The editorial page, which is run by Mr. Sulzberger and Gail Collins, the editorial page editor, championed Ms. Miller's cause. The Times published more than 15 editorials and called for Congress to pass a shield law that would make it harder for federal prosecutors to compel reporters to testify.
Mr. Sulzberger said he did not personally write the editorials, but regularly urged Ms. Collins to devote space to them. After Ms. Miller was jailed, an editorial acknowledged that "this is far from an ideal case," before saying, "If Ms. Miller testifies, it may be immeasurably harder in the future to persuade a frightened government employee to talk about malfeasance in high places." [emphasis added]
Joe Wilson was not frightened, but otherwise, there is no difference between this hypothetical case and Wilson's. Joe Wilson was a government employee reporting on malfeasance in high places. Judith Miller, at the miimum, aided and abetted the Bush Administration's attempt to silence Wilson or to punish him for speaking out and thereby silence any other government employees who wanted to follow in Wilson's footsteps.
The NY Times was working directly against the ability of government employees to blow the whistle on government malfeasance. Judy is no First Amdendement hero and never was. The Times should be condemned for having supported her for so very long.
UPDATE: Arianna Huffington covers an extremely questionable point in Miller's story.
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