So Libby’s been indicted. I was reading an editorial in the local (liberal) newspaper the other day, in which the writer expressed the opinion that if Patrick Fitzgerald chose to file indictments for such charges as obstruction of justice that would be just as wrong as Kenneth Starr’s prosecution of Bill Clinton on similar charges.

Obviously the die-hard Bush fans will raise a hue and cry, trying to persuade us that it’s another case of partisan prosecution, but I think there’s an extremely important difference. Bill Clinton was charged for lying about something that had nothing whatsoever to do with what the initial investigation was about. Whether or not Clinton had sex with Monica was completely irrelevant to the Whitewater investigation.

Libby, on the other hand, lied about the matter under investigation. Somebody in the White House, pissed off because of the criticism that their attempts to start a war were getting from Ms. Plame’s husband, undertook to destroy her cover, discredit his work, and generally make life difficult for both of them. Deliberately and apparently with the full support of the administration. We’re talking a national security matter folks, not just a blowjob. I hope I’m not the only American out there who can see the difference.

The conservative camp is always making a fuss about values and integrity. I say it’s about damn time we stopped letting them make a mockery of those words. Going to church on Sunday does not a good Christian make, nor does loudly proclaiming one’s “family values” make one a decent, trustworthy, and honorable human being.