***SCROLL FOR UPDATES***

Don't expect to see the same fake outrage from the left, as we've seen in "Plamegate", over this latest REAL leak. As we know, in the Plame situation, no one can seem to say she's covered under the "leak law" that everyone wants to bust a Bush official on (including the author of the law), and that attacking the credibility of Wilson was necessary when he was lying for his own political reasons. Oh by the way, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't he a Kerry supporter too?

MSNBC

WASHINGTON - In a rare occurrence, the CIA fired an officer who acknowledged giving classified information to a reporter, NBC News learned Friday.

The officer flunked a polygraph exam before being fired on Thursday and is now under investigation by the Justice Department, NBC has learned.

Intelligence sources tell NBC News the accused officer, Mary McCarthy, worked in the CIA's inspector general's office and had worked for the National Security Council under the Clinton and and George W. Bush administrations.

Well we've all heard the news over the past couple days: Senior CIA Officer Fired For Leaking to Press. What I hadn't heard, until pulling up the Drudge Report today, is that the leaker was appointed by Sandy "I've got a filing cabinet in my socks" Berger, under President Bill Clinton's administration (Berger background here). Need more? The leaker, Mary O. McCarthy was a Kerry supporter, not to mention has a name that sounds like she is a character from a childrens book. By the way, it's the NY Times revealing the Kerry support, and I'm willing to admit when they get something right. But I'm surprised it didn't take a blogger to dig it up, and the Times to ignore it.

NY Times

WASHINGTON, April 21 — The Central Intelligence Agency has dismissed a senior career officer for disclosing classified information to reporters, including material for Pulitzer Prize-winning articles in The Washington Post about the agency's secret overseas prisons for terror suspects, intelligence officials said Friday.

The C.I.A. would not identify the officer, but several government officials said it was Mary O. McCarthy, a veteran intelligence analyst who until 2001 was senior director for intelligence programs at the National Security Council, where she served under President Bill Clinton and into the Bush administration.

Public records show that Ms. McCarthy contributed $2,000 in 2004 to the presidential campaign of John Kerry, the Democratic nominee.

What does that all mean? Not much, other than a pat on the back to the CIA for weeding this woman out and kickin' her to the curb. The Democrat connections are only important because I'll be interested to see the screeching Senate Democrats and lefty blogs up in arms over this. Needless to say I won't be holding my breath, waiting for their outrage. Luckily for them, the liberal media won't be beating down their doors to ask them about the hypocrisy. Just like when they call the President a liar on WMDs, the media never demands they answer for all of their stronger WMD arguments. I also doubt we'll see Cynthia "mamma said knock you out" McKinney, offer up a closed-fist punch over the incident. (she reserves those for police officers doing their job)

Now, one could go in to how this woman revealed information to the press that served no purpose but hurting the war on terror and say "just another anti-American Democrat", but I'm not going to go that far. I think I'll wait until she has a book that launches some time this fall or next spring. It will be heavily publicized, she'll refuse to go on Fox News to plug it because the Fox & Friends folks, Hannity, and O'Reilly would ask her questions and demand answers rather than let her give an "I hate Bush" speech. To be clear, I have no knowledge of a book deal, but I think it's safe to say she'll be approached very quickly and this "revealing" book will be pumped heavily leading up to it's release. When it finally comes out, the left will treat it like a bible for a month or two, while anyone who actually looks at it will realize it is light on facts, and is just one big hardcover spin manual. In a way this is a gift to her and the left. Now not only will she make millions off of a book deal, it will serve as a political tool for the left to further undermine the war on terror.

Back to the serious point for a minute. This woman was actively working against the country's war on terror. But worse, she's a veteran intelligence analyst. How long has she been working against the country?! Again, I guess the good news is they investigated and got her out, but how many more are there like her? Also, why is this woman just losing her job and not being brought up on charges? It sounds like just "broke the rules" and got fired, but it seems to me like she did a lot worse than that.

***UPDATE***
Expose the Left is commenting on McCarthy's political contributions, and the lack of media coverage.

Ace of Spades, Michelle Malkin and others on wondering if there is a Joe Wilson connection here... This looks like it might be even dirtier than we first thought. Stay tuned...

***UPDATE***
Many other bloggers share the same feeling that I do, that if what this woman was fired for is true, then certainly she should be charged with crimes as well. Many have been so bold as to call her a traitor already. Others are slamming the NY Times' coverage of this. Besides the original article I cited, the Times has a few other pieces out on this story now, and many feel that they appear to be running defense for McCarthy. Great reading all around:

Stop the ACLU, Leaning Straight Up, Unalienable Right, Stuck on Stupid, Left Wing = Hate, Small Dead Animals, The Dragon and the Phoenix, Freedom for Some, Tac Jammer, Protein Wisdon, Captain's Quarters, Sister Toldjah, Mind in Qatar, Rightwing Nuthouse, Balance Sheet, Iowa Voice, Think Sink, Macsmind, A Blog For All, Hillbilly White Trash, GroupIntel, Small Town Veteran, Hooda Thunk?, The Jawa Report, Riehl World View, In the Bullpen, Wizbang, Atlas Shrugs, The Strata-Sphere, Big Lizards, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Michelle Malkin

***UPDATE***
Flopping Aces has returned, after being down due to a hack, with probably the best round-up you're going to find on this whole situation. Flopping Aces has dug deep to find all of McCarthy's odd connections and what circles she's been running in.

Another interesting angle about all of this is that the left predictably defending the indefensible (as always), and treating McCarthy like a hero for being the big whistleblower here. What's odd is that even the AP and the New York Times, citing a number of investigations, can't seem to find proof that these secret torture prisons exist.

So again, it's not just important that she was leaking classified information and was rightly fired. It's not just that she should, and we assume will be brought up on charges. It's that she made still unproven allegations that did nothing but hurt the war on terror. All it did was further strain relations with our European allies, embolden far left hate Bushers worldwide, and give violent Muslims a convenient excuse for more violence. Like the Danish cartoons, it's just a cop out for already violent Muslims to justify their behavior, but this time it was delivered without proof from a CIA (what's a less harsh word for traitor, because I don't know if I want to go out on that limb yet?).