Something I should do more often -- write to political officials, especially those making poor decisions. Here's my email to the president today:
Mr. Bush --
I have relatives and friends working in the intelligence agencies and military of our country. I was deeply disappointed to see that anyone would be willing to harm our country by revealing one of our covert agents, as was done with Valerie Plame. It angers me that someone could be so disloyal to the United States as to do this for political gain.
Naturally, then, I am furious that your administration did just that. I suspect that as the investigation proceeds, you will distance yourself from Karl Rove. He is willing to take this hit for the cause. Indeed, he is willing to put aside ethics for his cause.
Please don't disappoint the American people by taking this course. Gain our respect by admitting to your mistake and never, ever doing something like this again.
Your administration and its supporters have made a point of questioning the loyalty of those who disagree with you. However, I have never seen any of your detractors do anything as blatantly disloyal to our country as this.
Please don't continue to be a party to it. It's never too late to do the right thing.
--Alexander Shearer