or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
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"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
February 17, 2007
Judith Miller Doesn't Make Mistakes, And Neither Does Frontline's Transcription Service
Here's a section of the transcription of Frontline's recent interview with Judith Miller:
MILLER: I'll say something else about WMD: It's a very hard area to write about. I was not alone. Many other papers did the same kind of reporting that I did. I think because The New York Times is the paper that it is and I had written for so long about it, I was --BERGMAN: You were the leader. You were the expert in this area.
MILLER: I was the alleged expert.
Amusingly, though, if you watch the show, Miller actually said this:
MILLER: It's a very hard area to write about. I was not alone. Many other papers made the...uh... did the same kind of reporting that I did. I think because The New York Times is the paper that it is and I had written for so long about it, I was --
Posted at February 17, 2007 07:20 PM | TrackBack
no way! I refuse to believe you-- master marquee reporters and pundits never lose their train of thought, never misspeak, never falter. that's how you know they deserve such absurd salaries, and praise, and recognition.
if this isn't true, then think about all the other things that might not be true.
Posted by: Jonathan Versen at February 17, 2007 08:29 PMI can see her point, she stood up for the First Amenment by going to jail. I, in all good conscience, CANNOT condemn her for going to jail for something she DID NOT write, she DID NOT out Plame. One should ask, why is NOVAK walking around free, since he is the first to out Plame publically. Until that point Agent Plame could STILL BE HIDDEN. As for the issue of WMD, let me be BRUTALLY STRIGHT FORWARD, NEWSPAPERS LIE, ALWAYS HAVE ALWAYS WILL. Not ALL the time but it IS the CITIZENS RESPONSIBILITY to figure what he or she deems to be the TRUTH. To put it another way, it's NOT someone elses fault that I'm a sucker.
Posted by: Mike Meyer at February 17, 2007 08:38 PMShe didn't go to jail for outing Plame. She went to jail for obstructing justice into an investigation of Plame's outing. There is a difference.
Novak didn't go to jail because he didn't out Valerie Plame: he wasn't cleared to know she was a covert operative. The illegal act of disclosing classified information isn't reporting it in a newspaper, it's when someone passes knowledge from the secret realm to the non-secret realm. The person who commits the act is the person with clearance to tells a person without clearance. Rove, Libby, Armitage, they had clearance. Novak and Miller didn't.
Posted by: darrelplant at February 18, 2007 03:08 AMDarrel, good points which bear repeating whenever possible, but I think Mike was kidding.
Posted by: coriolis at February 18, 2007 10:49 AMI was being sincere, not kidding. I agree who ever outed Plame to Novak needs some prison time , no doubt about that. Novak had to know Plame was CIA to publically out her. He needs some prison time also. If someone tells a person a third party is CIA and it's NOT public knowledge. Common sense, patriotism, and the fact it has been against the law for quite some time should tell you to at least use a john doe name if other information needs printing. This was obviously a meansprited attempt at slander. Like at or not WE ARE AT WAR, WE HAVE BEEN ATTACKED. Aparently NO-ONE in AMERICA learned from the Clinton Impeachment that the Press has turned YELLOW and much like AM Radio, spue lies and propaganda. (things my DAD told me when I was 10 yrs old) ( He also told me it was MY RESPONSIBILITY to find the TRUTH FROM LIES) I stand by what I wrote. LEARN TO THINK FOR YOURSELF, NEWSPAPERS JUST GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT. If Miller obstructed justice, Well, she aparently did her time, they let her go, what's the problem or maybe you think she requires harsher punishment.
Posted by: Mike Meyer at February 18, 2007 01:32 PMplease! little judy went to jail for the attention, nothing more.
Posted by: rimone at February 19, 2007 02:34 PMSorry, Mike; I disagree about Novak. Yes, he was 100% wrong to go along with the Bush administration's retaliation against Wilson, but if you criminalize reporters' publication of leaked classified information, it gives government way too much power to shut down and intimidate the press.
Posted by: Whistler Blue at February 19, 2007 05:29 PMNovak didn't do anything illegal, though, Mike, so I'm not sure why you think he should be in jail.
What Novak did was write about classified infomation that he'd been told. But in the US (unlike Great Britain) the illegal act committed is not the publication of classified information, it's the disclosure of classified information to someone who does not have clearance -- which Novak did not have.
Posted by: darrelplant at February 19, 2007 07:14 PMI agree about any and all information, but NOT the name, not in time of war, legal war or otherwise. If it were some elected official's name, no problem, but Plame is a hired person and secracy means survival in her craft for her and her associates. I see them as Soldiers, you don't sell out your Soldiers.
Posted by: Mike Meyer at February 19, 2007 11:41 PM
