Returning From Vacation

You'd think that two weeks of vacation would leave me bursting with ideas for posting. To some degree, this is true; but what I feel most as I look over the events of the past few weeks is, frankly, exhaustion. A good deal has happened, of course: some items of great significance (such as the 7/7 London bombings), and quite a few others which have been expanded out of all proportion to their import (the Karl Rove issue strikes me as one of these). To deal with the big ones is a daunting prospect, and to deal with the small fry in some ways would be a waste. But in order for this blog to fulfill its primary functions--as a tool to help put my views into focus, but also as something of a political diary--I will post a couple of quick takes, perhaps to be expanded later.

• The Retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor I'm gratified that the initial posturing on this has receded for the moment, though it be only a few weeks' respite. I'm steeling myself for a replay of the Clarence Thomas hearings, since voices such as Chuck Schumer's and Ted Kennedy's have made it clear that it will be anything but professional and businesslike.
  
• The London Bombings I think it will be a while before the full impact of these on the Iraq war will be felt. Clearly, Britain is not rushing to judgment as Spain did in the wake of their 3/3, though they may well trend that way over time. Yet I am hopeful that Britain, for years scarred by IRA terrorism, will not fall into the trap of appeasing the terrorists.
  
• Karl Rove and Valerie Plame I've been following this story from the very beginning, and I still can't see where what Karl Rove did was so heinous or motivated by revenge. He did not "peddle" the story; a reporter called him. Wilson himself lied about who recommended him for the Niger job; it was not Dick Cheney (Rove was right to point out), but his wife at CIA that talked up his "qualifications." She was not an undercover operative; she'd been domestically desk-bound for something like six years. Her identity wasn't secret; it was common knowledge in Washington that Wilson was married to a CIA agent. Perhaps Rove would have done better to say nothing, but I'm not sure how telling the truth should get him fired.