For those following the Fitzgerald investigation into Traitorgate, firedoglake is a valuable resource of information and analysis. This morning, I learned that Irving Lewis Libby, a published novelist, writes like Robert James Waller or Barbara Cartland or Peggy Noonan.

Here's some particularly fruity prose from his perfumed love letter to Judy Miller (or, as the New York Times would call it, his "uncoerced waiver"):

"Dear Judy, Your reporting, and you are missed. Like many Americans, I admire your principled stand. But, like many friends and readers, I would welcome you back among the rest of us, doing what you do best -- reporting."

Then, several paragraphs expressed his surprise that she has not acted on his voluntary offer of a year earlier to waive his rights to confidentiality, since it "served my best interests…this is the rare case where this 'source' will be better off if you testified." He dubbed this the "Miller corollary."

He closed the letter on this personal note (although he wasn't quite right on when autumn begins): "You went into jail in the summer. It is fall now. You will have stories to cover -- Iraqi elections and suicide bombers, biological threats and the Iranian nuclear program. Out West, where you vacation, the aspens will already be turning. They turn in clusters, because their roots connect them."

(Just like the Iraqi civilians who died in clusters, because our cluster bombs killed them.)

"Come back to work -- and life. Until then, you will remain in my thoughts and prayers."

Those last twelve months, well, it just kind of slipped my mind. You know how it is.

And someone should buy Irv a dictionary before he goes to prison.