Indeed. He was great--dignified, taking a clear legal/moral stand, carefully and clearly explaining the considerations that went into the investigation and the charges, refusing to be drawn into discussion of anything outside the indictment (frustrating for us, of course, but absolutely the right thing). I'm impressed.

I am certainly impressed with Fitzgerald's off-the-cuff responses to the questions from the press.  I thought his baseball analogy was more of a bunt than a homerun, but it did advance the baserunner. 

I appreciate that Fitzgerald stressed this is an indictment, and Scooter is not guilty until proven so by his peers.   He certainly strikes me as a very tough, incredibly smart individual. I wouldn't want him on my tail, that's for sure. 

I'm still not exactly clear if the case will be pursued beyond Libby's indictment.   

he's awesome... a real demonstration of what a public official could and shoud be... he's also totally destroyed the talking point about perjury being a "technicality..."

He reminded of me of someone from an earlier time.  Although Fitzgerald didn't get Libby on leaking the identity of Valerie Plame, he did get Libby.  Just like Al Capone wasn't convicted of racketeering but of tax evasion, Elliot Ness got his man too.  I have a feeling he is somewhere looking in on these proceedings and smiling...

Lets hope he brings McCain on prior to resigning.

If the man truly is a born-again, he's gotta have a guilt complex!  I think there is hope that he'll do the right thing and not just cling to power at all cost. 
dlw

The Washington Post is reporting that Plame's career at the CIA may be derailed by the revelation of her identity. I'm not a lawyer, but does this mean she can bring a civil suit for damages against those responsible for outing her?  

Fitzgerald's honesty, restraint, and obvious decency and fair-mindedness so clear during today's news conference could very well be the beginning of the end of today's radical political spin machine, which has infected politicians, journalists, other commentators, and ordinary citizens alike with the dual diseases of hatemongering and triumphalism.

As Josh Marshall has pointed out, the indictment includes the information that the Vice President told Libby where Plame worked in the CIA. This is important for other reasons besides the fact that this conversation took place.

More important is that Cheney knew in advance that Libby was interested in this information, and that Cheney was helping Libby to obtain it.

Wouldn't alarm bells go off if your Chief of Staff wanted to know this information, and maybe ask what he intended to do with it?

This seems more important than the mere fact that Cheney knew who Wilson's wife was when he lied about the fact on "Meet the Press". He actively participated in a scheme to obtain the information and get it to Libby.

There are odd times when when I've been proud to be an American. When the people in Tianamen square chose the Statue of Liberty as their symbol, it brought tears to my eyes, for example.

Watching Fitzgerald was one of those moments. He managed to be be succinct, clear and eloquent all at once. When he fended off making claims about anybody else, where they were masked by monicker in the indictment or people who were known to be investigated, especially Rove, his refusal to comment and his clear statement of why he would not comment was masterful. It showed that there is a system, that the system can work, and that it need trash nobody on the wayside.

As others have said, he demolished all the incipient talking points, not by cleverness but by simple reason an honesty.  Something I was uncomfortable about--charging with evading a crime that wasn't committed--was allayed.  

It seems tawdry to think about political implications at this point.

Oddly enough (for me), the words that come to mind are:

Well done, thou good and faithful servant.

Washington from time to time becomes infested with cockroaches, and Fitzgerald has come in and spread the roach killer around.  He has done the nation a great service, and I am grateful to him, even if Rove slithers away.

I wanted to stand up and clap. Man, he was awesome.

We need people like THAT in government. 

The contrast between Fitzgerald and Starr is beyond belief!  I always thought Starr was somewhat of a clown, but now I know that he also had no respect for the law, or the job that was entrusted to him. 

Fitzgerald's press conference should silence anyone who wants to say that these charges are "mealy mouthed cop-outs" (although it won't stop Hannity or his ilk), or that he was just trying to justify keeping the grand jury going for 23 months.

I frankly don't know why Rove got off (if indeed in the long run he has) but I truly trust Fitzgerald to make that decision.  He is obviously a very capable man with exquisite knowledge of, and respect for the law.

Purple -  Are you kidding?  The religious right would crucify him!  He would never be an activist judge, which is what they actually want!

