Big Leaker, Rove is still in the White House

What's with all the indignation over NYT articles?

CQPolitics.com - Craig Crawford: Indignation, Full of Holes:

It's a given that presidents relish leaks to the news media when it serves their purposes, and that they act outraged at leaks that do not make them look good. But George W. Bush's relativism on this score is like watching a roller coaster on acid.

The lesson here is that we should not take White House complaints against the news media at face value. These tirades tend to be more about politics than national security. It is, after all, red-state planting season on Capitol Hill. Republican leaders are preparing for the November harvest of voters in the midterm election with an array of goodies aimed at stirring up their conservative base, from targeting flag burners to protecting the institution of marriage.

And when you base your media attacks on the argument that news leaks aid the enemy in wartime, there's a good chance of finding an audience beyond the ultra-conservative base. Or perhaps Bush is such an instinctive attack dog that he just goes after the media whenever the Democrats or some other prey are not readily available.

Still, the latest revelation reconfirming that Bush's political right hand, Karl Rove, is one of the flapping tongues in the CIA leak case again spotlights the subjectivity of the White House on this front. In finally identifying Rove as one of his confirming sources for the undercover identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame, columnist Robert Novak belied Bush's tough talk nearly two-and-a-half years ago when he vowed to punish the leakers once they were identified. Instead, the president steadfastly refuses to let Rove go.