It is heartening to see members of a group circle the wagons, including journalists and, especially, Slate journalists. Safety in numbers and all that.
But I cannot agree that Eric and the NY Times have triumphed here, much less spoken "truth to power". Rather, they activily covered up illegal activity for a year. Had this been a case of, say, a kidnapping and Eric had been a witness and, when questioned, covered it up, he would now be in jail as an accomplice. And, in this case (though he will of course not go to jail), he and the NY Times were just that--accomplices.
Moreover, they were dupes. They knew, or should have known, that this Administration lies as a matter of routine--we are talking well into 2005 here. Yet, Eric, like a small child who does not get the candy he was promised, seems surprised and astonished to find out he was lied to.
Even your prized quote from Bill Keller (the Great Accomplice, I suppose) indicates the mindset of the dupe. When the Administration is illegally vaccuuming up communications from around the world, don't you think that Bill Keller could reasonably assume that privacy rights are being violated? Even if, when he asks, Administration sources tell him otherwise?
