He just makes it sound sinister....

I was following the Judith Miller story and read about this letter written by Scooter Libby to Ms. Miller. Have you seen this?

First, before I get to the actual letter, let me just say that no one nick-named Scooter is going to keep that nick name unless 1) he is a really laid back type of guy or 2) he wants people to think he is a really laid back kind of guy so he can gut you. Scooter. Always makes me think of my dogs scooting across the carpet when their butts itch. This Scooter is clearly the latter.


Back to the note- the text I have so far is this, "You went into jail in the summer. It is fall now. You will have stories to cover Iraqi elections and suicide bombers, biological threats and the Iranian nuclear program. Out West, where you vacation, the aspens will already be turning. They turn in clusters, because their roots connect them. Come back to work and life. Until then, you will remain in my thoughts and prayers. With admiration, Scooter Libby."

This sounds like a bad mystery novel's idea of what a note containing secret messages would read like. Very cloak and dagger. Its so clumsy in its wording and metaphore I would almost check it for writing in lemon juice underneath, or take the first letters of each word to spell something important....

However, he could just have been watching all the harping on Harriette Miers's Thank You notes to President Bush and want to avoid the embarrassment of archiving something as pedestrian as "I hope the twins realize how cool their parents are." (See The Smoking Gun for multiple Thank yous from Miers to Bush and vice-versa.)

I guess one reason Scooter may have gone more formal in his language is, of course, the proportion of the favor here. He didn't just get a ride on the big guy's plane like Harriett did. He has someone in jail to protect his name and his boss's name (which everyone knew anyway) from being revealed. You know, that's quite a Thank you to write- "Dear Ms. Miller, Thank you for going to jail for my office. So sorry to have put you in such an awkward position. I know if we would just admit we spoke with you, you could go home right now, but Uh... God, I mean Cheney doesn't want us to do that right now."


I suggest that any time someone goes to jail for you or your office, at the bare minimum, a fruit basket is really in order, and maybe a massage upon their release? Someone to pick up your children from day care and water your plants..Would be reasonable, you know. As for the Aspens and her vacation, Yeah, I think all that time in jail probably burned all her vacation time, so she's probably not going to be able to see those Aspen this year.

If I were Miller I would be thinking, "Ok, guys, I WENT TO JAIL FOR YOU now I expect some real bones to be thrown my way. I want anonymous letters. I want to be picked first at the press conferenceses. I want to win the Pulitzer. What the heck is this cryptic letter? If you're going to send me messages you should explain the decoding system to me so I can figure'em out. "

I'm sure that Cheney and Scooter would remind her what a wonderful blow she struck for source protection and Democracy through her jail time. That she was in fact the poster women for Civil Liberties- and shouldn't doing good for the world be a just reward in and of itself?