Ari Fleischer = Rat?

With the Patriots out of the playoffs, spring training still weeks away, the Celtics angling for a lottery pick and with the Bruins being dead to me I've found myself filling my reading time catching up on the Scooter Libby trial. Two observations I'd like to share - the first is about Ari Fleischer and the second is about the trial in general.

First Fleischer - the former Press Secretary for President Bush agreed to testify only after getting immunity. Fleischer acknowledged being one of the leakers, but he wouldn't say a word without a promise of immunity. According to the story - Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald agreed to give Fleischer immunity sight unseen or as Fitzgerald puts it as "a pig in a poke." Fleischer was ready to sing at a drop of a hat as long as he insured himself that he wouldn't be at any risk. In the past I was ready to give Fleischer the benefit of the doubt even though he's a major Yankee fan. Now with his blatant willingness to be a snitch, a stool pidgeon, a rat - all at the drop of a hat - leaves me with a distaste of the man which I think is permanent.

Secondly - the facts that Fitzgerald knew early in the game that Richard Armitage was the primary leak in the case coupled with Fleischer all but confessing to being a leaker but still getting immunity point to the premise that Fitzgerald was never concerned with finding the supposed leaker in the first place. Fitzgerald was trophy hunting and the only two trophies he was interested in was either Vice president Dick Cheney or Karl Rove. When all that fell apart - he picked Scooter Libby as his fall guy because Libby had changed his testimony.

Hell - it seems most of the people called as witnesses in this case have also changed their stories (under oath) several times but yet none of these people were charged with a crime by Fitzgerald. Fleischer - immunity sight unseen; Armitage - the primary leak but nothing from Fitzgerald; minor players have same memory problems as Libby but face no consequences. Fitzgerald is lucky that Mike Nifong screwed up the Duke rape case so bad because the real story here is Fitzgerald's abuse of prosecutorial power and the biggest witch hunt since Salem in 1692.