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# Desperate housewife decides to fight back
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/desperate-housewife-decides-to-fight-back/
- Published: 2007-03-16T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T00:15:01.000Z
- Author: Jack Neworth
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

AS I READ VALERIE PLAME WILL BE testifying before Congress today, I couldn’t help thinking I bet Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron and a dozen other actresses are dying to play her in the movie. There’s already buzz about Richard Gere playing Joe Wilson. I would love to write the screenplay, but I’m not holding my breath. I’ve tried that before and I just get dizzy.

It’s absurd to talk about who is going to play whom when the real thing had such serious consequences. Thanks to Cheney- Libby-Novak, not only was Plame’s career over, but Brewster-Jennings, the CIA front business she worked for, was also history. And who’s the only person to take the fall? A man in his 50s named Scooter. After the verdict Mrs. Scooter was heard to say angrily, “Now we’re going to %&#@ them!" Most observers felt she was refer-ring to Cheney, Rove and maybe W. I’d pay to see that.

Her threat was refreshing because the Republican right which brags about their toughness, often targets wives. The first I remember was in 1972 involving Edmund Muskie’s wife, Jane. There were two odious articles about her in the “Manchester Union Leader.” Muskie got angry and emotional, it was perceived as un-presidential, and that ended his run for the White House. On the other hand, without it there’d have been no Watergate, and no “All the President’s Men,” a fine movie. I always try to see the silver lining.

In the 1988 presidential debate Michael Dukakis was asked a hypothetical question: If his wife were raped would that change his view on the death penalty. When he didn’t get enraged, he was attacked for not showing emotion. Eventually the swift boaters of that era went after his wife, Kitty for problems with alcohol. No Democrat that I can recall ever attacked Betty Ford. Just the opposite, she was lauded, rightly so, for being a woman of enormous courage. (Then again, no Democrat would ever call a triple-amputee, war hero “unpatriotic,” as was done to Max Cleland in his U.S. Senate race in 2004.) But to be fair, the Republican right even goes after their own. In 2000 John McCain was leading in his bid to get the nomination. But in South Carolina, they attacked his wife Cindy’s emotional stability, and claimed McCain was the father of an illegitimate, interracial child. The McCain’s had adopted the little girl from Bangladesh, so the attackers got their facts a little wrong. But then again, I have a hunch they knew.

Unfortunately, low-level tactics work. It cost McCain the South Carolina primary and the nomination. In a televised debate, McCain, veins bulging, told Bush, face to face, he ought to be ashamed of himself. George stammered and his leg shook. I thought McCain was going to rip Bush’s head off. It looked like George thought the same thing. I’d have paid to see that, too.

The right had a field day with Hillary. Some accused her of murdering Vince Foster. (Is that all?) But, on the bright side, they didn’t accuse her of having an illegitimate, interracial child. They went after Chelsea for not being gorgeous. The Bush twins are very attractive, if you overlook the drinking and the partying. Their speech at the 2004 Republican convention reminded me of a You Tube homage to Paris Hilton. It was embarrassing.

Even more embarrassing, when Bush and Cheney were on stage celebrating the nomination with their families, Cheney’s daughter Mary, who is gay, was conspicuously absent. I guess for the family-values crowd it would have looked bad. (Although isn’t Mary family?) Mary, and Heather Poe, are expecting a baby in late spring. How exciting. But the occasion is causing a little dismay for some on the right. How sad.

The neo-cons aren’t tough. They talk of war, but when it was their turn to fight they had “other priorities.” Instead of debating those who disagree with them, they attack the wives. I’m actually hoping Mrs. Scooter follows through. She may be tougher than they are. It wouldn’t be hard.

Joe Wilson was not a hippy or a radical or even a Democrat. He was a career diplomat, a retired ambassador whom Bush 41 once called a “national hero". Pro-bono, Wilson went to Niger to get the facts. He discovered the Iraq nuclear claims were false and that the documents were forged! When he returned he filed a report with the CIA. You’d think Bush and Cheney might want to have read it. (Assuming Bush reads reports.) I mean just to make sure we were right in going to war. Nah. They had another plan: trash the wife, ruin her career, and destroy a CIA front, all in a time of war. I may be old fashioned, but I think there’s a word for that. It’s not tough. It’s treason.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 16, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/031607.pdf?ref=smdp.com)