The Double Standard For Bush & His Thugs Continues

Adding injury to insult after commuting Scooter Libby's sentence for being involved in revealing the name of a CIA agent to the press--and thereby endangering her, her husband, and hundreds of other agents of our government in the process--is the very idea that Karl Rove can continue to hold a top secret security clearance.

When I was in the military security clearances were a matter of great importance. Even to attend certain "A" schools (Navy), be selected for certain "C" schools (Navy), or to be selected for certain "AIT" or other training (Army), including the various NCO Academies, a member of the military must pass a stringent background investigation and be held to very stringent standards of behavior. A simple arrest for drunkenness, disorderly conduct, or non-judicial punishment for certain offenses, could revoke a security clearance in its entirety. If a specially-trained enlisted person were to lose his/her security clearance, they would be relegated to finish their hitch out doing such useful jobs as maintaining a garbage pit, chipping paint on the side of a ship, or guarding the back doors of the chow hall. Such an enlisted person would not be considered for re-enlistment. If an officer were to lose his/her security clearance, it might well end any career ambitions completely, and possibly result in immediate discharge under less than honorable conditions.

Mind you, it did not take a conviction to cause a security clearance to be withdrawn. All it took was the appearance of some impropriety... and the clearance would be yanked away. While there is a process for challenging such revocation of clearance, the record of success for such challenges is not so good... less than 2-5%, depending on what branch of service, what command, and what role the member plays in the military. Anyone holding a security clearance took it and the role they played in the military--and intelligence community--very seriously.

So, when I see that Karl Rove still holds his clearance, still holds his high-paying job in our government, and is still trusted to handle top secret materials at the highest levels, I have to wonder what in the hell is going on in the West Wing... and whether or not anyone in the US government has an iota of sense in terms of our national security.

Hush-Hush: Rove's Security Clearance Renewal

Should White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove be privy to the nation's most sensitive secrets? Did he break trust with President Bush and the nation when he told syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak about Valerie Plame's classified job with the CIA? Did he further erode that trust in 2003 when he told then-White House press secretary Scott McClellan that, as McClellan put it, there was "no truth" to rumors that he played a role in the disclosure of Plame's identity?

Of course Rove's security clearance should be yanked. It at least appears he violated security, by intent or neglect, even if he was not charged with a crime. However, in my view, according to the standards by which most of us "regular folks" would be judged, Rove violated the law... and Bush and Cheney were in on the deal.

Rove, of course, was investigated by special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald in the CIA leak case but was never charged. His security clearance was renewed after a reinvestigation in late 2006, which has puzzled Rep . Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

In a letter sent last week to White House Counsel Fred F. Fielding, Waxman alleged that Rove's actions amounted to a violation of presidential guidelines that say "deliberate or negligent disclosure" of classified information can disqualify a staffer from future access to such material. Also being less than forthcoming, even about unintentional breaches, can be cause for revoking a security clearance.

"Under these standards, it is hard to see how Mr. Rove would qualify for renewal of his security clearance," Waxman wrote.

Waxman cannot understand why Rove was given an "AOK" on reneweal because Waxman is using common sense and an understand of our laws and the rules for national security... which is evidently not understood by the FBI, Secret Service, Treasury Department and others involved in conducting background checks and clearance renewals.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said he could not discuss details but that Rove's "clearance was appropriately renewed as part of the regular process that occurs every five years."

Of course Tony Fratto said these things... He works for the very scoundrels that revealed Plame's identity and role, convinced Libby to fall on his own sword, and commuted the sentence given to Libby, and are now considering Libby's full pardon.

So much for honesty, principle and justice in our nation!