Via anonymous sources, we are told that Novak was instructed by his informants not to name Plame. This article is the voice of the defendants in this case, rehearsing their lines to be uttered later in court. ... The War Party, headed for a fall, is determined to take down with them a great journalist who opposed their grandiose schemes to "democratize" the Middle East and called them out on their fealty to Israeli over American interests. The Left, which hates Novak on principle (the feeling is no doubt mutual), is glad to pile on.
Without Novak, however, a serious security breach would never have come to light, and the War Party would not now be battening down the hatches and preparing for a long siege. He is rather like that nervy guy who smuggled box-cutters on an airplane in an effort to show how baseless are the government's claims that they're beefing up airport security. They threw the book at him, when, instead, he should've gotten a medal for exposing the soft underbelly of the security apparatus.
For being the instrument of the War Party's downfall, Novak, too, deserves a medal. One can only hope that when the neocons grab his ankle and try to drag him down along with them, he garners the support of all those who stand for the freedom of the press. Let's see all those sincere liberals out there – and I know you're out there! – come forward to demand: Hands off Bob Novak!
prospect.org |
