Thank God they're not on the Intelligence Committee

I'm going to hold my breath here and wait...

Yesterday, during the confirmation hearings for John Bolton's appointment as ambassador to the UN, both Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) mentioned the actual name of a CIA employee whom they had previously agreed to refer to as "Mr. Smith." Here's the coverage of Kerry's part of the exchange:

It is not clear whether Armstrong is the undercover officer, but an exchange between Kerry and Bolton suggests that he may be.

In questioning Bolton, Kerry read from a transcript of closed-door interviews that committee staffers conducted with State Department officials prior to Monday's hearing.

"Did Otto Reich share his belief that Fulton Armstrong should be removed from his position? The answer is yes," Kerry said, characterizing one interview. "Did John Bolton share that view?" Kerry said, and then said the answer again was yes.

Now, are we talking about a covert operative here? I'd have to say the evidence is leaning in the direction of yes--I mean, they took steps to disguise his identity, steps which two prominent senators tripped over in public, but steps nonetheless. So why am I holding my breath?

Back in 2004, conservative columnist Robert Novak "outed" CIA employee Valerie Plame, causing an uproar in the media and the Democratic camp. Wild accusations were thrown, investigations undertaken, and reporters hauled before judges. All this for a woman whose identity and employment was already well known in Washington circles, and whose influence was shown to have been instrumental in tossing her husband a key WMD-related assignment. So, given the tempest in a teapot that was, what should we expect now? An apology would be nice, but I'm not going to wait even for that.