Swopa's Right

In discussing the Watergate leaker versus the Plame leaker, what Swopa at Needlenose says.

It's not so much that I wish imprisonment on journalists like Matt Cooper (even if some might deserve jail for other reasons), but the fact is that they're not defending a leak that was made in the public interest -- they're defending their competitive interest in continuing to get leaks from government officials, no matter how self-serving or dishonest. That's why there's no huge outcry over their plight, even as an uber-leaker like Felt receives acclaim for his unsanctioned truth-telling.

I'm well aware that there are ways that the current an evil White House could use the illegality of leaks to punish people for acting nobly. But evil people find ways to take advantage of a leak-permissive environment, too, as anyone with memories of the Starr inquisition can testify. So the current situation is probably no less flawed than any other arrangement would be.

W. Mark Felt indisputably did the right thing -- but it's not wrong that he felt some trepidation about doing it, or about loudly proclaiming it afterward. The law shouldn't protect honorable leakers like Felt -- it's up to all of us to do that, making our voices heard to ensure the law isn't used to punish them, while leaving it in place to protect the dishonorable leakers like Karl Rove the miscreants in the Plame scandal.