was the APO address for the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece. Cover busted.

In addition, Brewster-Jennings & Associates was the name of the fictitious company she used as her cover story that she was a business consultant living and working in Europe. Another three-minute database research revealed that Brewster-Jennings reported annual sales revenues of $60,000 and a work force of only a single employee (presumably Plame). Even the most gullible foreign intelligence service would not swallow the whopper that the so-called Brewster-Jennings company could afford to send its only employee to work in Europe on total revenues of $60,000 a year.

[Update a few minutes later]

Bob Novak is now pointing out the absurdity of a “covert operator of the CIA” who drove to and from Langley every day.

[Update in the late afternoon.]

Tom Maguire, who despite his ongoing desecration of the Instapundit web site, remains the go-to guy on these issues, doesn’t think that the pro-Wilson folks had such a great day. He also thinks that Valerie has some ‘splainin’ to do.

[Update at 4 PM EST]

Cliff May writes that if Valerie Plame did recommend her husband for a Niger trip, it wouldn’t have been the first time she did such a thing.

[OK, one more]

Scott Ott has broken the code.

…and it’s permanence:

A big part of the problem is our outmoded civil-service system that makes it too hard to hire good employees and too hard to fire bad ones. The bureaucracy has become gargantuan, making accountability and reform very difficult.

Faced with this managerial swampland, the number of talented executives willing to come to Washington continues to dwindle. Those who do accept the challenges usually want to tackle big national goals in the few years they spend in public service instead of fighting their own agencies. So the bureaucracy just keeps rolling along.

And anyone who thinks that things would be better if we changed parties in the White House are deluding themselves.