Byron York today reports on the economic incentives possibly motivating the Wilson-Plame gang, particularly now that Valerie’s book deal has gone kaput.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post‘s in the tank coverage of the Wilson-Plame press conference this morning makes much of the possibility that discovery in any court case could embarrass Administration figures — without citing a word about the possibility that discovery could be hugely embarrassing to the Wilsons themselves.

So far no one has scrutinized the business dealings Joe Wilson himself had in the Middle East after his departure from the State Department, when he became a murky lobbyist wheeler-dealer in the region. While his infamous New York Times op-ed continues to enjoy attention, everyone seems to overlook the piece he did for the ultra-left wing Nation magazine’s March 3, 2003 issue. Among other things, it included this following thought about how an Iraq war would be bad for business:

“American businessmen already complain about hostility when overseas, and Arabs speak openly of boycotting American products.”

More precisely, he was suggesting that an Iraq war would be bad for his business. Evidently, he’s been playing catch-up ever since.