Can Innocents Find the Guilty?
I recently got an email from MoveOn.org asking me to sign an “affidavit” to demonstrate to President Bush how easy it is to get innocent people to declare their innocence. The matter at issue is that someone at the White House revealed the identity of a secret CIA agent in apparent political payback for the public statements of her husband which made the Administration appear to be deceitful regarding Iraqi procurement of nuclear materials for bomb making. The idea seems to be that the signers of the affidavit will demonstrate to President Bush that this method would help him find the “true culprit” in the leak, a result he has said he supports. MoveOn.org states that Bush could then investigate anyone at the White House who refuses to sign. Why should innocent people be unwilling to declare their innocence? While this is clearly a publicity stunt it sent a shiver down my historical spine. There is something about the “innocent people have no reason not to declare their innocence” appr
