Bush backtracks to protect Rove

Early in the spy leak scandal, Bush said he would fire anyone in the White House who was involved in the leak. Now, Bush has refined his position since Karl Rove--the man who made Bush an electable candidate--is the guilty party. Now Bush says he'll fire anyone who has "committed a crime" in the leak.

So, it's okay that someone in his administration is betraying the country and our spies so long as the perpetrator can get off on a technicality. In this case, the technicality is expected to be that Rove didn't leak Plame's identity "knowingly" and/or that Rove was told of Plame's identity by columnist Robert Novak (a claim that doesn't even pass the laugh test).

So, our president's administration sends soldiers off to fight without armor, and exposes our spies for cheap political paybacks. It's incredible what passes for "patriotism" in this country.