"I take full responsibility ... well, actually, no, I don't".

There's a classic talking point used by those way up the food chain when something goes terribly, horribly wrong on their watch. That's when they call a press conference, stand tall, suck in that gut, look the camera square in the eye and say, voices quavering with nobility and sacrifice, that they "take full responsibility," which, by now, we know means, "Well, yeah, I want the credit for accepting the blame but, come on, it's not like I'm going to beat myself up over it or anything. Geez! Resign? Are you nuts?"

In short, it's all show and no actual accountability, which brings us to Scooter Libby, where the freshly-minted meme is that he's the fall guy for Dick Cheney. You can't swing a dead cat this morning without whapping into some talking head going on and on about how Libby's just taking the fall for Shotgun Dick. Sadly, most of these idiots don't seem to understand that you can't have it both ways.

You can't, on the one hand, officially "take the fall" while simultaneously looking for sympathy because you're, you know, "taking the fall." You don't get to milk both sides of that argument.

Apparently, Libby and his lawyer want to isolate the administration from any fallout from this court case while, at the same time, they want to put out the message that it's the administration behind it after all, and they think the media will be dumb enough to fall for this. And, sadly, they're right -- the mainstream media really is that dense.

No one should be feeling sorry for Libby. It was his (and his lawyer's) choice to suck up the bullets on this one. And once you choose to do that, you don't get to go back later for a do-over. If Libby and his lawyer chose not to drag Cheney into this during the trial, then it's unacceptable for them to start making insinuations like that now.

You chose to take the rap, Scooter. Now stop your whining and take it like a man.