Posted on 07/13/2005 2:19:41 PM PDT by summer
NEW YORK - Bob Woodward has offered to serve some of jailed reporter Judith Miller's time behind bars, and urged others to share her incarceration as well.
Miller, the New York Times reporter held in contempt for refusing to disclose her confidential source in the Valerie Plame case, was ordered to jail last Wednesday and could remain there for four months
Woodward, who appeared on Larry King Live Monday night, said journalists should be willing to help Miller out since she is essentially fighting for all reporters' rights by withholding her confidential source and giving up her freedom. Here is the transcript from the portion of the show:
WOODWARD: No. Clearly, we're not above the law. But frequently, people disobey the law. And when you do so, you have to be willing to accept the consequences. And in this case, the consequences, I guess, are a four-month jail sentence, and Judy Miller's willing to do that, to stand on this principle of trust. You know, I...
KING: You said you would have done it, too?
WOODWARD: I would have done it, too. And in fact, you know, maybe I shouldn't say this, but I will ...
KING: Go ahead.
WOODWARD: ... because it came to mind: If the judge would permit it, I would go serve some of her jail time, because I think the principle is that important, and it should be underscored. It's not a casual idea that we have confidential sources. It is absolutely vital. And I'll bet there are all kinds of reporters out there, if we could divvy up this four-month jail sentence -- I suspect the judge would not permit that, but if he would, I'll be first in line. It's that important to our business.
And this book and Watergate demonstrated, the daily reporting in any newspaper or on CNN illustrates that. And what are you going to do? Are you going to interview all of the public relations people, all of the spokespeople, and that's it? No one else can talk? Imagine, you know, the varnished pablum that would come out.
KING: We do need our Woodwards.
We're going to take a break and come back and go to your phone calls. Bob Woodward offering to serve part of the time for Judith Miller!
You can't serve someone else's sentence, as if that will somehow placate the offended authority.
Send him to jail, please..
gee, i wonder why? how about we divvy up everybody's jail sentences between family members?
what about WHY she is being held??!! it isn't going to get her to tell the truth by letting these magnanimous bighearted liberals serve the sentence for her.
but then, i'm guessing the TRUTH is that either joe wilson or miller herself is the source she is "protecting."
He suspects the judge would not permit it? How wonderfully clueless! Woodward seems to think the judge is locking up Miller just to be mean to journalists, and any other reporter would suit his purposes just as well.The actual reason Miller is behind bars is because she has information the judge has deemed important to a criminal investigation. He is jailing her in an effort to induce her to testify. This probably won't end up working, but jailing a succession of celebrity scribes instead certainly would not.
Meanwhile, the New York Sun reports that President Bush issued a statement yesterday calling for the mad mullahs who run Iran to release dissident journalist Akbar Ganji:
"The President calls on all supporters of human rights and freedom, and the United Nations, to take up Ganji's case and the overall human rights situation in Iran," a statement released by the White House yesterday read. "The President also calls on the Government of Iran to release Mr. Ganji immediately and unconditionally and to allow him access to medical assistance."We'd take Woodward more seriously if he offered to go to jail in Ganji's place.
Maybe someone could forward Taranto's suggestion to Mr. Woodward! ;-)
While in grad school, I taught some JUCO courses in a large maximum security prison. One of the fundamental lessons of prison is YOUR TIME IS YOUR TIME. No one else can serve your time. Typically as liberals, they don't understand that. And of course they don't understand that we want her in jail until she gives up her information.
Now possibly to help her work on a story while in jail, we could transfer her to Club Gitmo?
After all, they are members of the fourth estate.
I think it's a great idea he can go to jail for all I care.
Speculation is mounting that Miller is protecting herself, that Miller was herself a source of information about Plame that made it to several Bush administration officials and was then recycled to columnist Robert Novak. He, then, disclosed Plame's employment by the CIA and her role in arranging for her husband Joe Wilson's mission to Africa to investigate the Iraq-uranium link.
This would help explain why Miller didn't write a story about the case. It would be difficult for Miller to write a story when she was so deeply involved in how it developed. Disclosure of her role then or now would be extremely embarrassing.
She could be the key to exonerating Bush administration officials of possible violations of the law against knowingly disclosing the identities of covert intelligence agents. If they were simply passing along information from Miller or some other journalist about Joseph Wilson's wife, then they can't be accused of deliberately disclosing classified information about Plame's identity.
The more likely explanation is that Miller is protecting private discussions with administration officials, and that during those discussions she provided or confirmed information about Plame's identity. This would make sense. Both Miller and Plame covered the subject of weapons of mass destruction and it was likely that they knew one another, or at least were aware of each other's work in this field.
Ditto!
I'd love to see this fraud in jail...whatever the reason.
Like minds.
Bob Woodwood, The New Deep Throat
Dedicated to Bubba and the rest of the guys in Cell Block D.
Someone hungers to be a victim...
You can have yours, Larry. I'll go find my own, thanks.
Everyone knows that journalists' rights take a back seat in certain cases and this is one of them.
I'd much prefer that Woodward serve out Scott Petersons sentence.
As to Cooper's involvement...maybe Miller set Cooper and Rove up by setting Cooper on the trail of the Cheney/Wilson allegation. Remember, Miller never wrote about Plame and Cooper originally called Rove about a welfare reform story, and only brought up Wilson at the end of the conversation. Seems plausible.
Sales of his books must be down. He is trying to get some cheap free publicity.
Now, if he said he would go on a hunger strike until the judge releases Ms Miller I would be more impressed. Within a short period of time the country would have one less MSM DemoRat reporter to worry about.
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