I think Joe Conason’s latest is an intelligent version of the dreck Steve Chapman wrote a couple of weeks ago. Conason addresses the situation with Judith Miller, which he smartly recognizes as different from that of Time reporter Matthew Cooper (a distinction that numbskull Chapman didn’t make).
I have to admit that I’m coming to recognize the differences in the Miller and Cooper cases also, partly because of Conason’s column (re: the Valerie Plame matter, of course – by the way, I caught a pix of her in Time, and she’s a hottie, which I guess isn’t surprising since she’s married to a high-profile, “balls to the wall” dude like Joe Wilson).
After reading an interview with Miller’s editor at the New York Times (Bill Keller, I think – appeared on Atrios), he said something along the lines of “I wish Fitzgerald would just end this now and let Judy out,” and I’m thinking, oh great – then it really would be all for nothing if Fitzgerald picked up his marbles and called it a day without sending up Rove and other Bushco crooks, just so Judy Miller could get out of eating prison food and watching rap videos in her minimum security slam in Alexandria, VA. I’m slowly coming around to see Joe Conason’s point on this, though I still think Miller’s shilling for Bushco on Iraq War II and slamming of John Kerry are separate matters and should be treated that way.
I think Miller is on shaky ground in this, but I’m starting to come around to Cooper’s position, especially since the guy has to face “drawn swords” all over the place from Fitzgerald, Pearlstine (Time’s editor), and others. Cooper is trying to do the right thing, and it’s becoming more clear that Miller is trying to be some sort of “freedom of the press” heroine, shielding people who don’t deserve it.
Update: William Safire, though a respected columnist, is still a conservative shill, and the fact that he supports Miller also is making me rethink my position along Joe Conason's lines even more.
No comments:
Post a Comment