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Judith Miller: "Can't talk. Government is too powerful."

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Zen Democrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 09:45 PM
Original message
Judith Miller: "Can't talk. Government is too powerful."
I haven't seen this reported elsewhere. But it sounds like Judy's not talking because she's scared.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/07/07/national/main707048.shtml

(CBS/AP) A federal judge on Wednesday jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller for refusing to divulge the name of a source to a grand jury investigating the leak of the name of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame.

"There is still a realistic possibility that confinement might cause her to testify," said U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan of the showdown in a case that has had both President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney interviewed by investigators. "If we give her a pass this time... then we are on a very slippery slope that leads to anarchy."

CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart reports Miller said: "I won't testify. The risks are too great. The government is too powerful."
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jimshoes Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 09:50 PM
Response to Original message
1. How did it get that way Judith?
Endlessly repeating and regurgitating rove and neocon talking points sure didn't slow down the monster did it? You helped them steal our government Judy. You can rot now.
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Beam Me Up Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 12:33 PM
Response to Reply #1
74. Yeah, really! Gee, you mean when you aid fascists, you can get screwed?
Wow. What a surprise.

Unbelievable.
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The Backlash Cometh Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 09:50 PM
Response to Original message
2. "Government" needs more of a definition.
Does she mean the Bush Administration? They're government.
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Zen Democrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 09:51 PM
Response to Reply #2
6. No shit they're the government. The WH, the Congress, et al.
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laureloak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 10:12 AM
Response to Reply #2
62. Good point. n/t
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cestpaspossible Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 11:48 AM
Response to Reply #2
71. Judith Miller is known the world over as a liar.
That is her main claim to fame, right?
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Ms. Clio Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 12:58 PM
Response to Reply #71
78. That, and her habit of sleeping with her sources, and her absolutely
vile temperament in the workplace.

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Zen Democrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 09:51 PM
Response to Original message
3. Am I the only one who missed this?
It seems pretty damned significant to me. It confirms that Miller's motives aren't to protect a source, but to protect her own health and safety.
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DisassemblingHisLies Donating Member (273 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:01 PM
Response to Reply #3
13. She really is in a no-win situation.
She's responsible for ruining an earlier case for Fitzgerald involving two charities, & now she's sandwiched between his contempt for her and this administration's desperation for secrecy.

From what I've read about Fitzgerald, he's professional enough to let bygones be bygones in order to catch the big fish. When he learns that she's afraid of the government - & I'm sure he must know now if CBS knows - perhaps he can help her.
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Eloriel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:08 PM
Response to Reply #13
19. Oh, my heart bleeds for her
:sarcasm:

She has blood on her hands -- it's called the Iraq War. (And who on earth could be so cozy with a sleazeball like Chalabi? He even LOOKS sleazy and slimey.)

I just don't have a lot of sympathy for her.
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dissent1977 Donating Member (795 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 12:33 AM
Response to Reply #19
48. I am no fan of Judy Miller either, but do you realize what this means?
Basically Judy Miller is admitting that she is afraid of government retaliation if she testifies. That tells us a lot about the White House.

Certainly Judy Miller is not a person of strong journalistic integrity, far from it. She should have been fired from the NYT long ago. But these words from her could mean a lot, and it is important that people hear them. If White House officials are threatening journalists then this scandel is even bigger than it appears. Lets not dismiss this story just because we don't like Judy Miller.
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kenny blankenship Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 01:00 PM
Response to Reply #48
79. Or she is making shit up
just lying and making an excuse for inappropriate behavior. Which is what she does normally, on behalf of herself, Republican imperialists and other governments.
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DisassemblingHisLies Donating Member (273 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 12:37 AM
Response to Reply #19
49. I don't have any sympathies for her, either.
Edited on Sat Jul-09-05 12:44 AM by DisassemblingHisLies
However, I'm able to look at the big picture & realize what's important: That she give Fitzgerald the information he needs to put the corrupt WH sleazeballs out of commission.

If she isn't talking because she fears for her life, that doesn't help the case. I wasn't sympathetic about her feelings; I just care about getting results.

She could have had sex with Chalabi on top of a flag pole, for all I care.

