Dixie said:
If "everybody" knew, if this was such common knowledge, why was an investigation even launched? Wasn't Bush the one who wanted to get to the bottom of it? Does that make him the only person in America who didn't know? Why didn't someone tell him it's no secret Mr. President, she was CIA and everyone knew about it. I can't believe that with all the intelligent people in this country, in that White House, that this investigation was launched for absolutely nothing, for something everybody knew. I have to believe there had to be something to it for it to go that far.
The true core issue is rarely discussed and has nothing do with Bush. Upon his return from Niger, Wilson made statements to the press that he had been sent there at the request of Dick Cheney, which came as a surprise to Cheney. Cheney, via Libby, made inquiries to the CIA to find out who had ordered this trip and why. This effort was not taken to discredit Wilson's report or his wife, but to repudiate Wilson's claims that Cheney had sent him. The un-named CIA rep in the indictment called Libby and Cheney and told them that Wilson's wife, an employee at the CIA, had sent him. At this point the Democrats were trying to make a lot of political hay by playing up the "fact" that Cheney had sent Wilson, thereby meaning there was a split between Cheney and Bush. That was why Rove got involved and called Cooper and told him not to get "too far out", meaning put very much emphasis on this story as it was false.
When Plan A failed, and the Bush/Cheney split failed to materialize, the Dems started yacking about Wilson's wife being "outed" based on a story by Bob Novak. Why this story, and not those of Cooper? Because Novak mistakenly used the words "agency operative on weapons of mass destruction", meaning she worked at the CIA in a branch that deals with WMDs, not that she was a covert operative out risking life and limb in the field. The laughability of this charge is revealed by Wilson and his wife both agreeing to appear in a Vanity Fair photo spread after the story broke.
The issue that the SP says is still in the air is about if Rove or Libby knew they were purposefully outing a covert agent, which would mean that they were told she was a covert agent by the contact at the CIA, which is pretty inconceiveable that they would have been told that as she wasn't a covert operative while working at headquarters.
And I wouldn't get "too far out" on the everyone knew issue. I didn't know she worked at the CIA.

But I think it's fair to say that it was common knowledge to anyone who cared that she worked at the CIA. I don't think it's fair to make judgements based on what neighbors know. I've lived in my house for over a year and have no idea what any of my neighbors do, nor do I care.