It has been left wing sacred writ for some time that Karl Rove was to be indicted and "frog marched" (in Joseph Wilson IV's words) out of the White House. The anticipation of "Fitzmas" half a year ago was palpable. But all this lies in ruins now, in the wake of Patrick Fitzgerald's announcement to counsel that Rove will not be indicted.

So, where are the apologies from the MSNBC hosts? In particular, where is the mea culpa from Jason Leopold, the reporter who more than once reported that inside sources had told him of an impending indictment? And how about his publisher, Truthout.org? This is apparently as close as they will get:

Leopold still stubbornly stands by the story, claiming that something happened behind the scenes to overturn the indictment. Marc Ash, Truthout's executive director, said last week that his site will "defer to the nation's leading publications" on the Rove story, but he declared his continuing faith in Leopold.

The side which like to refer to itself as the "reality—based community" has not exactly distinguished itself with honesty in regard to the grounding of its predictions. This is a fatal flaw.

The rather sordid story of Leopold, his methods, dishonesty, and unrepentant stance is told very well in today's Washington Post, by Joe Luria, a journalist whose trust was badly abused by Leopold in the course of his work on the story.

If the left cannot bring itself to come down on Leopold and Truthout like a ton of bricks, it reveals itself to be a partner in mendacity, not to be trusted by anyone. Fanatics, who cannot admit error when it is palpable, are not to be trusted. Not to be believed, not to be handed anything resembling high office.

While Republicans and conservatives may take heart in watching their opponents self—destruct, in the long run this is a very unhealthy phenomenon. Our Constitution is premised on the notion of loyal opposition, on the theory of competition between factions leading to the public interest triumphing, as abuses of one faction are rightly checked by the others.

If the oposition becomes so unserious, there is nothing left to keep away the inevitable forces of decline. That is the sorry state in which we find our domestic politics. It isn't enough to turn me into a Democrat to Fight the Good Fight, but it does worry me. A lot.

Thomas Lifson   6 18 06