I love the headline the morning paper put on this E.J. Dionne column, "Court nominee a distraction from Libby probe" because It perfectly captures the columnist's complete inability to grasp reality (although that probably wasn't the intent). Choosing Supreme Court members is among the most important functions of the president, because it helps shape, for perhaps two generations, the institution that governs so much of our lives. But to Dionne, the president's nomination of Samuel Alito was cyncially done to provide "a red flag for liberals and red meat for Bush's socially conservative base," merely as a way to aid the "cover-up" of the Fizgerald probe into leaking. That investigation produced nothing of significance; the indictment of one White House aide for lying will barely be a footnote of history. But it's all Dionne can think about, and he won't be happy until the president tells the public "what he knew about the operation to discredit Wilson and when he knew it." This is Watergate and "Iraq is like Vietnam" all rolled into one. Talk about overreaching.
