Nasty Little Man

PA paper, former CIA agent agree with NLM

The Reading Eagle and former CIA agent Larry Johnson, a regular on the cable news shows, agree that the hunt for the leaker of the NSA spy program story is absurd.

Reading Eagle: Who leaked story is not the concern

The argument is similar to the one used to defend the Patriot Act, which infringes on the constitutional rights of all people living in the United States: In effect those who make such an argument are saying we have to protect our constitutional rights by taking them away.

No Quarter: Leak Hypocrisy

Then there is the whistle blower variant. This is more important and, in my opinion, the most valuable. It exists to keep politicians honest and alert the public to serious policy disputes. The two most recent examples are the revelations that the United States was holding possible terrorists in secret prisons around the world and that George Bush was circumventing the law and approving illegal electronic surveillance inside the United States. While the Bush White House is certain that those responsible for these leaks are political partisans hell bent on damaging the President, it is really a sign that folks on the inside with a conscience finally decided to speak out.

posted by Kinder Gentler Little Man @ 2:53 PM