March 24, 2007

The Alleged Patriotism of George W. Bush

The "New Rules" segment of Real Time with Bill Maher was hard-hitting again this week. Focusing on the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame - and echoing sentiments I wrote in Dishonoring Those Who Serve - Maher enumerates the ways in which the Bush Administration has betrayed the American intelligence community and endangered the country by putting political needs before the national interest.

Coverage of the Plame story has been on-again-off-again since it first broke, but there has been renewed attention now that Ms. Plame has testified before Congress that she was a covert operative. Fox News, dependably, has continued to try and bolster the meme that she was not covert, with former newsman and current entertainment personality Brit Hume all but accusing Plame of lying under oath.

It's good to see Mr. Maher lay out the core issues, and it's even better to watch him do so without pulling any punches.