Free Scooter Libby! - By MICHAEL KINSLEY

[kpete]

Free Scooter Libby!
Thursday, Feb. 01, 2007 By MICHAEL KINSLEY

.............

The specific facts of this saga have not been friendly to the press's arguments. Far from keeping the government honest, the leaks or intended leaks in this tale were all part of a dizzy spin campaign in the Vice President's office. What's more, everyone involved seems to have overlooked the fact that a leak of the identity of an undercover officer can be against the law. This is a law that even most journalists think is reasonable. This law cannot be enforced if one of the parties to an illegal conversation is protected by the Fifth Amendment's right against self-incrimination and the other party, as journalists wish, is protected by a reporter's First Amendment immunity from testifying. Journalists have secrets, and government intelligence agencies have secrets. Journalists seem to be saying that their secrets are always more important and always get to win.

.....................

The coverage of the Scooter Libby trial has been jaunty to the point of slapstick--quite different from the cathedral solemnity when journalists are in the dock. There have been no self-righteous editorials from the New York Times or the Washington Post with titles like "Press Freedom on the Precipice" or "Showdown for Press Freedom" (both real examples from the Times). This isn't hard to explain: I have been loving Scootergate myself and devouring the coverage. It's great to see the ham-handed machinations of the Bush Administration exposed. Yet Libby faces the possibility of years in prison and the certainty of hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills--all because he allegedly tried to help journalists produce this sacred object, a leak.

..........................

If leaks are vital to the freedom of the press, then surely both of the people needed to create a leak--the reporter and the source--deserve protection. If Judy Miller is a martyr of press freedom, then so is Scooter Libby.

more at:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1584799,00.html

[Demeter]

1. I'm Not Sure What His Problem Is; But If the Rest of the Article Rambles Too

the world may never know.

It's like suing the restaurant because you got food poisoning from eating out of their dumpster.

[Mandate My Ass]

2. the freaking mental gymnastics are surreal

This was not a government employee exposing the misdeeds of someone higher up the ladder whose disclosure was a benefit to the public good. This was a very high ranking official ruining the livelihood of a covert agent, endangering her life and those of her contacts, compromising a WMD tracking agency, all during a war against terrorism.

Judy Miller is no martyr either. She's neck deep in both the Plame outing and the suspicious death of David Kelly.

[emulatorloo]

3. Surely this is satire, right? -- "Yet Libby faces the possibility of years in prison and the

certainty of hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills--all because he allegedly tried to help journalists produce this sacred object, a leak."

I mean come on, Kinsley can't be serious.

[Bob3]

4. This is a huge steaming crock o' dung

What libby was up to his neck in as were the rest - was not a leak from inside the government that brings to the light of day a truth that the government was trying to cover up - instead this leak was an attempt by the government to destroy a critic who spoke a truth said government didn't care to hear. It was the kind of the J Edgar Hoover liked to do back in the day.

The leak made in service of power not as a check - Miller was acting not as a reporter but as a servant of the Administration determined to hide the truth about their actions and motives. To try and suggest that this is a first amendment issue is absurd. It's not like the president doesn't have resources - if they were honest men they would have debated Wilson honestly and in the open but since all they cared about was starting the war with IRaq facts be damned, they decided to try and crush Wilson Personally.

[TahitiNut]

5. Reporters DON'T have First Amendment immunity from testifying.

States' "Shield Laws" are statutory, not Constitutional, and their conditions vary greatly. D.C. has no "shield law" and there is no federal shield law. That interpretation of the First Amendment has been repudiated by SCOTUS. It does not exist.

[blogslut]

6. Is he serious?

No really. Is he? Is this a joke column?

I'd rather talk about seventies hairstyles.

[CatWoman]

8. Michael Kinsley hasn't been himself for some time

he comes out of nowhere from time to time, just to lob crazy shit like this.

[blogslut]

13. A present for you

;)

[Beetwasher]

9. Someone W/ More Talent Than I, Surely MUST Insert a Photoshop of

Libby w/ a mullet here:

[spanone]

7. Free Libby?, well maybe after 10 years of so...

Libby was certainly not trying to 'help the press produce the sacred object-the leak' he was trying to subvert democracy and participate in a nation going to war on false pretenses. I believe that is called TREASON mr. kinsley.

[Jacobin]

10. Someone please get the straight jacket

Kinsley has lost his freaking mind.

This piece makes no sense whatsoever. It is internally inconsistent to the extent that he is certifiable

[grasswire]

11. can anyone find an email for Kinsley?

He ought to hear directly from us.

[CatWoman]

12. click on Michael's name

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1584799,00.html

[meldroc]

14. I'd be willing to go light on Scooter Libby...

if he'd sing like a canary and expose Bush's and Cheney's treason to the world.

Oh, and by "light" I mean he'd only get 20 years...