I see in the news this morning there’s a call for Bush and Cheney to apologize for actions of the people who work for them – meaning Scooter. And I got an e-mail from MoveOn.org, the subject of which is Indicted! White House Caught In Iraq Cover-Up.

On this beautiful Sunday morning, maybe someone should point out that, while Bush and Cheney owe us and the planet a great many apologies, and the whole war has been steeped in a massive cover-up, Scooter hasn’t been convicted. And his indictment in itself isn’t proof of the cover-up.

If you and I talked on the phone today, do you think I could swear under penalty of perjury to what we said, if called to testify on Tuesday? No. Not unless I made meticulous notes, and only read from them at the hearing. Nobody I know has perfect recall, so in order to convict Scooter, they’ll have to prove not only that he lied, but that he had the intent to lie.

So the indictment only proves that the prosecutor persuaded the required number of grand jurors that he has the requisite persuasive evidence that Libby lied about what he discussed with people, concerning elements of the cover-up. And in his grand jury testimony. So yeah, things look grim for Scooter. But If you want direct proof of the cover-up, that’s easily found in the public speeches of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

So let’s not all get on our high horses over this. Yet. We all know these guys are mostly assholes, and Bush and Cheney deserve to be boiled in oil for the tragedies of this misbegotten and immoral war. But one is innocent until proven guilty in the USA, and I don’t know for sure but that Scooter is simply a career politician who screwed up. Maybe he had bad counsel.