Barbara Vey

Isn't being a spy supposed to be a secret?

Last night I got to hear Valerie Plame Wilson speak at the Smart Women Talk series.  As I'm sure you all know, Valerie was a covert CIA operative who was outed in The Washington Post after government officials leaked the information.  

This appeared to be in retaliation of her husband's op-ed piece in the New York Times entitled "What I Didn't Find in Africa."  (He had been asked to go there by the CIA to check out rumors about uranium).  Since he didn't find anything, he was shocked when the President gave a news conference about Iraq and weapons of mass destruction, so he decided to write about it.

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was convicted of purjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal investigators.  Four months later President Bush pardoned him.  

Valerie led us on her journey starting with her decision to join the CIA and the subsequent psych test in which one question was, "Do you like tall women," to which she thought, "Well, maybe."  (I'm still trying to figure out what that has to do with a person's personality)  Her husband, Joe Wilson, was an ambassador and commended by the first President Bush for his courage and tenacity in dealing with Iraq.  Her twins were 2 1/2 when this all happened.  

After the news media got ahold of the story and skewed it their way, she found the meaning of  "If you say it enough, people will believe it."  When Valerie's life was threatened, the CIA refused to offer protection to her and her family.  She resigned in January 2006 and decided to write a book.

Joe Wilson and Valeri Plame Wilson filed a civil lawsuit against Vice President Cheney, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby and Richard Armmitage that was dismissed, but they will be appealing shortly.  You can read all about it here.

Valerie said she wrote her memoir, Fair Game:  My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House,  for two reasons.  First, selfishness, so she could process what had happened to her.  Second, she feels it is an important story to tell.  Soon this will be made into a movie and when asked who would play Valerie, she happily answered, "There's talk it will be Nicole Kidman."
                                                                

BTW, today as you read this, I'm flying to Pittsburgh to attend the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention.  Starting tomorrow I'll be blogging daily and along with a ton of pictures, there will be some really cool video posted and between posts I'll be on the Twitter site letting you know "What I'm doing" in between blogs.  Check it out here and sign up to "follow" me on my RT adventure.

Bottom Line:  I was trying to think of who could play me in a movie, but I couldn't think of anyone that talented, so I guess I'd have to play myself. ::g::

Posted by Barbara Vey on April 15, 2008 | Comments (8)