Dick Cheney's dirty fingerprints all over the crime... [VIDEO]

Guest post by Jane Hamsher.

The courtroom was packed today and the theatrics did not disappoint. Patrick Fitzgerald came right out and said that Shooter [Dick Cheney] had his dirty fingerprints all over the crime. As Marcy Wheeler at firedoglake noted in the liveblog:

There is a cloud over the VP.

He wrote those columns, he had those meetings, He sent Libby off to the meeting with Judy. Where Plame was discussed. That cloud remains because the defendant obstructed justice. That cloud was there. That cloud is something that we just can't pretend isn't there.

I recognize that I'm somewhat predisposed to root for the prosecution, but really I don't see how anyone could have watched the proceedings today and come away with the conclusion that the defense was anything other than a chaotic mess. Marcy and I agreed that Wells sounded like he was a used car salesman trying to fob off a junker he had no faith in, and for my part I'm guessing that much of the defense was crafted by Scooter Libby calling up in the middle of the night and helpfully saying, "make sure you say this tomorrow, Ted."

At the end of his closing statements, Wells broke down in tears and begged the jury to...