At the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jamie Riley wrote the Obama administration siding against out CIA spy Valerie Wilson in her lawsuit against top Bush administration officials:

And now comes this word from CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington):

CREW learned today that the Obama administration is opposing our request that the Supreme Court reconsider the dismissal of the lawsuit, Wilson v. Libby, et al. In that case, the district court had dismissed the claims of Joe and Valerie Wilson against former Vice President Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby and Richard Armitage for their gross violations of the Wilsons’ constitutional rights.

So, President Barack Obama is on the side of the patriotic folks who outed a CIA agent working to keep weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of an intemperate leader of a Middle East nation hostile to the United States.

Well, not likely. But the Obama administration apparently understood the “exemption” of the offices of the president and vice president from a federal law on privacy. And apparently it also understood that even with jurisdiction,  Plame would have to prove that she was harmed directly by the actions of those named in the suit.

Go figure.  Cheney’s scheme worked. At least it worked long enough for him to get the war he wanted and how he wanted it. If he had to ruin the career of a CIA agent in the process, well, that’s just collateral damage.

Plame understood the standard of proof and was prepared to meet it -- because this wasn't just "collateral damage."  This was her life.