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lovuian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 12:30 AM
Response to Reply #13
47. Maybe she is looking for immunity!!!
if she was smart she would start dealing!!!
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DisassemblingHisLies Donating Member (273 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 12:40 AM
Response to Reply #47
50. That's been mentioned by someone, too.
That's a good possibility, imo. In any case, I find her statement chilling.
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laureloak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 10:14 AM
Response to Reply #13
63. Can you fill me in on the charity case? How did she ruin it? nt
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aquart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:46 PM
Response to Reply #3
33. She meant government in the larger, abstract sense
And accidentally told the truth.
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cynatnite Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 09:51 PM
Response to Original message
4. and now the martyrdom sets in n/t
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DisassemblingHisLies Donating Member (273 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 01:01 AM
Response to Reply #4
52. Martyrdom?
Edited on Sat Jul-09-05 01:02 AM by DisassemblingHisLies
She's a sleazeball, the lowest of the low, scum of the earth, maggot bait, whatever.

The point is, she fears the government. "The government is too powerful." And she should know - she's been on the inside with these sleazeballs.

Chilling, don't you think? Not because Miller is afraid, but for the sake of this country.

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DisassemblingHisLies Donating Member (273 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 09:51 PM
Response to Original message
5. Wow. That's a powerful quote.
She's afraid of what the government will do to her.
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Skip Intro Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:07 PM
Response to Reply #5
18. Yes It Is! My jaw dropped. wtf???
A reporter can't talk because the government is too powerful???

That should be huge in a country that was founded, in part, on a free press. I mean, what the hell? This is the United States of America, isn't it?
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Eloriel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:22 PM
Response to Reply #5
25. Yeah, and I'm afraid of what SHE's done to US in concert w/govt
works both ways. To repeat myself: I have no sympthy for her whatsoever.
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DisassemblingHisLies Donating Member (273 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 01:08 AM
Response to Reply #25
54. To repeat *myself*: Look at the big picture.
The media's cowing to the WH the last four years. Miller's statement gives us a hint of what may be going on between the WH & those who don't go with the program.

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mtnester Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 09:52 PM
Response to Original message
7. Judy, Judy...when you lie with the dogs....
you are a dog. Shame you were too stupid to see that in the beginning, because the BLIND could have seen this coming. Did you pass your genetic stupidity on? Pity.
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Pithy Cherub Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 09:52 PM
Response to Original message
8. That snake! She's playing Rove's game...
sending a message to others perhaps that i have you by the short hairs and i am feeling weak in this moment and the need to talk is becoming stronger and stronger...you know the drill...:puke:
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Zen Democrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 09:56 PM
Response to Original message
9. She's been such an insider -- and knows so much --
And no doubt she brought this on herself. Mouthpiece for the war on the front page of the NY Times, no less. She's probably in a better position than all of us to know just HOW powerful they really are.

This unholy apparatus in power now has been the behind the scenes power since they murdered JFK, in my opinion. They've held sway over the press since at least November 22, 1963.

Yes, dear Judy has much to think about sitting there in jail.
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Gay Green Donating Member (485 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:03 PM
Response to Reply #9
14. Jail may be preferable for Judith...
...then for her to risk her very life because of the BFEE thugs.
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DisassemblingHisLies Donating Member (273 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:03 PM
Response to Reply #9
16. Bingo.
"This unholy apparatus in power now has been the behind the scenes power since they murdered JFK, in my opinion. They've held sway over the press since at least November 22, 1963."
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goclark Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:12 PM
Response to Reply #16
20. Exactly! We were just sleeping
Edited on Fri Jul-08-05 10:13 PM by goclark

and believed that Sirhan Sirhan and Castro were behind everything.

All along it was Poppy and the NeoCOns.
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Zen Democrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:24 PM
Response to Reply #20
27. Did anyone ever believe Sirhan Sirhan was behind anything?
Given that Bobby Kennedy's fatal wound was behind his right ear -- and according to Thomas Naguchi's autopsy, the other two gunshot wounds he suffered were one near the right armpit and another two inches below the armpit -- and that all the shots were upward trajectory shots -- and Sirhan was standing in front of Kennedy ... well, don't get me started on this.
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Protagoras Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 10:27 AM
Response to Reply #27
66. You'd almost think that things like the Paralax Corporation
were for real...almost.

But of course that kind of stuff only happens in bad movies...and of course OTHER countries.

