A week after the verdict of Scooter Libby is long enough to ponder what it might mean. I readily admit the facts I use are all memory and opinion. Much like the testimony.
Among the backroom movers of Washington was a belief in the Domino theory of spin. That is, if one aspect of your public face is shown to be false, you will start losing followers as they start to question the veracity of other spin you have been feeding them.
Like Mutual Assured Destruction both sides feared that the domino theory could happen to them. Then came the Clinton impeachment. I believe that fear of the domino theory drove all of the initial defense moves by the Clintons.
Then came the DNA results. I think the Clintons were surprised by the reaction to the forced confession. Instead of suddenly saying "Susan McDougal is in jail because Ken Starr wants her to lie, just don't sound right any more", a large portion of followers just went from 'He didn't have sex, to He only had sex." That was the end of the domino theory.
You can bet that Karl Rove took notice. In his world of manipulation (where he can be friends with Donna Brazille) it doesn't matter that the lesson came from the other side, reactions to unknowns that partisans of either side exhibit can help predict future reactions on your side. So there was little to fear in the Scooter case. The only people that thought that Scooter being legally branded a liar would change the rights' outlook on the VP and his declarations, were here on this wishful thinkers on the left. One domino fell all by itself.
The real equivalent to Scooter from the Clinton days was Susan McDougal. A witness squeezed by a prosecutor to try to get at higher ups. Of course there is the obvious visual differences. I never thought of myself as having fetishes, but there was something about a woman wearing a skirt inappropriately short for her age and wearing hand cuffs that made my knees knock. In contrast you have Scooter Libby in a jumpsuit. He would look like the next import host for a kiddie show on the Sprout Network. And he wouldn't even have to change his name. But Susan could really fill an orange jumpsuit. In her court appearances she always seemed to have the zipper down way below jail regulation, adding some cleavage to the court.
but now, after tit for tat.....no more tits.