I usually don’t turn to vapid fashion magazines for political facts that galvanize my opinion on a given topic, but in this case, Details came through in the clutch. Amid articles like ‘She’s Pregnant: Is it Time to Go?’ and descriptions like ‘your wallet should be thin, effortless and elegant, just like a woman,’ I a one-sentence blurb caught my eye.

‘1992:,’ it read (I’m recreating the sentence from memory, mind you), ‘The year Karl Rove was fired from George H. W. Bush’s campaign for planting a false story with columnist Robert Novak‘ (emphasis mine). Recall that Rove has been at the center of an ongoing scandal regarding the leakage of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame’s name to reporter Matthew Cooper. References: New York Times article, beatnikindustries post. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but this 1992 revelation is just icing on the cake.

Just as this had faded from the popular consciousness - much to the relief of Rove, I’m sure - I had dismissed the issue as something that would eventually pan out, whether the outcome be full-scale investigations or a complete wash. However, my interest was again piqued this morning, as Judith Miller (pictured above with Times publisher Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr.) was released from prison yesterday, and I was reminded of the peculiar intersection of politics, journalism and skulduggery in this particular slice of current events.

To recap:

Item the first.
Good for journalism. Good for Miller’s stand. Granted, she’s not exactly blameless, given her track record of reporting on (apparently imagined) Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, but, to crib a line from Goodfellas, ‘what’s important is that you kept your mouth shut.’

Item the second.
Karl Rove is a scurrilous little shit. More digging reveals that the Novak-Rove connection runs even deeper, as Rove was also dismissed from Bush the First’s vice-presidential campaign in 1980 for allegedly leaking information to Novak - in addition to his 1992 and 2003 infractions.

And to conclude.
From a purely philosphical viewpoint, all these happenings are Good for journalists and Bad for conspiring politicians. In a more realistic view, however, the whole affair is enough to inspire complete apathy in all but the most inspired and motivated among us.

The whole thing is almost enough to make me renew my Details subscription - just to read more about how the hoodies-under-a-blazer trend is so over: Bite-sized journalism for peace of mind.

Foodie trend of the week: The preponderance of mango. Mango chutney. Mango salsa. Chicken roasted in a tomato-and-mango glaze. Just an observation - I’m kinda liking the trend.