Amid all the coverage of Scooter Libby’s conviction for obstructing a leak investigation, a statement by one of the jurors, Denis Collins, says it all:

“What are we doing with this guy here? Where’s Rove? Where are these other guys?’” Collins said. “I’m not saying we didn’t think Mr. Libby was guilty of the things we found him guilty of. It seemed like he was, as [Libby defense lawyer] Mr. Wells put it, he was the fall guy.”

To be sure, Libby took the fall but the real dirty work (or the dirtiest of the dirty work) was committed by higher ups. Libby’s machinations were part of the selling of a war that a recent Gallup poll shows that most Americans realize was a terrible mistake. It’s that war that’s the real crime, and responsibility for it lies with Bush and his inner circle.

Sometimes it’s tempting to think the Bush presidency is a bad dream, but no, the darkness is real. That he is our president is a very, very, very bad thing.