Calling All Wingnuts

I was actually on his program the day he called for the jailing of American journalists… 

The other half of his rant involved the idea that people that were outraged that the President disclosed classified information - legally - were not outraged that the journalists illegally disclosed calssified information that undermined our war on terror…

I called in and explained to him the following:

1)  Intelligence professionals decided that, for whatever reason, the disclosure of information regarding Iraq and WMD would harm national security.

2)  Information shared with Congress in the SoTU came to be questioned by Joe Wilson and in the resulting controversy…

3)  The President decided to run roughshod over the judgement of his intelligence professionals and release classified information.  He played politics with our nation’s security.

Bennett countered that what the President did was legal.

I explained to Bennett that, as a moralist, I’m sure he understood the difference between what is legal/illegal and what is right or wrong.  For example, it is legal for him to cheat on his wife…

He quickly changed the subject to ask me why I wasn’t outraged by the journalist’s disclosure of information that was classified and undermined our nation’s security.

I told him that I thought the journalists were actually whistleblowers whose actions would help to make our country stronger.

He claimed I was wrong…

So I called back again this morning when he brought up the jailing of journalists again.

You see, Carl Bernstein has an excellent article posted on Vanity Fair’s website.  In it he claims that the Bush administrations use of the classification process to cover up incompetence and crimes rivals that of the Nixon administration.

So…  I got to thinking…  Would Bennett jail Woodard and Berstein?  How ’bout the publisher of the Pentagon Papers?