Covering fire

The Dick Cheney hunting accident blew away the latest development in the prosecution of his former chief of staff for his role in outing CIA agent Valerie Plame. But if anything bags the vice president, it will be the trial of Scooter Libby.

In court documents filed last week, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald said, “Mr. Libby testified that he was authorized to disclose information about the NIE to the press by his superiors.”

The NIE is the National Intelligence Estimate, which was a classified document compiled by the CIA and used by the Bush administration to buttress the case for war. The allegation is that Libby was authorized to leak parts of the report to reporters in July 2003.

Such leaks would be illegal, and if the vice president played a role in triggering them, he could be in big trouble.

The good news for Cheney, if you can call it that, is that the media are focused on the shooting.

During an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, he wasn’t asked a single question about the Libby case.

No longer grounded

Not long ago, the Inland Northwest was wringing its hands over the possible closure of Fairchild Air Force Base and the loss of 5,500 jobs. Fairchild’s survival of the Base Realignment and Closure process last year was a great relief.

It’s impossible to say how much the outcome depended on the community effort that was waged on the base’s behalf, but a warm relationship between base and region is one of the things the BRAC process takes into account.

One compelling demonstration of that relationship is the enthusiastic turnout when the base invites the public out to see its aircraft. Tens of thousands of residents show up for a prime view of demonstrations on the ground and overhead.

Last year was one of the few times since 1962 that the annual two-day show didn’t fly. Base officials attribute that to budget and wartime manpower considerations. Other than that, it’s taken overwhelming circumstances – a volcanic eruption and a tragic plane crash – to halt the show.

It’s good to know that this year the event will return on July 29 and 30. It will be a chance to properly celebrate last year’s good news.

Checks and imbalances

Democrat Jerry Brady took advantage of a political opportunity in Coeur d’Alene on Wednesday when he again offered to pay the $9.73 bill that Republican Gov. Dirk Kempthorne owes in back taxes on 14 acres near Cascade. The political theater by the gubernatorial candidate featured an oversize check that he brandished at the Kootenai County Courthouse.

Brady’s message was two-dimensional: The governor doesn’t want to provide property tax relief to others when he doesn’t pay his own tax bill. And the governor is a little short on cash, a dig at the 2005 controversy in which Kempthorne was criticized for using campaign funds to pay for groceries, meals out, car rentals, and a host of other personal purchases.

Maybe Kempthorne should take Brady’s offer and work out an installment plan to repay him.