Is Failure an Option?

And in a way, that was entirely appropriate. After all, why would Libby have lied to prosecutors? Unless you believe his prodigious memory played some incredible tricks on him, then the only plausible explanation is that he was trying to protect Cheney.

To protect Cheney from what? We may never know exactly, because Libby's alleged lie served to obstruct Fitzgerald's investigation.

Neil A. Lewis writes in the New York Times: "The perjury trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr. began Tuesday with his lawyers trying to eliminate as jurors anyone who might have strongly negative feelings about the Bush administration in general and Vice President Dick Cheney in particular."

Matt Apuzzo writes in The Washington Post: "Former White House aide 'Scooter' Libby is looking for potential jurors who trust Vice President Dick Cheney....

"Libby's attorneys say it's critical they know whether potential jurors view the vice president as credible. Two people who expressed doubts about that were dismissed from the jury pool Tuesday."

Richard B. Schmitt writes in the Los Angeles Times: "Jury selection in the trial of I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby turned into an assessment of the credibility of the Bush administration Tuesday, with lawyers for the former White House aide asking potential jurors how they feel about the war in Iraq and whether they think present and former administration officials who may be called to testify can be believed."

Carol D. Leonnig and Amy Goldstein write in The Washington Post: "U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton, who is presiding over the trial, yesterday dismissed three of the nine potential jurors interviewed. Two were released after expressing strong feelings about the Bush administration.

"'I am completely without objectivity,' said a woman in her 30s, who was dressed in tailored brown trousers and a sweater. 'There is nothing they could say or do that would make me think anything positive.' Walton excused her immediately. . . .

"A woman who said she was a soprano opera singer and mother of three said she believed the American public had not gotten the real justification for going to war in Iraq but did not think Bush had intentionally misled the nation. 'Somewhere in there, there seems to be a credibility gap,' she said. 'Who [did it]? I don't know.'"

CNN has the complete list of questions that jurors were given.

John Dickerson writes for Slate: "Pay attention to the world around you, and it was pretty likely you were going to get bounced. Libby's defense team honed in on anyone who might have developed views about the case beforehand, who might not like the war in Iraq, or who have any sympathy for the media figures who will be witnesses or figures in the case. . . .

"So, for instance, when a young financial analyst admitted he watched Meet the Press, it was pretty clear he was going to make it home for lunch. When he interrupted the defense counsel to stand up for the accuracy of bloggers, he might as well have been taunting them. 'Some of them are pretty good,' he said, to the cheers of bloggers who are--for the first time--formally a part of the press corps covering the case. (This will be a continuing theme of this trial, as those covering it wait to hear for their names, their book titles, or the names of their blog or news organization mentioned in court. When the fledgling Washington Examiner was mentioned by a juror who reads it on the subway commute, its correspondent gave--and got--huzzahs.)"