I agree. It is really a sorry place to which the mainstream U.S. left has sunk that the satisfaction of scoring some silly victory against a sweaty little Texan “turd blossom” is more important than defending freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Does anyone really think that Karl Rove getting fired or even going to jail will significantly change anything in the halls of power?

Rove’s supposed brilliance that liberals are so in awe of and obsessed with was been taught to the rest of Bush’s inner circle long ago, and there are probably 100 young Republican activists out there that could replace him in a heartbeat. Getting rid of him or of one NYT mercenary journalist isn’t going to get us anywhere. But losing the ability to report on and demand transparency from the U.S. security agencies will push the cause of democracy, in the U.S. and in the CIA’s playgrounds around the world, back even farther.

Time for well-meaning gringos to get their priorities straight and not abandon their principles at the first chance for some little symbolic triumph. When someone who is essentially a propaganda mouthpiece for the Bush administration can be sent to jail over something like this, imagine what this could mean for true authentic journalists trying to uncover the CIA’s dirty work. Fortunately, my impression is that the actual jailing of a journalist has snapped a lot of liberals out of their Rove-lynching daze, but apparently some still don’t get it.