Arianna Huffington is an eloquent speaker and writer, and I see a lot of parallels between her and me: we’re both reformed conservatives, having realized the error of our ways and moved into the better side of the political spectrum.

Her website is a treasure trove of good reading. While I don’t necessarily agree with all of the writers on her site, it’s an essential stop in the daily grind.

With the impending rulings from Fitzgerald about the Plame/Niger scandal and the possible effect on the BushCo régime, the comparisons to Nixon’s Watergate scandal have come to the fore. Leave it to Arianna to put it all in perspective:

If Rove and Libby are indeed indicted (adding Cheney to our Merry Fitz-mas gift list would just be getting greedy), I believe it will shake up our government in a way we haven’t seen since Watergate.

To borrow a phrase from that era, let me make myself perfectly clear: I’m not saying that Plamegate is the same as Watergate. I’m saying it’s worse. Much, much worse. No one died as a result of Watergate, but 2,000 American soldiers have now been killed and thousands more wounded to rid the world of an imminent threat that wasn’t.

Could there be anything bigger?

That’s the long and short of the Plame/Niger scandal: it’s a far worse tragedy than Watergate, with much higher stakes and much greater carelessness on the part of the government entrusted to protect its citizens. The litany of lies, deception and bullheaded arrogance put forth by Bush, Cheney, Rove, Libby, Rumsfeld, Rice, Wolfowitz and countless other BushCo members is nothing short of criminal, and I hope that some of this crew (if not all of them) are indicted and serve time.

Of course, if this continues to shape up as a close relative of Watergate, you’ll see Bush, in a fit or panic, pardon those who are indicted. And if that happens, I only hope the American people show the theocons the door in 2006 and 2008.