PLAME UPDATE: Now they tell us:

Far from being part of an orchestrated plot or a vast White House conspiracy, Plame’s unmasking was simply the handiwork of that Washington, D.C., staple, an insider with a big mouth. The culprit was gossip, not political gunslinging.

It should be noted that the left is not giving up on this one, continuing to point ominously at Bush aides’ behavior vis-à-vis Plame and Wilson. But there’s little doubt that Armitage’s role is a body blow to the conspiracy theorists.

It was, as they say, a “stunning reversal,” the kind of development Ben Bradlee loved to half-kiddingly call “a correction.” It stood the official narrative of Plamegate completely on its head.

Not only was it a fascinating development, it was the kind of story that cried out for attention for fairness reasons. But that wasn’t destined to happen.

No, it wasn’t. And the American Journalism Review offers an excessively charitable explanation: “Maybe it’s simply a matter of embarrassment. After so much breathless coverage of supposed White House character assassination, maybe the MSM just kind of hoped the whole thing would go away.”

They should be embarrassed, all right, but I think it’s more a case of losing interest in the story once it was clear that no one was going to be frog-marched from the White House.

UPDATE: Jim Treacher emails: “Thank you for gloating. About the Plame thing. They really slammed the brakes on that, didn’t they? And then blamed us for the whiplash.”

Indeed.