The Strange World Of the First Amendment
I do not like or trust the Old Media. I will say that straightaway. Even so, I find myself in the strange position of considering the defense of two such scoundrels, as they risk jail time for not revealing their sources.
(hat tip to townhall.com)
Such vague description of the case is necessary, because the facts in that matter are hardly clear; Ms. Plame was discussed in a story about a trip made to Africa by her husband, the thoroughly dishonorable Joseph C. Wilson IV, who used the news story to claim that her safety had been put in peril and that he was being attacked politically. Mr. Wilson is in no respects credible nor substantiated, but the case has moved forward to get to the bottom of who said what and why. After Robert D. Novak identified Valerie Plame as “an agency operative” (which, by the way, is not how the CIA refers to any of its employees), Joseph Wilson, ever the hypocrite and ever in search of attention, screamed the matter into debate. The present case is as much in search of a starting point as anything else, and in the politically charged atmosphere of Washington, must be regarded as unlikely to lead to anything substantially helpful or damaging to any of the people and agencies involved.
Thus the present falderal. Mr. Cooper wrote an article after the Novak report, and Ms. Miller conducted some interviews. Judge Hogan wants these two to be compelled to release their sources, especially any documents in their position.
I find myself of two minds on this count. First, there is no telling what those documents might be. It could be that secret documents were released, or some other crime has been committed, but without knowing that or having evidence leading in that direction already, that would make the order a fishing expedition, something I really don’t like to see from judges. Also, consider the position of these Old Media scoundrels. Much as I hate to back them up, it’s a cheap trick to threaten a media reporter with jail time, when the threat comes from a promise of confidentiality.
Compare it to John Kerry’s Form 180. He’s played what he thinks is a neat little trick, releasing it in its entirety only to people he believes he can trust, and even then in such a way that they cannot release anything without his additional permission. Nasty but legal.. Is that a cheap move? Sure, but we have been able to call it for what it is. What remains in John Kerry’s past, the fact that he’s hiding it and can’t back up his own record and claims of honorable service is plain. We don’t need to force him to reveal the Form 180, he’s destroying his 2008 chances by his own actions and attitudes, not that the ‘Kerry/Nirvana 2008′ Ticket ever had a serious chance. It’s the same thing here in the Plame Blame Game. Joseph C. Wilson IV is obviously a discredited liar and scandalmonger. And whatever she is now, Valerie Plame was never a CIA field officer. The whole story is known for the failed slander it is. While it would be satisfying to root out all the people who lied because they thought no one would ever know, the overall facts came out anyway, and most of us have long since moved on to matters of much greater moment.
There is also the blogger position. I myself get a lot of contact, email and snail mail, from people who tell me things privately. Sometimes it’s not relevant to the events and issues, sometimes I can’t confirm the claims, and sometimes the information is timely, relevant and credible, but I protect the source’s identity. I should not like to find myself subpoenaed by a federal judge simply for commenting on an issue after hearing from a person with information I consider relevant. Yes, challenge me if you find my claims wrong, and I certainly agree that a claim made on the basis of something heard from a person I will not identify, is by no means the same thing as citing where and how I discover a point of data. But a reporter or analysts, even an Old Media one, is not the same as a person who conspires or commits a crime, simply because they report on it. And no judge should go fishing to bully witnesses, with threats of imprisonment as the hook to compel cooperation simply because you do not know the source.
Even the New York Times deserves better.
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