Never here. Nope...never...
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Swamp Rat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 11:41 AM
Response to Reply #20
69. Now yer talkin'!
:D

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LiviaOlivia Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 09:58 PM
Response to Original message
10. Judith Miller: 3 Decades of Disinformation
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/7/8/16033/61733


An insanity plea won't work Judy..
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Zen Democrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:17 PM
Response to Reply #10
24. Wow. Excellent background on Miller.
Edited on Fri Jul-08-05 10:26 PM by Zen Democrat
Hits just about every point on her known background, except her work at Pacifica in 1971-72. Pacifica was a magnet for right-wingers being sheep-dipped - or for FBI informants - that it raises even more questions about her past.

Found this lingering on the internet:

Title: Interview with J.W. Fulbright
Author: Pacifica Radio
Publication Date: 1972
Format: Audio
Location: Broadcast
Call No./URL/Item No.: NPBA au rl orig 153
Subject: Multiple Subjects
GeographicArea: United States
Time Period: 1960s
Description: The "Grey Eminence" of the Senate gives Pacifica his opinions on Vietnam, foreign aid, the SALT talks, Richard Nixon, the Pentagon, the Senate, and the decline of democracy in America. His analysis of American history leads him to conclude that we are becoming an autocratic state. Interview by Judy Miller. This program is part of the Pacifica Radio Archives. This tape is recorded on two sides.

http://www.lib.umd.edu/ETC/LOCAL/coldwar/cold_war.php3?Action=browseSections&field=Format&Param=Audio
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DisassemblingHisLies Donating Member (273 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 01:45 AM
Response to Reply #10
55. Wow.
What a tangled web she's woven. When you follow the trail of articles she's done & the associations she's had, you realize just how big a player she was for the government she now fears.

Her association with David Kelly, for instance: In a NYT article she wrote after Kelly's death, she claimed that his wife stated that he gave no hints in his e-mails about his being under pressure.

However...

Thanks to news articles written by others we know more about Kelly's e-mails than Judith Miller revealed to readers of The New York Times... and more importantly, we know that Kelly wrote at least one e-mail that Miller failed to write about.

SUICIDE scientist Dr David Kelly warned a friend that "dark actors" were working against him just hours before his death.
Dr Kelly revealed his fears shortly before killing himself after being dragged into the row over the Government's justification for war in Iraq.

In an email to American author Judy Miller, sent just before he left his home for the last time, he referred to "many dark actors playing games".

But, according to Miller, Dr Kelly gave no indication he was depressed or planning to take his own life.

He told her he would wait "until the end of the week" before deciding his next move following his traumatic appearance before a House of Commons select committee...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/7/3/17138/30618


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tandem5 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 09:59 PM
Response to Original message
11. glad to see that quote in another article nt
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kevsand Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:00 PM
Response to Original message
12. I don't think she was talking about her personal safety.
You need to look at this in the context of her entire statement.

I think she was talking about the power of the federal grand jury and its prosecutor to haul just about anyone in there without counsel. I think she was talking about the power of the government to intimidate legitimate whistleblowers. I think she was talking about freedom of the press.

I think she was dead wrong on all counts, but that's what I think she was talking about, not retaliation against her.
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DisassemblingHisLies Donating Member (273 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:14 PM
Response to Reply #12
23. "I'm not talking. The risk is too great."
She seems to be saying she's not talking because her career (or life) would be in danger with the government.
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kevsand Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 11:00 PM
Response to Reply #23
37. It only seems that way when you
take it alone, out of context. When you read it as part of her entire statement, it's very obvious (to me at least) that she is talking about what she perceives as the risk to the media's ability to use confidential sources, which she views as essential to a free press.

She thinks (or claims to think) that there have been, are now, and will be in the future people in government who want to suppress whistleblowers and the press's ability to do their jobs on behalf of the people. She may be right about that, but I believe she's totally wrong to be making her stand in this particular instance. And I don't see her implying any physical or personal threat at all.

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Nabia2004 Donating Member (566 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 01:36 PM
Response to Reply #37
80. She's blowing smoke. If she were a threat she would already be dead
I agree with the gist of what you are saying.

Miller is still playing games. Her role now is "martyr" for a free press. Considering her career as propagandist, I find the hypocrisy of her faux righteousness disgusting.
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Zen Democrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:33 PM
Response to Reply #12
31. People don't usually refer to a federal grand jury as "The Government"
Did you think of Ken Starr as "The Government"? I thought of him as a hired gun partisan hack out to take down the Clinton Administration at any cost.

