I haven't had much time to do anything but keep up with arrangements for the Gathering of Eagles vigil in Washington this coming Saturday, March 17, but I do have something to share on the verdict in the 'Scooter' Libby trial last week.

The Gathering of Eagles is a planned vigil by thousands of American veterans and our supporters on the National Mall to keep anarchists and pro-terrorist forces who are marching on the Pentagon that day away from the Vietnam War Memorial. Some of their number attacked and vandalized the nation's Capitol in January and are threatening to do the same to the Vietnam Memorial. Now, on to other news!

I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby was Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff until he was indicted in the Joseph Wilson/Valerie Plame scandal. That tempest in a teapot involved the Iraq War and fears by the administration and most of the US Congress that Saddam Hussein was trying to purchase uranium in Africa from which to build nuclear bombs.

President George Bush, in his 2003 State of the Union address referred to British intelligence-gathering evidence that just such a scenario was playing out in Iraq, and that in turn formed the basis for his efforts to convince the Untied Nations Security Council to back a pre-emptive invasion of Iraq.

Unfortunately, most of the governments in the Untied Nations Security Council were on the take from Saddam, raking in hundreds of millions of dollars from the Oil For Food program that was supposed to provide for the basic needs of the Iraqi people. Most members of the Security Council therefore, voted not to stand alongside America and our allies when the invasion began.

When no major stockpiles of nuclear weapons were found, the American Communist Party, also known as the Democrats, went on a media frenzy claiming that Bush cooked the intelligence to cover his blood lust and savage desire to overthrow a benign and peace-loving benevolent dictator, the aforementioned Saddam Hussein. (Yes, that is sarcasm.)

Joseph Wilson, who had been an ambassador to Niger in the Clinton administration, but was out of work after Bush was elected, went to Niger to investigate the issue, and found that yes indeed, Saddam's emissaries had gone there and tried to arrange for uranium purchases. Wilson came back to the US and told that story to the CIA, but then wrote a laundry list of lies in an op-ed piece that ran in the pro-terrorist, pro-communist New York Times, which has replaced Pravda as the official voice of the American Communist Party.

Cheney, who didn't know Wilson from a hole in the wall directed Libby to find out who he was, especially since the American Terrorist Media - ATM - was reporting that it was Cheney who sent him to Niger in the first place. It was then learned that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, who is a glorified Desk Jockey at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, repeatedly begged her bosses to send her husband to Africa, apparently to get him out of the house and her hair.

They finally caved in to her nagging, and that is where it all got sticky. When Libby was trying to find out who Wilson was, and who Plame was, another person, Richard Armitage, told a Washington columnist that she was a CIA employee. That columnist, Robert Novak, printed her name, and the American Communist Party, aka, the Democrats, went on a rampage claiming that she was an undercover operative and that the Bush Administration had 'outed' her in violation of federal law. (Armitage worked for the State Department and isn't considered a Bush ally.)

That sparked an investigation which uncovered the truth almost immediately, but that didn't stop the federal prosecutor from proceeding on a witch hunt anyway. Ultimately they found out that Libby had said one thing to FBI investigators and another thing to a grand jury, and whammo! he was indicted.

Libby said he just had a bad memory, as did most of the government witnesses against him, but after a trial before a tainted DC jury, Libby was convicted of lying to a grand jury. The original claim that an undercover agent was outed in violation of federal law was never pursued against anyone, since it didn't happen.

So here were are, and what follows comes to me from a very close associate who had to sit through interminable news coverage of the verdict on the day it was announced:

"I just endured a 4-hour layover in one of our nation's finest airports ... I say this with just a hint of sarcasm because they (airport screeners) just threw out my shaving creme, deodorant, and toothpaste. While they were doing so I couldn't help but laugh at the Rush Limbaugh parody about the federal baggage screeners. I also can't help but wonder if we really are winning the war on terror given the line waiting to step into the puffer machines to insure we haven't carried explosives lately.

"I finally arrived at my assigned gate only to find I'm one of the very few people in this entire terminal for the moment. Unfortunately CNN (Communist News Network) is on the TV and there is absolutely no way of changing the channel, turning down the sound or just shutting it off altogether. The Scooter Libby trial has just come to verdict and Mr. Libby has been found guilty.

"Now, regardless of what side of the political spectrum you stand on, one thing is certain - all Americans should be fearful of what this means. Why?

"Because Scooter Libby was found guilty obstruction of justice and perjury. But obstruction of what investigation you should be asking?

"Why, it's the investigation into who leaked Valerie Plame's name to the press. Originally Democrats accused the White House of playing dirty politics and breaking the law as a revenge tactic to get back at Joe Wilson for his OP-ED piece. But here is where it gets scary for all Americans.

"Within two weeks of the onset of the investigation the Feds knew who released the name. But the feds kept investigating the non-crime of who leaked her name to sabotage the marvelous work of one Joe Wilson (her husband, the out-of-work diplomat.)

"Once the Feds had their information, the inquiry should have stopped and a decision to prosecute or not to prosecute Richard Armitage (the actual leaker) should have been in the works. Instead, one hell-bent prosecutor wanted more or was ordered to 'get' someone from the administration on whatever charge they could. Enter Scooter Libby.

"Mr. Libby had the resources to fight this injustice. Frankly, I think he should have petitioned for a change in venue because a fair trial in DC is an Oxy-Moron! He obviously didn't get a fair trial or an unbiased jury, but at least he has the resources to pursue a new trial or appeal.

"But we have to ask ourselves, If the government can do this to a person who knows the most powerful people in the world, what could they do to us?

"Many people on the left are all too happy with the verdict, because in their view, the ends justify the means. But I would caution them, if your turn ever comes up, remember you helped set the stage that gave the government this type of power.

"Back to our folks at CNN: throughout my layover, I wasn't sure if I was watching CNN, Al-Jazeera, or a live conference for the Democratic National Committee. The giddiness and the venom that was spewing was unmistakable. People were so happy at CNN that they just couldn't contain themselves.

"So-called reporters were voicing their opinion as if it were fact. Actually, they were reporting their opinions as if they were gospel. I know, no one at CNN believes in God but you get the point.

"Those in charge at the almighty CNN decided that this was a vote by the American public for a change in direction at the White House. President Bush better not even think of pardoning Mr. Libby! they thundered.

"Are you kidding? CNN was one of the chief architects of suppressing voter turnout on the right with the Foley scandal. Those of us who identify ourselves as being on the right vote for people who represent us - not for people who play grab-ass at the taxpayers' expense.

"If we can't tell Republicans from the Democrats, then they're out.

"If President Bush wants to insure victory in 2008 for the Republicans, he should start being a leader. Take the bull by the horns and get on with it. DO YOU REALLY THINK THOSE ON THE LEFT WILL EVER CUT YOU ANY SLACK?

In fact I have an even better idea for you. Since no one wants to give Sandy Berger a polygraph, and no one wants to investigate who is leaking top secret information to the NY Times, pardon Berger and Libby at the same time. And do it now! That will give Mr. Libby some real justice, it won't change anything for Berger, it will shut up the whiners on the left, and Bush will be seen as a stand-up guy by most Americans, a trait that is all too rare in Washington these days.

"As for CNN, I know ratings have been eroding and costs are going up so I have a cost-cutting suggestion. Try sharing airtime and co-locating with Al-Jazeera and the DNC. You guys are obviously on the same page so it only makes sense to leverage all your resources.

"And one word of caution Al-CNN - When you spend 7 years telling the American people how bad their government, economy and life is, you better expect to have to work just as hard for the next 7 years undoing your damage.

And there you have it. America has spoken.