Judith Miller: From New York Times to Fox News

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Judith Miller image from Fox News Insider.

Once upon a time, there was a New York Times reporter named Judith Miller. Judith Miller received a phone call one morning from Scooter Libby who told her Joe Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, was a CIA operative. Libby did this because Joe Wilson refuted the Bush administration’s claims that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. Judith Miller spent 12 weeks in jail for refusing to “give up” her source.

To be fair, journalists have used the journalistic shield numerous times, but usually to protect someone fighting for what’s right, not to protect someone who is putting another human being at risk and lying through their teeth. Interestingly, Judith Miller was also the New York Times’ cheerleader of mass misinformation when it came to the subject of those nonexistent WMD’s.

Judith Miller was once a star at the New York Times. She wrote huge, important articles and won huge, important prizes and awards. Miller began believing her own press, and was used by the Bush administration to promote the idea that Iraq was amassing components that could be used to build nuclear weapons. It was complete and utter bullshit, but no one at the Times seemed to care.

Ms. Miller is now appearing on Fox news. How sad, to go from a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist who was embedded with the military team that searched for WMD’s in Iraq to a talking head on Roger Ailes’ network of paranoia and hate. And one of Miller’s most recent forays into “I’m sorry, what the hell did you just say?” world was during a discussion on security leaks coming from The White House. Ms. Miller called security leaks “injurious.” Why, yes, Judith, they are injurious, especially when, in YOUR CASE, those leaks are utterly false and are used to start an illegal war that killed thousands of our military and even more Iraqi civilians.

Also injurious are leaks that out a covert CIA operative because her husband tells the truth about Niger and uranium and aluminum tubing. Valeria Plame, and indeed, numerous CIA operatives and informants all over the world were put in harm’s way when Judith Miller and Robert Novak received their “confidential” (Richard Armitage, Scooter Libby, Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, et al) information. Rather than do the patriotic thing and NOT put people’s lives in danger, Miller and Novak published Valerie Plame’s name and revealed her status at the CIA. It was just too big a story to ignore, no matter the cost.

For Judith Miller to appear on Fox news and speak about security leaks is ridiculous. She enjoyed the hell out of her top secret information, even if it was all 100% wrong. Many in DC believe that one of Judith Miller’s sources was Dick Cheney or at the very least, someone in his office. He (or a high-level staff member) gives her this “inside” info on WMD’s, she writes it, the Times publishes it, and oh my goodness, the next day, Cheney is on “Meet The Press,” using Miller’s article to bolster the myth that Iraq is building nuclear weapons.

This is how they do it, though, the right wing. They own the press, they use journalist’s egos and thirst for fame and notoriety for their own nefarious purposes, they spread the lie and voila-illegal war, Valeria Plame’s life is in jeopardy, Huma Abedin is receiving police protection after Michele Bachmann plays “Six Degrees of Muslim Brotherhood,” dead soldiers, dead civilians, dead children and rampant hatred and mistrust of anyone with brown skin or a different god.

Judith Miller belongs at Fox news, when you really think about it. She knew revealing Valerie Plame’s covert status was wrong, but she did it anyway and defends her actions to this day. She knew, somewhere deep down, that getting leaks from The White House and publishing them was wrong (if that is indeed what happened, as many believe), but she did it anyway. Judith Miller helped George W. Bush’s administration start an illegal war in Iraq, a war based on lies and misinformation. Journalists are supposed to have integrity and seek the truth, not destroy it.

Ms. Miller, good luck at Fox news. Although, given your track record, I don’t think you’ll need it.

Thanks to Wikipedia, New York Magazine, CBS News, The Daily Show and Mediaite for contributions to this article.

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