Judy Miller Looks To The Future

It blows me away that Judy Miller still has a job. If any of us had behaved the way she did (faulty reporting, lying about a federal investigation, misleading employers) on our jobs, we would've been fired already. But Judy is still employed at the Times. The Times stood by her for so long, I believe the owners and editors of that paper fear to drop her now would be to expose their own complicity in her folly. So they're openly supporting her and keeping her on board, but attacking her from the side to save some face. Make no mistake about it, the 'leak' of that Keller memo criticizing her was no accident. Nor was Maureen Dowd's savage column toward Ms. Miller not approved from the top. The Times wanted these things out there for everyone to see. They hate Judy Miller too! See, they're not so bad. This is making Miller very upset and I have read many people say that this is unfair to Miller, including an eye-rolling editorial in the NY Post pretending to suddenly act like they care about a Times reporter and stating that "Judith Miller deserves better than what she's gotten to date from The New York Times". No. She doesn't. The Times, and this country, deserve better than what we've gotten to date from Judy Miller.

She used the New York Times to push the agenda of her neoconservative friends in the White House. She was, to quote Arianna Huffington, the "Shirley MacLaine of the neocon rat pack". Long after the facts were in, she continued to report false information about WMDs in Iraq. Let's go back before the war began. How many times did we hear Vice President Cheney (and others) quoting the NY Times as backup that their claims of WMD were validated? A lot. And who was doing that reporting at the Times that they quoted? Judy Miller. And who, as we now have learned, was Miller's source of information? Scooter Libby. And who does Scooter Libby work for and get his information from? Vice President Cheney. Did you see how we just went around in a circle? By quoting the Times (if specifically the work of Judy Miller), Cheney was essentially quoting himself to validate his WMD claims! And why? Because by quoting the New York Times, a 'left-leaning' and worldwide respected newspaper, the Vice President's words have greater impact. Anyone who doubts that one newspaper can have that much influence should open a history book and read about the Spanish-American War and the role that Hearst's newspapers and his 'yellow journalism' played in stoking the fires for that war.

And then there was the Plame investigation. Judy Miller, despite having a waiver from her source like Time magazine's Matt Cooper did, went to jail for 85 days. Why? Because her depiction as a First Amendment martyr would land her credibility and maybe even a book deal? Or, was it to protect the White House? Probably a little of both. And when she finally told her side of the story (such as it was) in the Times, she now claims that Libby never spoke to her about Plame and she can't remember the source who gave her that name (ignore that Plame's name was on the same page of notes as her Libby conservation). She doesn't even remember writing the Plame ('Flame'?) name in her notes at all! So she went to jail, despite having a waiver, to protect someone that she can't remember for giving her a name she doesn't remember writing down. This is all part of a serious federal investigation and she treated it like a game.

So yes, Judy Miller deserves all the criticisms thrown at her and more. She does have the protection of the First Amendment, but that does not excuse her actions. She was, and is, part of the people who misled this country into a disastrous war. Think about this: After her prison stint, Scooter Libby sent her a letter saying that, at the White House, "your reporting, and you, are missed". Need I say more?

Finally- the Wall Street Journal discussing Miller's planning for the future:
New York Times Reporter Miller
Is in Talks Over Her Job Status

New York Times reporter Judith Miller has begun discussing her future employment options with the newspaper, including the possibility of a severance package, a lawyer familiar with the matter, said yesterday.

Judy, worry not about the future. If McClellan cracks up, I'm sure you'll make a great White House press secretary.