Looks like the creepy Veep actually might have to talk one of these days. After all, his main man was indicted last Friday on various charges, all of them apparently stemming from attempts to cover up the role Big Dick played in the outing of a CIA officer.

The spinmeisters are already at work, complaining that "perjury" and "making false statements" aren't really crimes. Not crimes that someone as august as a special prosecutor ought to be investigating, anyway.

How Clintonian of them.

Some of the truly deranged claim that Lewis Libby was a "rogue agent," a "bad apple," a "single gunman." Sure. And if you believe that Lewis Libby takes a leak without Big Dick knowing about it, I've got a few shares in Enron I'm willing to let go for $65 per.

But what do you expect from people who don't give a shit about anything but winning? I've often remarked that politicians generally do what they do because they want the best for their town, county, state or country. I still believe that. If you listen to the disgust dripping from the mouths of many congressional Republicans, you'd have to agree. There are exceptions, though, and it seems that a lot of folks in power these days are in it for themselves or to advance a strikingly narrow agenda that has little to do with making America better.

And so now Big Dick has been exposed as...a master of political dirty tricks. Shit. We knew that already. There's a reason I like to call him the creepy Veep. He does the stuff that has to be done, and most of the time he does so without leaving a trace.

He screwed up this time, though, and in a most amusing way. For years Big Dick and pals have railed against the power of the media, and in case after case they have sided with the government against journalists attempting to protect their sources. This time, Big Dick expected the prosecutor and court to play by the rules and keep sources sacrosanct. They didn't, and his boy got screwed.

Gosh, I'm all broken up.

In truth, I think that reporters ought to be able to keep their sources (and the information given them by their sources) secret. But I also think that the liberal use of anonymous sources by the New York Times and the Washington Post and other front rank media organizations hurts the public more than it helps. My wife is a reporter at one of the most-respected newspapers in the country (it's generally ranked in the top 15 when industry surveys are published). Her paper forbids the use of anonymous sources--and there have been barely a handful of exceptions to this rule in the seven years we've been here.

Still, I have to admit that placing the office of the Vice President at the center of a brazen defiance of national security laws might be worth the draconian measure of a court compelling the testimony of a reporter. I know a reporter or two who has testified in court. Journalists aren't crazy about testifying, but like most citizens, if they have important information and their source burned them (lying is a sure way to lose the trust of most reporters not named Judith Miller) then that information is fair game for anyone, including prosecutors.

But what to make of the creepy Veep and his little dirty tricks machine? Ahh, it's just another chink in the armor, more proof that Republicans are no more virtuous or clean living than Democrats. Yes, there are a lot of Republicans in hot water these days, but then, they're the ones in power. With power comes temptation--or the compulsion to acquire more power. Either way, it becomes easier and easier to justify shaving the line between right and wrong ever closer. At some point, you're gonna cut yourself.

I'm tired of the bullshit coming out of the White House. Lie after lie after intentional misstatement after obfuscation after another bald-faced lie. As it turns out, if you believe the polls most Americans are tired of the lies, too. No wonder. We're stuck in a war without end, an economic recovery without jobs and the deepening realization that our leaders seem to actually enjoy lying to us. Bleah.

Double bleah. Do I care if the creepy Veep or his boy end up getting theirs by sharing a cell with Dennis Kozlowski, the former Tyco honcho now serving eight to 25? Not really. It's all that other shit--the war, the crappy economy, a government that fails to pay lip service to the notion of public service-- all that is way more important. Because while the Prez and his pals seem to care an awful lot about winning without regard to the cost, the rest of us are more interested in results. And right now the result of five years of the Bush Administration is an ever-increasing pile of poop.

That's what's important.

Jon Worley has never lied to a grand jury, though he once served as a jury foreman.