No, I don't think she's expressing a fear of the grand jury or Fitzgerald. I think her comments are clear.

"The risks are too great." I think she fears Rove.

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kevsand Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 11:06 PM
Response to Reply #31
40. She's not talking about a specific grand jury or prosecutor.
She's talking in general about the power of the government or it's agents to intimidate legitimate whistleblowers by all means at their disposal, including harassment, dismissal, or prosecution on trumped up charges. The government is very powerful.

She's also talking about what she claims is the dependence of a free press on anonymous sources, and how fragile that ability is right now because there is no federal shield law. That's what she is saying is at risk.

You can't take a dozen words out of context without risking the loss of their meaning. Look at her entire statement to the judge, and I think you'll see what I mean.
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Zen Democrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 11:46 PM
Response to Reply #40
43. Okay, I just read the complete court statement ...
and found this to be her main argument ...

But waivers demanded by a superior as a condition of employment are not voluntary. They are coercive. And should they become common practice, and I fear they are, they will be yet another means by wrongdoers in government to silence people who want to report facts of public import to journalists, or to express views that differ from the official orthodoxy.

So, what am I to gain from this? Either she's saying her source is a government whistleblower with views that differ from the administration's policy ... which surely wouldn't be any of the principals that have been mentioned ... or she's deliberately using this to gain sympathy and support from her peers.

She's not protected by a shield, and just like any other citizen who won't give up confidential information she has the right to refuse to testify and go to jail. Which is where she is.

I don't think we should draw the line at reporters. Anyone who gives their word to keep a confidentiality should do so. And go to jail, if necessary. But in the course of events, if it becomes clear that crimes have been committed, and the testimony of the confidante is necessary to convict ... it's a matter of weighing the importance of the crime against the principle of keeping ones word.

If whistleblowers, legitimate whistleblowers, are committing a crime in giving information, they should be giving that information to someone so trusted by them that they are certain their identity will never be disclosed by their confidante. That their confidante would gladly go to jail to protect them. If Miller has made this decision about her source or sources, then she's right where she should be.

It's common knowledge that Henry Kissinger was a full-blown leaker when he was National Security Advisor and Secretary of State. Nobody had to go to jail to protect Kissinger -- because, despicable as he was and is, he apparently never leaked anything criminal. A little misinformation here and there ... a little character assassination here and there ... but no laws broken. I think there's a distinction here that should not have a "chilling effect" on leakers or whistleblowers. There will always be leakers and whistleblowers.

I wonder how many leaks there have been from insiders telling reporters about crimes committed by the BFEE that have never made it into print. THAT would be the most "chilling effect".
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kevsand Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 12:07 AM
Response to Reply #43
44. I think you're absolutely right.
Obviously, it is a matter of personal honor to keep a promise. Just as obviously, when there is no legal protection, the confidante must be willing to risk the consequences of findings of contempt and possible jail time.

But regardless of legal status or shield laws, I don't feel that anyone, journalist or priest or doctor or lawyer or spouse, should ever have a legal right to conceal a crime. And in this particular instance, she may be not only a witness to a crime, but in fact the very means to the crime; ie., the conversation itself may in fact have been the crime.

She is clearly using the journalist's concept of a free press to garner sympathy for her position, and it is working, at least among the talking heads who pass for journalists these days. I'm not sure the public views it the same way.
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tinfoilinfor2005 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 11:33 AM
Response to Reply #12
68. Absolutely. She doesn't fear for her life;
she fears losing the favor of the white house boys because if she rats on tokyo rove her days of favorite reporter are over.

Yes, she is trying to look like a martyr in the name of freedom of the press. Unfortunately, the grand jury prosecutor (Ms. Miller's version of scary government) isn't buying it. His idea of "legitimate whistle blower" doesn't jive with "murderous traitor who exposes CIA agent". Sorry Judy, doesn't wash.
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:03 PM
Response to Original message
15. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
democracyindanger Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:03 PM
Response to Original message
17. "Won't talk. I'm directly involved."
Judy Miller isn't some innocent, intrepid reporter.

Lest people forget: MILLER WAS ONE OF THE KEY PEOPLE PUSHING THE WMD STORY THROUGH THE NEW YORK TIMES. SHE WAS IN BED (figuratively, and reports and past history indicate literally) WITH CHALABI THROUGHOUT THIS WHOLE DEAL.

