Overshadowed

"Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman said Democrats owe Rove an apology. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich hailed the news. 'Certainly for the White House and for Karl Rove this is a very important morning and a very positive one.'

"Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean was having none of it. 'His real sin . . . is leaking the name of an intelligence operative during a time of war,' Dean said on NBC's 'Today' program. 'He doesn't belong in the White House.' "

Some observations by Dick Polman :

"This is what passes for great news at the beleaguered Bush White House: The president's chief political guru gets word from federal prosecutors that he is not an accused criminal. Nevertheless, the news that Karl Rove will not be charged in the Valerie Plame CIA leak case is clearly a political victory for the Bush administration. (In the careful words of Rove's lawyer, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald sent word that he 'does not anticipate seeking charges.') Disappointment in the opposition camp is undoubtedly palpable. After all, Bush critic Joseph Wilson, Plame's husband, had publicly expressed his hope that Rove would be 'frog-marched' out of his White House job; and liberal blogs have been giddy for months about a supposedly imminent 'Fitzmas' present."

Josh Marshall doesn't quarrel with Fitzgerald's legal judgment, but:

"The question going back three years ago now is whether Karl Rove knowingly participated in leaking the identity of a covert CIA operative for the purpose of discrediting a political opponent who was revealing information about the White House's use of intelligence in the lead-up to the Iraq War.

"That was the issue. From the beginning, Rove, through Scott McClellan, denied that he did any of that. There weren't even any clever circumlocutions. He just lied. From admissions from Rove, filings in the Libby case, and uncontradicted reportage, we know as clearly as we ever can that Rove did do each of those things.

"So he did do what he was suspected of and he did lie about it."

Power Line's John Hinderaker begs to differ:

"One of the silliest news stories of modern times is stumbling toward a conclusion with the trial of former Cheney aide Scooter Libby.

"This case has never been about much other than politics; of the dozens of CIA leaks over the last five years, the one relating to Plame was probably the least significant from a security standpoint. Yet it is the only one, so far, that has engendered a criminal indictment. Libby's lawyers seem to be giving Fitzgerald all he can handle; don't be surprised if, when Fitzgerald's prosecution finally sees the light of day in court, it collapses due to the ultimate triviality of the whole incident."

America should breathe a sigh of relief, says Salon's Walter Shapiro :