Bad News

Libby guilty? Fine. Glad to hear it. But it's not enough.

Here's the bad news via The Raw Story:

"I do not expect to file any further charges; the investigation was inactive prior to the trial," the Chicago-based federal attorney who led the prosecution said. "We're all going back to our day jobs."

So Rove and Cheney walk. Bush never gets touched. On balance, I'd say that this outcome represents a loss, not a victory, for those of us interested in unmasking this administration's rascality.

In answer to a question, Fitzgerald acknowledged that the investigation might move forward again if Libby came and offered to cooperate against others in return for a reduced sentence, but there's no intention of immunizing him, bringing him back in front of the grand jury, and making him tell the truth this time about what Cheney (and maybe Bush) ordered him to do.

Yes, that completely refutes the notion that Fitzgerald is an out-of-control prosecutor in the Ken Starr tradition. If he were really dedicated to bringing down the Bush crew, rather than simply trying to do the job he had been assigned, immunizing Libby and forcing his testimony would be an obvious move.

Fitzgerald emerges from all this with his reputation unstained, which is more than most of the participants can claim. But if today is the day that Cheney skated, it's a bad day in my book.