Everyone is all abuzz about today's story from Murray Waas. Here's TalkLeft summary:

Murray Waas breaks new ground again in the Scooter Libby case: Cheney and other top Administration officials authorized Libby to release classified information in the summer of 2003 to counter Joseph Wilson's charge that Bush misrepesented intelligence information in order to make the case for going to war.

This is an old story but some of the meat has been added to the bones. Previously it was leaked that Libby was authorized to leak classified info. In this story, some of that classified info had to do with discrediting Joseph Wilson by implying his trip to Niger was nepotism as a result of his wife, CIA agent Valerie Plame. This is all reputedly according to grand jury testimony.

Ok. So Libby's defense is, "I was just following orders". Or I should say, his next defense attempt is "I was just following orders". That defense didn't work at Nuremburg, but who knows here. It apparently did work for Oliver North. It's North's attorney now representing Libby. Libby's attorney's generally seem to be throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.

But I'm confused. Let's leave aside for a moment the notion of conspiracy to out Plame, a covert CIA agent. If "higher-ups" authorized Libby to leak classified info, why aren't there other arrests/indictments for that crime? To my knowledge, I don't think Cheney is authorized to determine what is or is not classified. So if the boss said to break that law, isn't that conspiracy? I thought revealing classified national secrets or conspiring to with others was a crime?

I'm just wonderin'.....