There won't be any Fitzmas this week....

As I reported yesterday, the latest story on Fitzmas was that the indictment of Karl Rove did take place as reported last Friday, but that it was being held for the following Friday.

But Friday came and went, another deadline missed. And now, the originator of the story, "Truthout", has issued a "partial apology":

On Saturday afternoon, May 13, 2006, TruthOut ran a story titled, "Karl Rove Indicted on Charges of Perjury, Lying to Investigators." The story stated in part that top Bush aide Karl Rove had earlier that day been indicted on the charges set forth in the story's title.

The time has now come, however, to issue a partial apology to our readership for this story. While we paid very careful attention to the sourcing on this story, we erred in getting too far out in front of the news-cycle. In moving as quickly as we did, we caused more confusion than clarity. And that was a disservice to our readership and we regret it.

As such, we will be taking the wait-and-see approach for the time being. We will keep you posted.

Marc Ash, Executive Director - t r u t h o u t

YEs, well, I guess if you don't know anything, the smart thing is to "wait and see".

But I look for the left to weave a grand conspiracy theory of how Karl Rove tricked Leopold and Truthout, so that when his indictment really comes, nobody will believe it.

Or that there WAS an indictment, but somehow the evil Bush administration made it go bye-bye.That fairy tale started yesterday:

Fitzgerald's brief is certainly vulnerable to pressure from the White House. And it is clear that something drastic followed the May 12 meeting at Patton & Boggs.

First, a small number of journalists who were writing about the Rove indictment found themselves being spun by Rove's media machine and his paid spokesperson, former Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo, a longtime GOP hack. Some questionable information about two of the journalists were posted anonymously on a blog.
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WMR's report on the Rove matter became the subject of ridicule by the typical right-wing network in Washington, including shills for the National Review, other neocon outlets, and the Rove camp.

Nevertheless, Friday, May 19, came and went without an announcement of an indictment.
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Meanwhile, a jovial Rove and an even cockier Rove spokesman reveled in the mini-media storm they helped to create -- Rovian manipulation at its best.

So Marsden, just like Truthout, has given up for now:

However, the Kabuki dance between the Special Counsel, Rove and his lawyers, and certain media are becoming a huge distraction. WMR apologizes to its loyal and supportive readers for being led, along with our sources, down the Rove rabbit hole of media mirages and public relations B.S. Until an actual announcement is made by the Special Prosecutor regarding Rove, we will concentrate our limited resources on other, more important, stories, including continuing CIA rendition flights, NSA eavesdropping, and Iraq war atrocities.