Juiced

From Talking Points Memo:

There's been a rush of egregious commentary about the Niger uranium story in the last couple days. And one point we hear again and again is that if Joe Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, played a role in recommending him for the trip to Niger, as the SSCI report clearly states, then this wholly changes the legal and political implications of the administration officials' decision to reveal her identity in the press.

As I pointed out a couple days ago, legally it is clearly irrelevant. Political impact is of course both subjective and unpredictable. So, though we might all venture opinions, there's very little way to know.

This whole thing smacks of OJ Simpson-style logic; specifically, the way Simpson lays, at least part of, the blame for his wife's murder at her own feet, due to the fact that she hung out with the wrong crowd.

COURIC: “Are you suggesting that Nicole was hanging out with the wrong crowd, and somehow someone in that crowd is responsible for her murder?”

SIMPSON: “I've always said that. When suggesting? I made it as clear, that somewhere in Faye [Resnick's] life, it's happened before in Faye's life. Same situation happened before in her life, and it happened again. Now you guys make it like, ‘OJ's been hitting this, and hitting that.’ I don't think anybody could be any clearer than me about the judgment, about paying the judgment. About why I think, and who I think was involved with her death, is this group of, I think, just horrible type people that she was hanging around with. People that not only did I not like, people her mother didn't like. We talked about it often back then before her death. That we didn't like this group of people that she was hanging around with.”

Now, just like the issue of whether or not Valerie Plame played a role in her husband's assignment to the Niger investigation, the allegation that Nicole Brown-Simpson was involved in drugs seems plausible. However, regardless of the claim's truth, it bears no relation to the charge in question.

That Nicole Brown-Simpson may have been a party girl who ran with a bad crowd does not excuse her murder; similarly, if Joe Wilson allowed his wife to steer work his way, and even then lied about it, that does not make it okay for high-ranking administration officials to put her life in danger by exposing her undercover status.

Unless, of course, in addition to following OJ-style logic, you also subscribe to the theories of Homer Simpson:

LISA: Two wrongs don't make a right, Bart.

BART: Yes they do.

LISA: No they don't.

BART: Yes they do!

LISA: No they don't!

BART: Yes they do!!

LISA: Daaaad!

HOMER: Two wrongs make a right, Lisa.