The other thing to keep in mind is that he not only kept his legal crew from leaking, he also kept the Grand jury -- a group of ordinary citizens, who no doubt were pressured to do so.  I am certain that his absolute integrity and leadership are what made that happen.  Only by showing the jurists themselves a great deal of respect could he have achieved such discipline and honor.  I think we can all agree that he is the most inspiring guy we've heard in a long, long time!

He made it very clear that his job was not to satisfy anybody's curiosity. It was to determine whether laws were broken and whether to bring indictments.  Preumably the names he named are people who would be expected to be witnesses in a trial, which would be public, and are people he is not charging with any crime.\

I found his restraint refreshing, and a source of hope for the future.  He also demonstrated that the DOJ can perfectly well do its job under current law, even in sensitive cases. 

A lawyer just discussed that on CNN saying that a person going before a grand jury can go back (within a certain time limit) and correct his/her statements to avoid a perjury charge. Remember Rove went 4 times and as recently as this week, his lawyers were consulting with Fitzgerald.

Rove outmaneuvered Fitzgerald in the end, is my guess.

Well, actually the baseball analogy was the only part I had trouble with.  I am so sick of baseball analogies!  And they don't really help to understand the issue!

I forgive him though, because the guy is obviously so darn smart that he was probably grasping for a vernacular way to explain this.  He did just fine in all of his explanations, as far as I'm concerned.  I even got the one thing (in the press conference afterward) that I was burning to know the answer to:

If Scooter had told the truth, and Valerie Wilson's cover was blown, as Fitzgerald said it was, and our national security was damaged, then would Scooter not be charged with anything?

His answer actually made sense:  In order to successfully investigate a crime it is necessary to have the truth.  Scooter took away the truth with his responses, and so he is charged with that.  Had he told the truth, he might have been charged, but since the truth is still unknown, it is impossible to say.

Weird, bizarre, and kinda unsatisfying, but I actually get it!  I wonder how many Republicans will understand that?

OK, realistically firing is not gonna happen, but their security clearances should be revoked, NO?

Now compare your feelings of pride to the yahoos who get all prideful when we up and kill people! "YEE HAW! Turn the middle east into a glass parking lot!"  Then they sing along with Clint Black's stupid lyric from Iraq and I Roll

CHORUS
I RAQ, I RACK'EM UP AND I ROLL
I'M BACK AND I'M A HIGH TECH GI JOE
I PRAY FOR PEACE, PREPARE FOR WAR
AND I NEVER WILL FORGET
THERE'S NO PRICE TOO HIGH FOR FREEDOM
SO BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU TREAD

THIS TERROR ISN'T MAN TO MAN
THEY CAN BE NO MORE THAN COWARDS
IF THEY WON'T SHOW US THEIR WEAPONS
WE MIGHT HAVE TO SHOW THEM OURS

IT MIGHT BE A SMART BOMB
THEY FIND STUPID PEOPLE TOO 
AND IF YOU STAND WITH THE LIKES OF SADDAM
ONE JUST MIIGHT FIND YOU

What you are talking about is justice and fighting to speak the truth.  They cheer about the power of the biggest bully on the block and how our weapons will crush theirs. The lament of the small penised man. (No offence to real men with small penises)

I concur. McCain has swallowed so much shit from the White House he's turning brown.

He moves and comments against the White House are mostly for show nowadays. He got smeared by Rove and just kept taking it. They won't pay off his debt, they will cut and run and protect themselves and he is not and never will be one of them.

Maybe he is better than a lot of Republicans, but frankly it's not enough.

And Condi? Incompetence cubed. NSA= missed 9/11, in charge of Iraq for a while? Screwed that up. Thinks Bush is her husba... 'nuf said.

As so many posts here have stated, Fitzgerald's integrity was truly inspiring. His intelligence, competence and moral compass are a psychic salve--finally, someone in Washington you can trust. How sad (but redeeming) for our country that he must be a prosecutor indicting the highest officials in the land.

He's proceeding cautiously, methodically. He very clearly, in his laconic way, has indicated Libby's indictments are only the beginning. He is building his case with the grand jury, revealing only what he must to set out "the four corners" of his investigation, by so doing giving his next targets warning that indeed they are next.

It is a brilliant strategy: the iron-clad secrecy has got Washington riveted and he has shown everyone the stuff he is made of. He's the real thing.

