Once a lying sack of crap, always a lying sack of crap

Old age is not stopping Ed Meese with the shameless lies.

MATTHEWS: Then why keep it secret?

MEESE: Because you don't want the enemy to know that you're intercepting and surveilling these kinds of conversation.

MATTHEWS: So you believe they didn't know that?

MEESE: I believe they didn't know all of it. Not like they do now, and I think it was a terrible thing to reveal this. I think "The New York Times" is culpable of actually hurting our national security.

MATTHEWS: So how would you go on -- how about all leaks get punished?

MEESE: Well, I think it depends on the seriousness of the leak. You know, in the Plame case... [ed -- Meese pronounces it as "Pla-may" for some reason.]

MATTHEWS: The CIA believes that the Plame case was serious because they believed that it jeopardized the undercover security of our agents around the world and all their contacts.

MEESE: I don't think that‘s true. And I think...

MATTHEWS: Why did they bring it to the Justice Department?

MEESE: And particularly, I think in this particular case, this person wasn't even a covert agent anymore. It had been more than five years since she ever had been undercover. She was operating fully...

MATTHEWS: The fact is that she's -- her status was undercover, and the agency...

MEESE: Not at the time.

MATTHEWS: OK. Why did the agency go to the FBI?

MEESE: I have no idea.

MATTHEWS: Well, I do.

MEESE: It was certainly making a mountain out of a mole hill...

MATTHEWS: They felt...

MEESE: ... because here, she had been more than five years -- she was a housewife. She worked at the agency in an administrative position. I think...

MATTHEWS: OK. Well, Scooter Libby is facing 30 years in jail for a mountain out of a mole hill. That's a serious matter.

MEESE: It has nothing to do -- he wasn't even charged with that crime. He was charged with a lot of offenses relating, allegedly at least, to ...

MATTHEWS: OK, why is he covering it up?

MEESE: ... falsely ...

MATTHEWS: Why is he covering it up if it was legal?

MEESE: I‘m not sure he was. We'll have to wait for the trial to find that out.

MATTHEWS: We will. All we got are indictments.

Okay...outing a CIA agent is innocent fun. But exposing Republican wrongdoing is always a shameful breach of national security. I would have loved to have Matthews ask Meese for his two cents on Watergate and Iran Contra while he had him up there. But no. Matthews only play enough Hardball to look tough. Not enough to discomfort his honored guests.

By the way, so much for the talking point that we need illegal wiretaps because 9/11 changed everything. They were listening in on Americans without warrants before 9/11. And guess what? If a memo titled "Bin Ladin determined to strike in U.S." didn't help us stop a major terrorist attack, violating the 4th amendment rights of ordinary Americans isn't going to make the difference.