Jonah, happily I was drinking orange juice by the time I saw this one, so I didn’t scald myself. But I think the WPost editors are sprinkling LSD on their Cheerios. Take this part (and, yes, I realize this is fishing in a barrel) (italics and other modifications are mine):

Maybe [MAYBE?!?] disclosure of the prisons damaged national security — the CIA has offered no evidence of that — but it’s hard to imagine what could be more damaging than the existence of the system itself.

1. So, it’s not enough that the war effort be undermined. It’s now incumbent on the CIA to explain in detail to al Qaeda — through the pages of the WPost of course — how classified disclosures have damaged our attempts to defeat them?

2. So, if we are unable to keep the Khalid Sheik Mohammeds isolated until they talk to us, and they therefore don’t tell us about a plot we would otherwise have learned of, and thus an avoidable bombing of, say, downtown Washington happens, the WPost finds it “hard to imagine” how that could be more damaging to our country than the isolation program itself?

Next best part: the WPost’s indignation in summation over “CIA personnel [who] … played a part in the failure to prevent the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.” Perfect! — do everything you can to make it impossible for us to get intelligence and then prattle about intelligence failure!

I now think I’ve been all wrong about this. The Justice Department shouldn’t bother with prosecution for the publication of defense secrets. It appears the press has a bullet-proof insanity defense.

That laugh-track you think you hear is actually the next bin Laden video …