She, along with many others, bear the responsibility of nearly 1,800 US and more than 100,000 Iraqi dead.
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sojourner Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:12 PM
Response to Original message
21. she's a whore. I can't talk about my favorite "john"...he's too powerful!
Bitch....excuse my disparaging of female canines....many of whom I know to be lovely and loyal creatures.
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Independent_Liberal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:12 PM
Response to Original message
22. Government is too powerful... Hahaha!!!
:)
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Just Me Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:24 PM
Response to Original message
26. Whoah! "...slippery slope that leads to anarchy."
Reading the entire article, Judy seems to contradict herself in asserting that "the government is too powerful" while advocating the protection of her government sources.

I dunno'. If the report is truly accurate,...I get the impression that her life is more secure in prison.
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FourStarDemocrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:25 PM
Response to Original message
28. umm..Judy should have thought about that before granting confidentiality.
Miller abused her professional privilages by promising her source confidentiality--and for no reasonable reason --she didn't even write a story. Now she's afraid of them all--well duh. She should just give it all up to Fitzgerald so he can drive a stake into the bush crime family and get the ball rolling with them. I'm sure they'll place her in the finest witness protection program when this is all over.
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Mayberry Machiavelli Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:28 PM
Response to Reply #28
29. What the hell, she thinks she's safe in prison? No "accident" could be
arranged for her ensuring she never "gives up her source"?
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Disturbed Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:33 PM
Response to Reply #28
30. Bullshit!!!!
She is now whining this crap. If the Govt. wanted her to have a fatal accident it would've happened already. She damn well knows that. She has been their whore for over 20 years. She is playing the victem role now. Why was she flashing her pixie smile as the car drove her off to Club Fed?
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FourStarDemocrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 09:53 AM
Response to Reply #30
61. I don't disagree with you..I think she's playing the victim role too..
However, I'm not sure that the "government" would have gotten rid of her already..that would be going too far for them in terms of shining even more light into this case--Judith Miller is a big fish too, and they have to be careful when playing with her. I think it's more about the neocon toadies in the bush administration knowing more than a few of Miller's secrets that if came out could send Miller's career quickly down the toilet. I think she's afraid of that, and this is all about self-preservation.
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Nothing Without Hope Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:42 PM
Response to Original message
32. I read it as her saying she's protecting freedom of the press. BUT -
she may well be secretly fearing reprisals and is making sure that the bad guys know she doesn't plan to talk no matter what. "Accidents" happen so easily in prisons.

What interests me the most is why Cooper's source gave him permission to speak but Miller's apparently didn't. From the article:
The judge speculated that Miller's confinement might cause her source to give her a more specific waiver of confidentiality, as did Cooper's.


Are they different sources? Did they say different things? Given her history with the run-up to the Iraq war, Miller probably knows a lot more damaging information both about the leaker and about the Administration than Cooper does. She likely would be far more dangerous if forced to testify on a witness stand. Who knows what questions she might be asked and how they could damage the administration's credibility or legal standing? The damage could potentially go beyond the leaker.
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Zen Democrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:48 PM
Response to Reply #32
34. Maybe Miller's source was George Tenet ... or John Bolton.
Now, if it were Bolton -- I can see why she'd be scared of that sociopath.

I get the feeling from reading between the lines that Judy's part in this may be bigger than Plame. This may be the infrastructure of "fixing the intelligence around the policy."

As we learned from Ken Starr, a Special Prosecutor's investigation can take many turns from the original subject.
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Nothing Without Hope Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:57 PM
Response to Reply #34
36. That's what I think - she knows enough to really cause some damage
and she knows what happens to people in that category when the BFEE decides to take steps to protect their cover.

I think she's making statements that are intended primarily to convince the Bush cartel "enforcers" that they don't need to silence her. She can put on a noble act, claiming it's for freedom of the press, but we know that's not really the reason. As if she gave a damn for anyone but herself and her ambition.

She knows some really damaging things about the Bush Administration, and not just about the leaker, I'm betting. (And yeah, it could be Bolton.) Once she was put on the witness stand under oath, all hell could break loose.

Unless she can continue to write her neocon-enabling lies from jail, she is no longer useful to the Administration. And they are careless with their tools - it would be easy to arrange an "accident" in prison and she knows it. She must be TERRIFIED, hoping she can convince them that she's loyal. Her life is on the line.

