"The first (obvious choice) to come to mind would be the person (Karl Rove, Scooter Libby or one of their minions?) who leaked the fact that Valerie Plame, wife of former diplomat-turned-Bush-basher Joseph Wilson, worked for the CIA. Then there's crusty Robert Novak, who published this scoop in a column, yet seems to have avoided the threat of prison -- unlike Time's Matthew Cooper, who agreed to testify when his source suddenly consented, or Judith Miller of The New York Times, who chose prison over revealing her source. Perhaps Novak concluded that as an opinion columnist with a shrill political agenda, he doesn't actually qualify as a journalist.
Finally there is prosecutor Fitzgerald, who has placed himself on the front lines in this administration's war against the press, doling out subpoenas to journalists like they were Evites to a barbecue. While the First Amendment guarantees freedom of the press -- and that, I would argue, means ensuring that reporters can protect the identity of confidential sources -- Fitzgerald believes that journalists don't have the right to promise confidentiality. This is something the courts have backed him on.
Yet our whole business is predicated on convincing sources to talk to us and in return to count on our protection if things get hairy. This is what Pearlstein means when he talks of a "chilling effect."
But do you know who deserves most of the blame?
We do. And by that, I mean journalists."
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