emptywheel thinks maybe it is Big Time:

Dick Cheney is dragging down the White House. He is largely responsible for the mess in Iraq. He is trying to sabotage any attempts to negotiate honestly with Iran. And he is exposing everyone in the Administration to some serious legal jeopardy, in the event they ever lose control of courts. At some point, Dick Cheney's authoritarianism will doom Bush's legacy.

But you can't make him quit. His is a Constitutional office, he was elected along with Bush, so you can't make him resign like you can with your Treasury Secretary or your Environmental Secretary. What better way to get rid of him, then, than to expose him to legal proceedings? It gives you the ability (farcical, but no matter) to say that you have severed all ties with his policies and legacies.

Now here are some data points:

There is clear evidence (for example, in the White House's reluctance to publicly exonerate Libby in Fall 2003) that the White House holds OVP responsible for this mess.
Patrick Fitzgerald received a large new chunk of evidence recently, a bunch of emails.
In March leaks suggested that Rove was helping Fitzgerald understand those emails.
Not long ago, the guy who coordinated the cover-up in Fall 2003 (April 14) and the guy who covered it up with the public (April 20) left the White House.
In an appearance on April 19 Novak denied taking the Fifth--but he did not deny cooperating with the investigation.
After Rove's grand jury appearance on April 25, Luskin gave a somewhat tortured denial of Rove's jeopardy.
Fitzgerald's public comments have recently implicated Cheney more and more, first by revealing that Dick ordered Libby to leak Plame's identity the NIE (in late January), then by showing the world Dick's immediate response to Joe Wilson's op-ed (in May).
Yesterday at Libby's status hearing, Fitzgerald revealed the White House will not block Libby's access to any materials.
In his statement today, Luskin does not claim the investigation is over--he refers to it as a "pending case" and refuses to make further public statements.

and following through(from Joe Wilson's lawyer):

While it appears that Mr. Rove will not be called to answer in criminal court for his participation in the wrongful disclosure of Valerie Wilson's classified employment status at the CIA in retaliation against Joe Wilson for questioning the rationale for war in Iraq, that obviously does not end the matter. The day still may come when Mr. Rove and others are called to account in a court of law for their attacks on the Wilsons.

Posted by: beq | Jun 13, 2006 3:33:03 PM | 1

My prediction of a BFEE rear attack on Dick Cheney seems to be on track. As a reward, Fitz will occupy the Attorney General post in the Jeb! administration.

Posted by: gylangirl | Jun 13, 2006 4:05:58 PM | 2

there was not much chance such a scandal would amount to much, except as a necessary theater demonstrating the sacrifice of an elite or two to the rule of law in order to reproduce the usual dissimulation that no one is above the law.

Posted by: slothrop | Jun 13, 2006 4:47:37 PM | 3

as was mentioned by someone here long ago, there's a strategic reason why leakers are so difficult to prosecute "under the law." and now we see the law works quite well.

Posted by: slothrop | Jun 13, 2006 4:54:48 PM | 4

and rgiap had it exactly right; firedoglake are "ambulance-chasers."

Posted by: slothrop | Jun 13, 2006 5:02:58 PM | 5

also, it is more and more obvious fitzgerald accommodated rove w/ 5 gj testimonies, not to give rove "more rope" to hang himself, but to help rove to lie his way out of indictment.

also, as joe digenova says on neshour tonight: "fitz effectively detroyed the habit of a journo to protect sources," this accompanied by the rathead digenova w/ a wry smile. as some of us noted long ago here, the judy miller affaire would eventuallty be used to consolidate executive power.

this whole episode, which far too many of us embarrassingly hoped would crack bush, was masterfully exploited by elites.

Posted by: slothrop | Jun 13, 2006 8:59:04 PM | 6

and I too am among the embarrassed, because I experienced as well a frisson of malicious glee for a rove indictment. silly me.

Posted by: slothrop | Jun 13, 2006 9:08:06 PM | 7

yes

we were foolish to believe a jurisprudence that created the likes of john yoo, john ashcroft, alberto gonzales & scalia was a jurisprudence that might hang this self evidently criminal administration

i must have been blind

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Jun 13, 2006 9:16:31 PM | 8

yes, rgiap. once again we are served a little lesson in the unification of base & superstructure.

Posted by: slothrop | Jun 13, 2006 9:44:40 PM | 9