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peacetalksforall Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 10:54 PM
Response to Original message
35. Why not turn this around? Aren't we the government - it's our
country and Fitgerald and other diligent law enforcers are working for us. PNAC and the entire right wing war machine are aliens in our world.

Perhaps she is referring to us. She said: The risks are too great; the government is too powerful.

We are too powerful. Fitzgerald is too powerful.

She has a perfect record of acting with the right wing.

To say that she has a jounalist's right to protect a source in this case is ABSOLUTELY ABSURD.

The journalist MUST be a THIRD PARTH to demand the right to protect their source and remain silent. In a typical journalist scenario, there is a #1 = wrongdoer. #2 = whistleblower. #3 = journalist who investigates and writes it up or doesn't.

In the Plame situation there is only #1 = wrongdoer and #2 = revealer. In other words, she was a co-conspirator with the WH if she in anyway was going to cooperate with them to out Plame and it is determined that this case passes all the other tests about Plame being undercover.

Our tragedy of the week is to have to listen to all those journalists cry for themselves about the end of sourcing.

She was a FACILITATOR if she passed info back and forth or around in partership with the WH and admin.

Who did she serve by her actions? The WH.
How can anyone say she was serving the public.

They are going to make her a saint if we don't see the distinction and talk back.
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Disturbed Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 11:02 PM
Response to Reply #35
38. Who is working for whom?
The Govt. is not our master. The Pres. may be the CIC but he is not my CIC. Making her a freakin' martyr and hero is exactly what the RW are trying hard to do. She smiles on her way to Club Fed because she knows that wealth and fame are on the way for her.
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Zen Democrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 11:04 PM
Response to Reply #35
39. The people are the government in Constitutional terms.
But I don't think this junta controlling the government ever thinks in Constitutional terms -- other than how to abuse it.

Judith Miller is no hero. But if she talks ... and testifies to the crimes of the BFEE ... and gets some of these bastards thrown in jail ... then I may nominate her for sainthood. But I don't see that happening, unfortunately.

However, Fitzgerald said that the case is finished except for obtaining the testimony of Cooper and Miller. Now he has Cooper. Hopefully, he has enough to take down a couple of BFEE honchos without her testimony. I just get the feeling that what Fitzgerald wants from Miller is much bigger than Plame.
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Garbo 2004 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 11:24 PM
Response to Original message
41. Miller's reporting shows she has at most a casual regard for truth
and accuracy. (Fact checking is not her job, she's basically said in previous interviews.) She was hip deep shoveling out the Bush Administration's war propaganda. She also had little compunction in the past about outing a source in print who spoke with her only on the basis of remaining anonymous. And Miller then reportedly distorted and misrepresented what the source had actually said to suit her story.

Her contact in this case is known to the prosecutor, signed a waver and reportedly voluntarily came forward to cooperate. So I wouldn't be surprised if perhaps the real reason Miller refuses to testify is to avoid revealing her own involvement, rather than "shielding" a source. Just my speculation, since reading her articles and interviews in the past led me to my own conclusions regarding her journalistic "integrity."

IMO she's playing this for all its worth to cast herself as a martyr. And perhaps covering her own butt as well.
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CoffeeCat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-08-05 11:37 PM
Response to Original message
42. For the love of Pete...I DON'T GET THIS WOMAN!
CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart reports Miller said: "I won't testify. The risks are too great. The government is too powerful."

What on EARTH is Miller talking about????

She's talking as if she's AFRAID of the government--when she's served them dutifully as their public-relations maestro. I don't get this!

Her NYTimes articles made the Iraq war possible, because she sold the American people lies about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction. She was featured as an expert on biological warfare/weapons on CNN and other broadcast-media outlets--and she scared the heck out of all of us!

She's a publicity-stunt-woman for the very government that she says "is too powerful."

So, she's ratting out BushCo---the guys she propped up--and shouting to the world that they are corrupt, power-mongering people that she fears?

It sounds like she's crying out for help--and I'm not sure I can trust that. Not after everything she's done.

I really don't know what to think.
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lovuian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 12:15 AM
Response to Original message
45. Her emails will have to speak for her and its only right
Hogan sent her to jail!!!

This woman has been in the thick of things like Iraq and David Kelly's death and if she doesn't speak up ... she will be putting herself in worse jeopardy!!!

