I know I mentioned in my last column that I was going to write a column about how the Supreme Court justices are not like rock legends, but I just changed my mind. There are much more pressing issues at hand than the fact that John Roberts doesn’t even know how to play the guitar.

Right now, we must address a problem that could lead to the downfall of the entire Western world: Karl Rove.

Although Rove may not completely be to blame for leaking CIA operative Valerie Plame to the press, it’s hard not to point a finger in his direction. Plus, I don’t know about you, but I don’t even know what Rove looks like because all I can picture when I think of his name is Darth Vader.

With everyone from President George Bush to lowly press secretaries to a man who goes by the name “Scooter” being involved to some extent in the investigation, it is hard to keep the facts straight. So let me give it a try.

The Associated Press on Oct. 23 explained that Joe Wilson wrote a guest column for The New York Times in July 2003 negating intelligence reports about alleged nuclear transactions between Iraq and Niger. Just days after Wilson’s column, national pundit Robert Novak wrote a column that responded to Wilson and mentioned his wife, Valerie Plame, was a CIA agent.

Now, this is when things start to get a little confusing.

Investigators have learned that Lewis “Scooter” Libby, chief of staff to Dick Cheney, talked to a few different news agencies about Plame.

But it’s possible that Libby was Rove’s source of information. With all these names, I know it’s getting confusing, but bear with me until I can have a diagram made that explains this all a little better.

After testifying in court on four different occasions, many think that Rove is just a few steps away from a federal indictment.

First, I just want to state for the record that no one is ever going to convict Karl Rove on any charges in the CIA leak case. It’s not going to happen. End of story.

Karl Rove has almost become an adjective in our vocabulary. In fact, the act of engaging in Karl Rove-like behavior could be considered Karl Rovicizing. And nobody out-Rovicizes Karl Rove himself.

But we can’t forget about Judith Miller, a New York Times reporter who was jailed for 85 days because she refused to reveal her source on the CIA leak. Truth be told, she was set to be released in just five days from her release. But instead, she gave up after Libby said she didn’t have to keep her promise of confidentiality. Thanks, Judith, for holding out in the name of great journalism.

What will be most entertaining about the whole investigation is to find out if Bush and Cheney knew what was going on under their noses the whole time and how much they actually knew. And even more interesting will be what happens to Rove if he was closely involved with the leak. Needless to say, I’m already hooked on the drama.

Jen Steer is a sophomore broadcast news major and columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].