Yesterday I compared the Fitzgerald - Valerie Plame investigation to cotton candy.

Today Clarice Feldman’s calling it a circus.

I take it that the nod to Novak signals the long Fitzgerald circus is breaking up the tents and moving on, having succeeded only in tying up the time and money of the hapless White House staffers whom he enmeshed in this preposterous long-running carnival of misadventure and misdirection. His accomplishments consist of smearing the reputation of one of the key warriors against terror, the brilliant and hard-working Lewis Libby, and the added burden on an already pressed White House staff.

That the circus was about to close was obvious during the discovery proceedings in May. During those hearings, Libby’s counsel argued that he should be entitled to notes not yet provided to him (because not in the Prosecutor’s possession). In argument, that counsel argued from what he did have that there was much more in Time’s and the New York Time’s possession that was exculpatory to his client to which Libby was entitled.

Feldman raises more important questions about the integrity of Fitzgerald’s investigation.

Fitzgerald may be a fine prosecutor but his circus organizing skills are driving some to Shrooms.