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RUMMYisFROSTED Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 12:28 AM
Response to Original message
46. So that's what made her clam up.
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spooked Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 12:43 AM
Response to Original message
51. Sounds like A PLEA FOR HELP if you ask me
Like a secert message for a more powerful lawyer who can get her into a witness protection program...
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DoYouEverWonder Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 10:32 AM
Response to Reply #51
67. She can't figure out why W
hasn't pardoned her yet. She was such a good little cheerleader for his war. Now she's going to have to miss her Neil Diamond concert. :puke:

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TacticalPeek Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 01:02 AM
Response to Original message
53. In court, the prosecutor's side is 'the government' or 'the state'.
Even when the prosecutor is referred to as 'the people', it means the people acting through their government or state. As in "US v. Microsoft", or "The People vs. Larry Flynt".

Miller has been spending a lot of time with lawyers and they would be talking about "the government", meaning their opposition in court - the prosecutors.

So what she's saying is that the prosecutor is too powerful.

For her, 'too powerful' means that Fitzgerald has the power to subpoena and compel her testimony under oath. And it means that he has the power to demand answers that she does not want to give, because true answers would embarrass or incriminate or discredit her. And it means he has the power to charge, try and convict her of perjury, obstruction etc. if she lies, trying to protect herself or others.

For her, that is "too powerful". For the crook, the prosecutor is always too powerful. Tough titty, Judy. If you can't do the time, then don't do the crime.

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Ms. Clio Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 12:27 PM
Response to Reply #53
72. Yes, I agree with your interpretation
She's not hinting that she's frightened of her BushCo. masters, but of us--we, the people, "the government" (theoretically, anyway).

I only wish she would "do the time" somewhere really cold and ugly and mean.

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Uncle Joe Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 12:58 PM
Response to Reply #53
77. I agree sort of, I think this is were she is coming from
Edited on Sat Jul-09-05 01:05 PM by Uncle Joe
I imagine that not only would the prosecutor grill her on the outing of Valerie Plame, but also why did she not mention that David Kelley had e-mailed her noting his fear of "dark forces" working against him. She treated the David Kelley story as if he was happy and content just before he committed "suicide", why on earth would she cover this up?, unless she knew who the dark forces were. She has went over to the dark side and now she is afraid of the emperor. Well Judy if Darth Vader can save his soul, maybe you can save yours too, you just need to decide where your ultimate allegiance is. Is it to the emperor or is it to your nation and the planet?
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hnsez Donating Member (430 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 08:47 AM
Response to Original message
56. Its time for here to make a sacrifice for the good of the country
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lonestarnot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 08:49 AM
Response to Original message
57. Come on Judy! Grow some balls!
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sendero Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 08:58 AM
Response to Original message
58. What she should have said..
.... "the government is too powerful, and I and most of the rest of the media has helped make them so".

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SHRED Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 09:07 AM
Response to Original message
59. Give us a break Judy
It is YOU who promoted the lies leading to war and YOU who share the blood on your hands with the other war monger pigs, of thousands of men, women, and children.
Rot in hell bitch.
:grr:
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sadiesworld Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 09:28 AM
Response to Original message
60. Unless you think this is some super-secret coded message...
I'd say you have taken the statement entirely out of context. Miller is just trying to spin this as the intrepid Lois Lane vs. the evil monolithic government. Her theatrics are getting downright entertaining.
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Ms. Clio Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 12:30 PM
Response to Reply #60
73. Exactly -- just wishful thinking to read it any other way
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dogday Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 10:14 AM
Response to Original message
64. And is that why you help launch this war by your
previous articles Judy? Should of thought about those risks and the lives of our soldiers and innocent Iraqis before you jumped into bed with Chalabi....
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Lecky Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 10:17 AM
Response to Original message
65. I find that a very odd thing for her to say n/t
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leesa Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 11:46 AM
Response to Original message
70. You enabled it to be that way, Judith. You are part of the blame.
You are also a coward.
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sleipnir Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 12:34 PM
Response to Original message
75. I call BULLSHIT on this one.
She damn well knew what she was getting into. She's be doing it for years. If the media is afraid to speak, then soon we will lose all voice that we have of opposition.

Miller must talk, for no other reason than to defeat what is fast becoming a fascist state of control.
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lateo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jul-09-05 12:36 PM
Response to Original message
76. Gee...it didn't stop her from talking before...
When she was a stenographer for them...
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