One Reporter Jailed, Another Weasels Out, Where's Novak?

One Reporter Jailed, Another Weasels Out, Where's Novak?

In the twisted saga of the Valerie Plame "outing" as a clandestine asset, Judith Miller of the New York Times was sentenced to jail today for her continued refusal to name an anonymous confidential source for a story she wrote AFTER notorious Bush butt-boy Bob Novak originally leaked the information as a way to get back at her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, who had the bad judgment to write a truthful report that showed Saddam Hussein WAS NOT attempting to buy uranium from Niger. Guardian UK excerpt:

WASHINGTON (AP) - New York Times reporter Judith Miller was jailed Wednesday for refusing to divulge a confidential source to a grand jury investigating the Bush administration's leak of an undercover CIA operative's name. It added legal drama to what was already one of the most closely watched press freedom cases in recent history.

Another reporter, Matthew Cooper of Time magazine, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors after disclosing that his source had given him permission to do so hours earlier. Cooper's about-face, coming after nearly two years of refusals to disclose the information, spared him the likelihood of jail.

``I do not view myself as above the law,'' Miller told U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan. ``You are right to send me to prison.'' But she said she had an obligation to protect a confidential source: ``I do not make confidentiality pledges lightly, but when I do I must honor them.''

And because she, like Wilson had the bad judgment to actually do her job, she is paying the price that all who go against the Bush Royal Family pay. Hey, at least she didn't end up dead in a motel parking lot dumpster outside of Amarillo. Full story: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5123076,00.html

So what does this punishment accomplish? Judging from the shameful way Matt Cooper rolled over, it accomplished plenty, namely that only news that pleases President Warmonging Asshole is to be published. But back to the obvious: Why the hell hasn't anyone gone after that hack Novak? Christ, the fact that that piece of shit is allowed on the air at all is bad enough, but now we see that the man who started this whole thing isn't even part of the picture when all is said and done. Note the fact that I took this story from a UK new web site. That ought to tell you plenty about the sad state of the American news structure...