Musafir's Musings

Is the noose closing in ?
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The grand jury for the CIA/Valerie Plame leak investigation by Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald is due to expire on October 28th. Patrick Fitzgerald is expected to announce his decision by that date whether or not to prosecute any of the people involved. For some of the players it must be an agonizing time. The special prosecutor and his office succeeded in preventing the investigation from turning into a circus. For that alone Mr. Fitzgerald and his staff are worthy of praise. What a difference when compared with Ken Starr who was in charge of the Clinton investigation ! His office leaked like a sieve and he revelled in appearing before TV cameras. The Washington Post is carrying an excellent summation of the background by Howard Kurtz.

All The News That's Fit to Print ! The NY Times

One of the journalists involved is Judith Miller of the NY Times. David Corn's column in The Nation includes the following:

"So much for without fear or favor. This is an awful acknowledgment for the nation's leading paper. Taubman and Jill Abramson, a managing editor, called the situation "Excruciatingly difficult." It was worse. As I've written before, Jayson Blair bamboozled his editors; Judy Miller handcuffed hers. If a deal could have been reached a year earlier, the Times would not be as embarrassed as it is today. No wonder, as the paper reports, when Miller made a post-release speech in the newsroom, claiming a victory for press freedoms, her colleagues "responded with restrained applause."

"When the Times reporters interviewed Abramson and asked her what she regretted about the paper's handling of the Miller case, she replied, "The entire thing." That was a refreshing shot of candor. But Miller's account and the paper's extensive take-out do not totally clear the air. They leave the impression that we're still not getting all the news that ought to be fit to print."

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" I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, Sir, because I'm not myself you see."
---Alice In Wonderland