THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

And no doubt the various spinmeisters for Our Dear Embattled Leader will be out in full force today. However there is a remedy for any confusion that may arise. The WaPo has an excellent summation of what happened, including the Italian Connection.

It may never be clear what drove Libby, the most cautious of Washington insiders, to take such risks, ostensibly to protect the administration. In a news conference Friday, Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald described the question as unanswerable so far. "If you're asking me what his motives were, I can't tell you; we haven't charged it," Fitzgerald said. The obstruction of his inquiry, he said, "prevents us from making the fine judgments we want to make."

Libby's possible motive is only one of many unknowns left in the aftermath of Friday's indictment, which prompted the resignation of one of the most powerful figures in the White House and left the Bush administration reeling politically. Still to be determined is who first leaked Plame's name to syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak -- the original act that led to Fitzgerald's investigation -- and the roles of many other administration officials, including Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove.

Even so, the grand jury's 22-page indictment fleshes out a saga that has been largely shrouded for almost two years by grand jury secrecy. While Friday's disclosures allege no wrongdoing by Cheney, they place the vice president closer than has been known before to events at the heart of the case.

Libby is already trying out his defense in the media and TurdBlossom is trying hard to prevent his needing a defense. Jim VandeHei, also in the WaPo, has a fine story about their stories.

"Mr. Libby testified to the best of his recollection on all occasions," Joseph A. Tate, Libby's lawyer, said in his first statement on the case, released Friday. Libby's friends plan to set up a legal defense fund soon to help him fight the charges, according to one person familiar with the effort.

Rove, who sources said narrowly escaped indictment through last-minute negotiations, is working privately to convince Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald that he did not lie to a grand jury about his role in the disclosure of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. With Fitzgerald threatening to indict Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff provided him with new information last week that prompted Fitzgerald to rethink charging him with making false statements, according to two people close to the case.

Libby or TurdBlossom could put on an old bathrobe and start mumbling to himself and use the Vinnie "The Chin" Gigante Defense.