Saturday, January 24, 2004

Blame Game:

Slate has an good analysis of the fingerpointing going on in the investigation of the leaking of memos from the Senate Judiciary Committee. If you're unfamiliar with the issues, it involves alleged republican staffers going into computer files and finding democrat memos discussing strategies for dealing with particular Bush nominees, like Miguel Estrada. The most inciteful passage in the Slate article is the final paragraph:


Clearly, whenever the Senate investigates itself, it's news. Likewise, the identity, motivations, and modus operandi of these leakers is news, too. But, like York, I can't help but think there's a journalistic double standard operating here in which partisan leaks to conservative journals and journalists (the Novak-Plame incident, for another example) are treated as capital crimes, but partisan leaks that wound Republicans are regarded the highest form of truth telling.

You won't hear that on NBCCBSABCPBSCNN, now will you.

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