Reading The Pictures: <em>Convictions All Over The Place </em>

If the court found Libby guilty, the concluding visuals seek a wider verdict.

What's that phrase about the corrupting influence of power? In these signature shots, chosen by WAPO to put a big bow around the trial (link), the terminally smug Novak looks like he retained a lawyer as an afterthought; Russert comes off like a confidence man more interested in the deal than who he's doing it with; and Miller (with lawyer, Bennett), of course, comes off as if she's the perp.

As Kurtz notes, the media got dinged just as bad as Cheney's boy, or worse. One conclusion of this trial is that, the further back you draw the focus, the more the Beltway -- from whatever avenue -- looks an awful lot alike.

(Which is not to say that The Post didn't also have its eye on Libby, too.)

(image 1: February, 12, 2007. Alex Wong/Getty Images. image 2: Gerald Herbert/AP. February 8. Washington. image 3: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters. January 31, 2007. All images via washingtonpost.com)