drip...drip...drip...

Cheeselovers may remember that earlier this month the
National Journal reported that President Bush testified
that Karl Rove assured him that “he had not disclosed
Plame as a CIA employee and had said nothing to the
press to discredit Wilson, according to sources familiar
with the president's interview.”

But today the New York Daily News tells a much
different story.

An angry President Bush rebuked chief political guru
Karl Rove two years ago for his role in the Valerie
Plame affair, sources told the Daily News.

"He made his displeasure known to Karl," a
presidential counselor told The News. "He made his
life miserable about this."

Bush has nevertheless remained doggedly loyal to
Rove, who friends and even political adversaries
acknowledge is the architect of the President's rise
from baseball owner to leader of the free world.

. . .

A second well-placed source said some recently
published reports implying Rove had deceived Bush
about his involvement in the Wilson counterattack
were incorrect and were leaked by White House aides
trying to protect the President.

Oops. Looks like someone’s got some 'splaining to do.

War Room cuts to the chase:

In the end, it's hard to see how either story helps
Bush all that much. If the first one is true -- that is, if
Rove lied to Bush -- then the president has known
since at least July that he's employing someone who
lied to his face about something he himself has called
"a very serious matter." And if the second story is
true -- that is, if Bush has known all along -- then he
allowed his spokesman to mislead the American
people and he misled them himself when he suggested
it would be hard to identify the person who leaked
Plame's identity.

Maybe it would be better to just tell the truth.

UPDATE: Chuck Schumer throws down the gauntlet, here.