Who recommended whom?

Yet more legal news regards Scooter Libby, if you can stand it. His legal team has filed an emergency stay-out-of-jail-pending-appeal appeal. There's much more here per usual, including some very interesting speculation in both the post and the comments about FBI agent Eckenrode and whether he interviewed Tim Russert or was perhaps a source. It does matter.

Meanwhile, as Bush ponders the ramifications of a pardon or commutation let's harken back to a column written by Larry Johnson (don't forget he went to spy school with Valerie) discussing what he considered the real lie about all the lies in this entire friggin mess:

The Republicans insist on the lie that Val got her husband the job. She did not. She was not a division director, instead she was the equivalent of an Army major. Yes it is true she recommended her husband to do the job that needed to be done but the decision to send Joe Wilson on this mission was made by her bosses.

Emphasis added. Now, here's what Valerie had to say in her cinematic performance on Capitol Hill under the admiring gaze of Henry Waxman and about 100 cameras:

REP. LYNCH: That was my next question, if you would. You know, I sort of doubted this. If I was going to send my wife somewhere, it wouldn't be Niger , but -- (laughter) -- nothing against Niger , but -- you know.

Please, if you could lay out -- walk us through everything you did that may have been related around the time of the decision to send Ambassador Wilson to Niger .

MS. PLAME WILSON: Thank you, Congressman. I'm delighted as well that I am under oath as I reply to you.

In February of 2002, a young junior officer who worked for me -- came to me very upset. She had just received a telephone call on her desk from someone -- I don't know who -- in the office of the vice- president asking about this report of this alleged sale of yellow cake uranium from Niger to Iraq . She came to me, and as she was telling me this -- what had just happened, someone passed by -- another officer heard this. He knew that Joe had already -- my husband -- had already gone on some CIA mission previously do deal with other nuclear matters. And he suggested, "Well why don't we send Joe?" He knew that Joe had many years of experience on the African continent. He also knew that he had served -- and served well and heroically in the Baghdad Embassy -- our embassy in Baghdad during the first Gulf War. And I will be honest. I had -- was somewhat ambivalent at the time. We had 2-year-old twins as home, and all I could envision was me by myself at bedtime with a couple of 2-year-olds. So I wasn't overjoyed with this idea. Never the less --

REP. LYNCH: I get it.

Emphasis added again. And it's interesting that the above transcript comes from Rick Ballard's blog, not the House Oversight Committee where she testified. There is no written transcript there, only video. Also notice this WaPo article where the transcript is strangely truncated. Weird and grassy knollish.

Anyway, in 2005 Larry Johnson admitted that yes indeedy, Valerie DID recommend hubby for Niger yet while testifying under oath to Congress in 2007, after a conviction of Libby, Ms. Wilson certainly made it seem otherwise. A man is possibly heading to prison. Why is nobody concerned about such inconsistencies? Yeah, yeah, I know.