by Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n
National Review Online<\/em><\/p>\n T<\/span>he resigned Scooter Libby did not leak Valerie Plame\u2019s name, a fact known to a special prosecutor charged with finding out who did and if were a crime. After hours of testimony, he was found self-contradictory under oath (though self-contradictory hardly to the extent of a Joe Wilson who said and wrote things about his yellow-cake inquiries that could not be conceivably true), and now faces a possible prison sentence.<\/p>\n Ditto the exemption given to the Duke accuser who repeatedly lied in her sworn testimonials, but will apparently not be charged with perjury because her stories are so implausible that officials think she must be unhinged \u2014 a new rationale that the perjurer is apparently free from indictment when the concoctions exceed possible belief.<\/p>\n Alberto Gonzalez perhaps (emphasize \u201cperhaps,\u201d as yet we don\u2019t know all the facts) showed a lapse in judgment or at least of political savvy by firing politically appointed federal attorneys, something that was not unusual in past Democratic administrations.<\/p>\n Paul Wolfowitz, who sought to curb corruption that undermines support for World Bank aid to Africa, likewise is facing a lynch mob over perhaps a similar one-time lapse of judgment in regard to compensation of a companion \u2014 nothing, however, ranking with the various scandals surrounding Kofi Annan, whose son profited by United Nations exemptions given through his family ties. In today\u2019s moral calculus, presiding over a $50-billion-dollar Oil-for-Food scandal that led to frequent death in Iraq and profit among global elites is a misdemeanor, recommending a pay package for an employee one dates is an unforgivable felony.<\/p>\n One could go on with the furor over the misdirected pellets from Dick Cheney\u2019s shotgun, or the clamor for the Rumsfeld resignation. Yet contrast all this hysteria with the slight whimpers surrounding recent controversies over conflicts of interest or lapses in judgment surrounding Richard Armitage, Harry Reid, or Dianne Feinstein. The destruction of federal documents that might well alter history\u2019s consensus by former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger was a snore for most journalists.<\/p>\n What, then, is the one common tie that explains all these furious efforts of the media and partisans to go after these present and former Bush-administration officials?<\/p>\n Payback for Iraq.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a92007 Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Explaining why Paul Wolfowitz is a travesty and Sandy Berger is a snooze. by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online The resigned Scooter Libby did not leak Valerie Plame\u2019s name, a fact known to a special prosecutor charged with finding out who did and if were a crime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[759],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-WN","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11627,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-issue-is-not-roger-stones-lurid-personal-life-but-equality-under-the-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":3645,"position":0},"title":"The Issue Is Not Roger Stone\u2019s Lurid Personal Life but Equality under the Law","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ National Review The issues of special Robert Mueller\u2019s indictment of Roger Stone have nothing to do with his personal life. His sexual habits should be of no concern to anyone. And what is so funny about the Internet jokes about (a still presumed innocent) Stone enjoying\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Trump"","block_context":{"text":"Donald Trump","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/donald-trump\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1372,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/islam-idiots\/","url_meta":{"origin":3645,"position":1},"title":"‘Islam Idiots’?","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson NRO's\u00a0The Corner One might understand why Newsweek recently sold for a dollar and apparently went the way of\u00a0Harper\u2019s\u00a0from David A. Graham\u2019s \u201cThe Islam Idiots.\u201d As a self-proclaimed nuanced expert on Islam, he bashes conservative critics of the Ground Zero mosque project (among them Andy McCarthy and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "August 2010"","block_context":{"text":"August 2010","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2010\/august-2010\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3466,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/huckabee-and-the-chattering-classes\/","url_meta":{"origin":3645,"position":2},"title":"Huckabee and the Chattering Classes","author":"victorhanson","date":"December 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson NRO's\u00a0The Corner I\u00a0having been reading some of the reactions to the negative appraisal of NRO writers to Huckabee's\u00a0Foreign Affairs\u00a0essay \u2014 the gist of it being he was unfairly ganged up on by supposed neo-cons and other purported East-Coast elites. Maybe, but I wrote my worries over\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "December 2007"","block_context":{"text":"December 2007","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2007\/december-2007\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11573,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/defeat-and-the-dossier-explain-everything\/","url_meta":{"origin":3645,"position":3},"title":"Defeat and the Dossier Explain Everything","author":"victorhanson","date":"December 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ American Greatness Donald Trump\u2019s former consiglieri Michael Cohen, along with being charged with tax avoidance and improper business deals, allegedly is guilty also of trying to leverage money and attention by exaggerating his influence with candidate and later President Trump. In other words, Cohen to spec\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Michael Cohen"","block_context":{"text":"Michael Cohen","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/michael-cohen\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6190,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/supposed-crimes-of-the-mind\/","url_meta":{"origin":3645,"position":4},"title":"Supposed Crimes of the Mind","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"With hate speech, it's the perceived ideology of the perpetrator that matters most. by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ National Review Online When do insensitive words destroy reputations? It all depends. Celebrity chef Paula Deen was dropped by her TV network, her publisher, and many of her corporate partners after she\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Race in America"","block_context":{"text":"Race in America","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/american-culture\/race-in-america\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Paula_Deen_Civitan.jpg?fit=600%2C408&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Paula_Deen_Civitan.jpg?fit=600%2C408&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Paula_Deen_Civitan.jpg?fit=600%2C408&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5942,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/there-is-no-there-there\/","url_meta":{"origin":3645,"position":5},"title":"There Is No There There?","author":"victorhanson","date":"May 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson NRO's\u00a0The Corner Senator Harry Reid may be right that we should wait for the full sordid details before demanding resignations from an increasingly politicized and now apparently confessional IRS (yet the proof of the pudding is that groups such as\u00a0Media Matters, Think Progress,\u00a0Moveon.org, and Organizing for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Benghazi"","block_context":{"text":"Benghazi","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/obama-administration\/benghazi\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3645"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3645"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3646,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3645\/revisions\/3646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}