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Alpha Stage
Guilty
March 7, 2007







Newspapers around the world are reporting on the guilty verdict in
the trial of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I.
Lewis Libby, Jr. The New York Times is running an article entitled,
"Libby Guilty of Lying in C.I.A. Leak Case."

The article states, "The verdict meant the end of a nearly four-year
investigation into the leak of the identity of the Central Intelligence
Agency officer, Valerie Wilson. The inquiry raised fundamental
questions about the reasons for invading Iraq, exposed some of the
unseen influence of Mr. Cheney’s office and changed the landscape
of relations between journalists and official sources, as many of
Washington’s prominent political reporters were forced to testify in
a criminal trial."

Read a Similar Article!!


Discussion-Starters for Younger Children

  • Ask your students if they think that lying is wrong.
    Encourage them to explain why or why not.
  • Consider asking students to list the negative
    consequences of lying. What kinds of problems could
    lying cause?

  • Do your students think that sometimes people do lie? Why
    would somebody lie? Have your students ever lied? Why did
    they lie?
  • Consider asking your students to make signs
    celebrating the importance of telling the truth. You
    could hang these signs around the classroom.

  • What do your students think an appropriate punishment
    should be for lying? Can adults ever be punished? Should an
    adult's punishment be worse if he/she lies than if a child lies?
    Why/why not?
  • Consider involving students in the development of
    class rules. What should happen after somebody is
    caught lying once? Twice? Three times?

  • There's an old saying, "Sticks and stones will break my
    bones but names will never hurt me." Ask your students if
    they think it's true that it doesn't hurt when somebody calls
    them names. Why might it hurt? What can people think
    about so that it doesn't hurt when people call them names?
  • Perhaps people can think about their best qualities and
    how special they are. Consider asking students to
    draw a picture about one of their best skills. Help
    students determine their best skills!


Discussion-Starters for Older Students

  • Vocabulary terms to discuss: Wield; Deliberation; Leak; and,
    "Obstruct Justice".

  • According to the article, Libby was convicted of lying to a
    grand jury and to F.B.I. agents investigating the leak of the
    identity of C.I.A. operative Valerie Plame, who's husband a
    former government official strongly opposed the invasion of
    Iraq. Ask your students to imagine that they are the thoughts
    inside Libby's head. What are they thinking after the verdict?
  • Students could develop skits in which they reveal
    these thoughts.

  • Ask your students to imagine that they are advisors to the
    President of the United States. The President asks them if
    they think he should pardon Mr. Libby. Why might it be
    appropriate to pardon Mr. Libby? Why might it not be
    appropriate?
  • In groups of three or four, students could write
    memos to the President in response to these
    questions. Consider actually sending them!!

  • Do your students think that President Bush will pardon Mr.
    Libby? Do they think he should pardon him? Why/why not?

  • Mr. Libby was convicted of perjury, or lying. Does an
    individual deserve jail time for not telling the truth? Why/why
    not? Do your students think that there are any situations in
    which it is more moral to lie than to tell the truth? If so,
    when? Do your students think that there are any types of
    situations in which it is better to go to jail than to follow the
    law? If so, when? Should Mr. Libby have to go to jail as a
    consequence for his behavior? Why/why not?
  • You could ask students to respond to these questions
    in reflective essays.
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