…based on conversations with non-political types, how many now believe that the publication of the name of any person working for the CIA is a felony. It isn’t. There are tens of thousands of people in Washington who, if you meet them, will say, “I work for the CIA.” And if you then tell your friend Mabel about that person, you haven’t broken the law either.
Maybe that should be the law. It would simplify matters, even though such a law might conceivably run afoul of the First Amendment. If it were a law, there would be no doubt as to the guilt of about fifty people in this case. But then, it would also be the case that Valerie Plame Wilson’s own husband would be guilty of that felony, having named her in his own online bio.
And astonishing, too, the level of indignation raised by this incident among people who actually have no idea that a national security adviser of the United States named Sandy Berger destroyed code-word, highest-level documents relating to the Clinton administration’s pursuit of Osama Bin Laden. I am not saying this because I want to make a tit-for-tat, if you think Karl is bad you should see Sandy argument. It’s just how easy it is for liberals to neglect, ignore or otherwise have no knowledge of matters that might make them feel bad or think twice because they involve people they admire.