Discussion Question….With Kevin?s recent defense of the media against constant criticism (and little praise) in mind, I won?t abuse the platform he?s graciously granted me to tear the Gray Lady a new a-hole for sitting on the domestic spying program story for over a year.
[The Times] said the White House had asked the paper not to publish the story at all, “arguing that it could jeopardize continuing investigations and alert would-be terrorists that they might be under scrutiny.”
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In a statement yesterday, Times Executive Editor Bill Keller ? wrote that when the Times became aware that the NSA was conducting domestic wiretaps without warrants, “the Administration argued strongly that writing about this eavesdropping program would give terrorists clues about the vulnerability of their communications and would deprive the government of an effective tool for the protection of the country’s security.?
If someone else were to suggest it seems as though the Times is blowing as much smoke up our collective bum as the cretinous louts who dodged Johnny Law in the first place, I certainly wouldn?t disagree, ahem, but for this particular discussion, I?m curious to hear your thoughts on the government?s justification for convincing the Times to withhold publication.
I should note, for the record, that I?m no criminal mastermind, which may inform my failure to comprehend how the public?s awareness of its government?s evasion of official oversight would alert terrorists that they may be spied on. It seems to me that most nogoodniks probably try to hide their schemes, irrespective of whether the exact specifics of the government?s attempts to thwart them are widely known.
