I arrived at work to find this. As if publishing classified information about the NSA terrorist-surveillance program weren’t enough, the New York Times now blows the cover on yet another effective counterterrorism program – likely shutting it down.
Bill Keller, the newspaper’s executive editor, said: “We have listened closely to the administration’s arguments for withholding this information, and given them the most serious and respectful consideration. We remain convinced that the administration’s extraordinary access to this vast repository of international financial data, however carefully targeted use of it may be, is a matter of public interest.”
Are we truly expected to believe that the NYT “listened closely” and gave “serious and respectful consideration” to anything the Bush administration said? Is it just a coincidence that every time the Bush administration and the NYT bump heads, the NYT goes and does whatever they were going to do anyway? Are we really not supposed to notice this emerging pattern of behavior?
I have never been more appalled with the actions of the NYT than I am now. The editors must believe that, if a program is classified, it is therefore of public interest, because I can’t seem to find any other criteria used to determine whether or not to publish this information. They should be ashamed of themselves.