How many Rove defenses have we heard so far?

[July]

And what was the first one?

[skids]

1. Better yet...

...what famous Clinton lines do they correspond to?

I'll start: "I did not use her name" --> "I did not inhale"

[Midnight Rambler]

2. First was he had nothing to do with it

...Then he didn't leak her name.

...Then it's just a liberal smear campaign

...Then Joe Wilson is a discredited liar

...Then Valerie Plame was just a desk jockey

...Then it was Novak who told him about the leak that someone else did

Coming soon: Hillary Clinton leaked her name

[elperromagico]

3. Followed by: The White House was "liberating" Plame

from the oppression of her dreary job.

[BR_Parkway]

5. Freedom is on the March! Wow, they are going to simplfy this

enough that even Shrub will be allowed to talk about it, it's just a matter of moving the discussion into his realm of memorized lines...

[fujiyama]

7. Them uppity women

They shouldn't be working in serious areas like intelligence and all that...

Though they'll make an exception for corrupt hacks like CondoSleazy Rice.

[grytpype]

4. Yes, let's make a list.

1. He had nothing to do with it, it's ridiculous.
2. He only said that "Wilson's wife" was in the CIA, he didn't use her name.
3. Wilson is a lying, washed-up has-been who voted for Kerry.
4. Plame was never a covert operative.
5. Rove did not know Plame was a covert operative.
6. Rove was only trying to discredit Wilson.
7. Rove was only trying to stop Cooper from saying Cheney had set up the Niger visit by Wilson.
8. Rove heard Plame's name for the first time from Novak, he knew nothing about it previously.
9. Three days later, Rove did not know Plame's name when he talked to Cooper.
10. Rove did not disclose any classified information.
11. This is all very complicated and we will never figure it out, so let's all just forget about it.

[gratuitous]

6. Number 11 is a pretty well-worn excuse

But it's the Swiss Army Knife of responses for the corrupt Bush administration. I'm personally waiting for "the dog ate my memo" or some other such nonsense to be repeated seriously and with a straight face on CNN and Faux.