A la Valerie Plame
Yesterday, defending his authorization of domestic eavesdropping without first getting the required warrants, President Bush lectured:
The existence of this secret program was revealed in media reports after being improperly provided to news organizations. As a result, our enemies have learned information they should not have.And the unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk. Revealing classified information is illegal, alerts our enemies and endangers our country.
If Bush is so upset that someone “improperly provided” the story to news organizations, maybe he should put Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald on it and get yet another member of his administration indicted.
And just a little point of order on the merits of disclosing secrets to the press: It’s illegal for the government to eavesdrop without first getting a warrant. It’s not illegal— a la Valerie Plame—to be a CIA agent.
word.