The end of the affair

The WashPost is the first major paper to come clean and declare that the whole Plame investigation is a farce:

It follows that one of the most sensational charges leveled against the Bush White House -- that it orchestrated the leak of Ms. Plame's identity to ruin her career and thus punish Mr. Wilson -- is untrue.

And who’s to blame? Plame’s lying husband Joe Wilson:

Nevertheless, it now appears that the person most responsible for the end of Ms. Plame's CIA career is Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson chose to go public with an explosive charge, claiming -- falsely, as it turned out -- that he had debunked reports of Iraqi uranium-shopping in Niger and that his report had circulated to senior administration officials. He ought to have expected that both those officials and journalists such as Mr. Novak would ask why a retired ambassador would have been sent on such a mission and that the answer would point to his wife. He diverted responsibility from himself and his false charges by claiming that President Bush's closest aides had engaged in an illegal conspiracy. It's unfortunate that so many people took him seriously.

Boy, it’s awfully quiet over there at the New York Times:

The Post editorial says the paper was "reluctant" to revisit the whole Plamegate affair. Certainly other commentators, some of whom pushed the story very hard, now don't want to talk about it. The New York Times editorial page, which was positively hysterical about the matter, still has not commented on the Armitage matter. But this was a serious matter. It has to be reckoned with.

I’m sure they’re busy drafting a long and heartfelt apology. And when it comes out, it won't be equivocal or self-serving in any way. You'll see.