I guess for me it comes down to the fact that I know that I expect oil companies to behave this way. I don’t like it or want to see it, but I know it’s how they operate. I count myself fortunate that I live in a midsized city that has a phenomenal public transportation system, so I only need to buy their product once a month or so.

However, I don’t expect the White House to behave this way. And since from my uninformed perspective, it appears that the White House is playing games with its opponents, I want to know if that’s what really happened. Unlike many sitting to the left of me, I don’t want my suspicions to be confirmed; unlike many to my right, I don’t think everything can be explained away with a wink and a nod.

I don’t really think that the Plame issue is one of national security. It’s a matter of security to one individual more than it is to all of us. HOWEVER, there is no excuse for using (even if it isn’t abusing) executive power in an attempt to destory the lives of your political adversaries.

The ROI on natural gas investigations can be measured in dollars. The ROI of thorough, proper, apolitical investigation into the Valerie Plame incident can only be measured in faith and trust of the United States government and continued success of the American experiment. That’s worth more than a few billion dollars to me.

Thanks for your reply and perspective.
A couple of thoughts in response …

I should ask you, Denise: Does the Plame incident really not bother you, or does it only not bother you because it’s an issue to the Democrats?

The extent to which the Plame case has taken on a life of its own, and at times been manipulated by political opportunism and media frenzy, has resulted in more convulation than revelation.
Truly, whether it would have been a Democratic or Republican administration my feelings would be the same – provided the coverage and manner in which the investigation has been conducted were identical.

There’s at least a direct ROI related to the natural gas taxation question and establishing a precedent by which driving costs out of the equation is incentivized would result in a degree of payback that might meet the criteria you’ve set forth in your discussion of the merits of pursuing this case ahead of others.

Thoughts Denise?

can you tell us how much the top 5 executives of the top 5 oil and gas companies make with all benefits. Should I think that they really care about the consumer of their products?

However, with the federal budget outlays at around 2 trillion dollars, missing less than one half of one tenth of one percent of that value isn’t enough to make me notice. That’s like an average household misplacing two bucks a month. Sure, if I added it up, it might bother me. But it’s not enough for me to phone around and ask if anyone’s seen eight quarters. If the oil companies were forced to refund $700 million to the American people, I might be able to buy one gallon of their gas.

On the other hand, we have something where it appears that one portion of the federal government is playing fast and loose with ethics rules in order to possibly discredit or punish someone who disagrees with them. Is that what really happened? I don’t know. Shouldn’t we be investigating? After all, if it’s as bad as my admittedly shallow look at the ordeal shows, then it’s something that I’m really upset about and I demand accountability, just as I demanded accountability twelve years ago when the Democrats were bouncing checks and abusing postage stamps. (Quaint times then, weren’t they?)

I should ask you, Denise: Does the Plame incident really not bother you, or does it only not bother you because it’s an issue to the Democrats?