The fixation with Carl Rove shown by many liberals illustrates their basic lack of understanding of the function of the CIA and the US security apparatus. Many "progressive" pundits are declaringthat Rove, in supposedly revealing the identity of a CIA agent is a traitor, should be jailed, and has damaged "national security." While Rove is a particularly dislikable political operative, the outing of a CIA operative is an action that progressives should welcome. It should be common knowledge amongst progressives that as an institution, the CIA has always been an agent of repression and regressive political action. That a CIA operative was exposed should not be something to condemn, rather, progressives should encourage more politicians to do it. Of course, Rove did not expose a CIA agent as an act against US imperialism. Having said that, it should be acknowledged that compared to his many crimes, this is a rather small one. It should not be forgotten that Rove, as a part of this administration, is responsible for the ongoing illegal war in Iraq as well as a host of other crimes in Afghanistan, Haiti, Venezuela and others. If the Bush administration is actually seriously hindered by this incident, it would be a historical irony similar to Watergate, where the Nixon administration was brought down not because of there horrendous crimes of conducting secret wars in Cambodia and Laos, but for a simple break-in.