Letter to Junior

Dear Junior,

Loyalty. I get that. Surround yourself with like minded people and it is easier to reshape the world in your image. But loyalty has its limits. When someone commits treason (even if that treason is not clearly indictable) it is time to cut ties.

If you haven’t noticed, Karl Rove has become a liability. He’s opened his mouth when he shouldn’t have, at least twice exposing Valerie Plame’s status as a covert CIA agent. Is it worth it to argue the semantics of whether or not he violated the letter of the law? Even if not illegal, (though I would contend that it was clearly illegal) Karl’s actions and later denials were clearly unethical.

The CIA has a pretty spotty history itself, but I think it’s fair to say that Valerie Plame was serving our country’s national security. Repeatedly, you have made statements asserting that national security is your primary concern. If so, how could you let someone in your office jeopardize national security by exposing Ms. Plame?

Let him go. It may be too late to prevent your legacy as the most disgraceful president in U.S. history, but try and step up for what is right at least once. Are you frozen because Karl is your friend? Sometimes, a little tough love will do a person a lot of good. He needs to see the errors of his ways.

Derrick Lin

(For those of you who wish to share your own thoughts with Junior. comments@whitehouse.gov)