contemptible credibility

poor judith miller

******

frick.

remember my recent diatribe about the injustices being heaped on brave little judith miller? the new york times reporter is full of integrity and ethics and other virtuous virtues, said i. she’s being trampled by the jack-booted bush justice department, i blathered.

well. in the words of emily litella: never. mind.

and it’s not because judith’s not getting hosed by the feds: she is.

it’s just that upon further review, looking at the instant replay from several different angles, judith’s plucky bravery looks less like courage and more like a clinic in being played for a chump.

judith, you been punk’d.

had i been keeping up with my reading of the new york times, i would’ve known that judith was one of the bush administration’s favorite reporters in “the run-up to the iraq war.”

yes, as it turns out, judith was pimping war in iraq like there was no osama, er, tomorrow. jenna jameson would have been proud of her fervent mouthing of administration epistles.

and while her editor has defended her fallacious reporting practices, other media reviewers have not been as kind. slate, editor and publisher, and american journalism review, for examples, all dumped haterade down judith’s back in the past few months.

the point i seem to be getting around to here is this: after being a good and loyal stooge for bush and his fellow belly-crawlers, miller apparently outwore her usefulness. and instead of being rewarded for her canine-like fealty, she’s been prosecuted for failing to go all benedict arnold on her administration sources.

the irony is perfect and beautiful and delicious. it’s like a flawlessly polished apple, gleaming in dewy sunlight…except that for poor judith miller, that selfsame apple is ridden and writhing with writs and nits.

so. the takeaway…judith willingly was wallowing in bush white house slime, and now finds it hard to hose herself off. if she talks, she’s a rat. if she doesn’t talk, she’s a fool. either way, she’s lost all credibility as a responsible journalist, and her pulitzer is gone mouldy.

judith…are you geraldo rivera?