Miller time

Judy Miller has decided to cooperate with the federal prosecutor investigating the leak of the identity of a covert CIA operative, and to nobody's suprise the source was identified as I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, aka Dick Cheney's chief of staff.

The White House will, of course, try to distance big Dick from this, but ask yourself this: Does the vice president's chief of staff do anything without the knowledge and approval of his boss?

Also, to nobody's suprise, the NYT is still pretending that Miller is an actual reporter and not a water carrier for the administration. New York Times Publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. said in a statement that the newspaper supported Miller's decision to testify, just as it backed her earlier refusal to cooperate.

"Judy has been unwavering in her commitment to protect the confidentiality of her source," Sulzberger said. "We are very pleased that she has finally received a direct and uncoerced waiver, both by phone and in writing, releasing her from any claim of confidentiality and enabling her to testify."

Yes, the whole time she was protecting a source, just like a real journalist. Sulzberger's statement made no mention of the fact that there was no news value in the name of the operative that was given to Miller, or that there was no reason for Miller to grant confidentiality to her source because the source wasn't a whistleblower who had reason to fear reprisals but was merely attempting to anonymously punish a critic of the administration. The statement also didn't mention the history and apparent cozy relationship Miller has had with the administration, evidenced by the stories she wrote for the Times supporting the administration's bogus WMD claims during the runup to the invasion of Iraq.

I guess this means at least one more slip of paper, for Scooter, tossed onto Bush's growing pardon pile. Which begs the question: Exactly how many members and associates of this administration are criminals in need of protection from prosecution?