Bush won't fire his trusted adviser

To the editor:

Is Karl Rove a modern-day Deep Throat? I would have to say yes.

The evidence reveals that Rove outed a covert CIA operative for the simple reason that the operative's husband issued a report shooting gaping holes in one of the Bush administration's theories about weapons of mass destruction in Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

Compare Rove's motivation to that of the original Deep Throat, Mark Felt.

In the Nixon administration, Felt steered reporters in the right direction to uncover crimes committed by Nixon's people against their political enemies.

Why? Because the actions of Nixon's men were wrong. Felt believed they were taking the highest office in the land down the wrong road.

Rove outed Valerie Plame for revenge against both the CIA and Plane's husband, Joseph Wilson. The CIA was a bit reluctant to support the administration's claim that Saddam was actively trying to acquire nuclear weapons, and Wilson exposed the yellowcake theory as hogwash.

Is revenge a worthy motivation for the president's top adviser? I would say no. But the Bush administration seems to think that if you don't support its policies and go along with the party line, watch your back.

President Bush has stated he will fire anyone who leaked the agent's name. But he wouldn't fire Karl Rove even if he set the White House ablaze. Bush is no genius. And, like many of us, he relies on the advice of smarter people. Rove, no matter what he did, isn't going anywhere.

MICHAEL SHEA, Cape Girardeau