A Perfect Paradox
Rich was the more rousing of the two writers. “No reporter went to jail during Watergate,” he declared. “No news organization buckled like Time. No one instigated a war on phony premises. This is worse than Watergate.”
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But Kinsley’s argument, like Rich’s, was strewn with potholes. While Rich excoriated Time for surrendering Cooper’s notes after the Supreme Court refused to step in, Kinsley applauded. Even Nixon turned over the Watergate tapes when the Supreme Court told him to, said Kinsley, asking, “Do journalists go beyond even Nixon and claim a right to disobey the judicial system’s final determination? Answer: Yes, they do. Or at least the New York Times does.” He scoffed at the Times editorial page’s assertion that Miller was simply practicing “civil disobedience.”
Or Is It a Double Standard?
A Nebraska blogger blew up at the paper’s inconsistency. “How hypocritical is that to reveal the identity (and so much more) of a man afraid for his life,” marveled Kyle Michaelis, “on the same day they demand reporters be exempted from ever being forced to reveal such things in a criminal investigation. Talk about a power trip–the World-Herald wants to be judge, jury, and executioner . . . above the law in every way.”
Last December I wrote mournfully about the vanishing of light verse. So credit where it’s due: the July/August Poetry has just arrived, and it’s billed as the “humor issue.” The very first poem rhymes “quote ’em” and “scrotum,” an encouraging sign that the editors understood their mission.
