Times, on petard hoist

The New York Times cries big crocodile tears for Judith Miller, who went to jail to protect a source in the Valerie Plame kerfuffle. Of course, the Times was one of the noisiest voice calling for the prosecutor who has served Miller a subpoena, so perhaps it is poetic justice. The Times's lame defense boils down to a special pleading: we wanted a witch-hunt, but only if it didn't affect any of our people. They indicate that they'd happily subject Bob Novak to the same fate. Bob Novak's only punishable crime seems to be that he has the temerity to disagree with the Times's editorial board. (Since the grand jury testimony is sealed, it is impossible to know what the prosecutor demanded of Novak and what, if anything, he revealed.)

It is truly sad to see Judith Miller, a respected journalist, suffer because of the lunacy and inconsistency of her employer. Maybe she should consider changing employers.