This whole thing seems like it comes right out of 1984. The notion that this information, now published in, oh, a couple of thousand places, both online and on actual paper, can be made to disappear by retroactively classifying it, is simultaneously hilarious and horrific. I half expect to hear that the CIA's next step is to declare that Ms. Plame is an unperson or an agent of Eastasia.

And to add to the complete surreality of the situation, presumably Plame can fix this problem merely by changing the sentence to say something like "Slate reported on June 15, 2007 that I worked for the CIA from November 9, 1985 to January 9, 2006." Then she wouldn't be the source of the information, and she wouldn't be revealing something that she got from a classified document. (Or, to be more obnoxious, she could write that she's not allowed to say how long she worked for the CIA, but that you can find out for yourself by reading the Congressional Record, or even could reproduce a copy of the page right in the book, with appropriate highlights.)

Sometimes you just have to shake your head.