I am quite sure KR is not having a fabulous weekend, after watching his press conference. He must be spinning at warp speed by now.  And neither is anyone in the WH with half a brain--oh, and Bush, too. 

Purple and others - Right man for the wrong job. Doubt he has much expertise in constitutional law. 

Now as to Attorney General or head of FBI that better fits what I saw today.

Yes, it does, and yes, she will.

Sorry, I got carried away with my baseball theme.  I should read:

got hit by more than one PITCHER(more than one source), and those other sources, who maybe went back to re-testify so they wouldn't get charged with perjury (Turdblossom) are still entrusted with the ball (our official secrets). 

Anyway, you get my meaning!!!  Thanks!

Fitzgerald's multiple references to his home and job in Chicago perfectly underscored the comparison that sprung to my mind.

In the movie, Patrick Fitzgerald would be played by Sean Connery in a reprise of his Oscar-winning performance in The Untouchables:

"You wanna get Rove? Here's how you get him. He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue! That's the Chicago way! And that's how you get Rove!"

northstardom - let me try a couple of arguments to change your mind.

1. I see Fitzgerald as proactive, ready to go on offense at all times. Supreme Court is much more passive.  The "active" part on the SC is pure abstract thinking and I just don't see him enjoying that.

2.  Agree with "straight forward approach seemingly devoid of Scalia-esque doctrine" but by that description he would make a better judge in court systems below Supreme Court where they deal in law and facts. 

3. The best description of what it takes to be a justice I got recently from tv and radio interviews with Stephen Breyer (part of promoting his new book).  He spoke about what they do in layman language. Very informative. Based on Breyer's words cannot see Fitzgerald as liking that kind or work nor having spent much time to date thinking like that.

All in all easy to admire a prosecutor with a take no prisoners attitude, keen mind (facts and strategy), great presence and absolute ethical and moral backbone.  He won a nation today. 

Sorry CVille and others-
I replied w/ my baseball explanation before I read read down and saw the others who had already done the job.
 

The reason he used this particular analogy is that it has some very clear parallels to the case. On the simple question, did the pitcher hit the batter? (did Libby commit perjury), the answer is clear.  The batter gets a free base (Libby is indicted for perjury).  Did the pitcher do this on purpose (Did Libby commit obstruction of justice)? Here as well, the record is clear--he did, and has been thrown out of the game (indicted for obsruction).

To get to the espionage charge, it is not enough that he release classified information.  To suspend him for some time from further  competition, his intent in throwing the pitch matters.  If he did it out of momentary anger with no intent to inflict permanent injury, that's one thing. If he threw at the player's head on purpose, that's another.  The commissioner reviews the video tape and talks to players from both teams when making such a determination.  Likewise, whether Libby was fully aware of the gravity of what he was doing affects the charge leveled.  If he had happened to mention Wilson's wife's employment at the CIA without being aware of her status (a status that is still not officially acknowledged), then he did not commit an espionage crime.

Hunter over at DailyKos has a long, nearly content-free discussion of the possibility of more indictments.  He makes one interesting point, though. There are two possibilites here--first, that this White House, with malice aforethought and fully aware of its actions, used this woman's covert status as a means of destroying her career and of sending a signal to anyone at the CIA who chose to cross the White House. The second possibility is that this White House treats classified material vital to US security in a cavilier, incompetent manner.

In the matter of Libby (and do read the quotations in the indictment from him), they've decided to go with incompetence.  The manager denies knowledge of the pitcher's intent.  The pitcher claims that he doesn't have sufficient control to place that pitch in the way he did.  Narrowly, that may have been Libby's best chance to avoid prosecution on espionage charges.

This case, however, is not (I hope) about frog-marching people to jail.  For Fitzgerald, that is what it is about, and as the equivalent of the baseball commissioner (he pointed out, by the way, that in this case he is the acting Attorney General of the United States) his brief is limited.  If the reporters, all of whom (except, interestingly, David Corn) looked very lame yesterday can rediscover their job descriptions, then we may end up with the story of deception, manipulation and cynical disregard for the lives of American CIA agents, American soldiers and citizens of Iraq that lies at the center of this story. 

Two Words: Russ Feingold