By PHK
Six months in detention certainly didn’t seem to change Martha Stewart and I doubt whether a few weeks in the Alexandria Detention Center will make Judith Miller any stronger, better or wiser either. But one can hope.
The Washington Post – not to be outdone by Arianna Huffington’s earlier Miller's jail visitor Bolton scoop – reported on September 16 that Miller is seen not just by John Bolton but by a parade of political and media glitterati – as well as her lawyer – during the 30 minutes each day she is allowed visitors. Bolton, not surprisingly, refused to comment for the Post article, but Tom Brokaw, another Miller visitor, did.
My guess is that Miller never had it so good. Her guest list is impressive. In fact, for her supposedly heroic refusal to divulge her administration source – or sources – to special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald as to who leaked Plame’s true professional identity to the media, Miller is probably getting far more attention, fame and notoriety that she received as only one of many New York Times reporters on the paper’s foreign affairs beat. Or that she deserves. Maybe that’s why the board of the prestigious American Society of Journalists and Authors in August reversed its decision to award her its Conscience in Media award.
The WaPo report tells us that – sniff-sniff – Judy can’t keep up with breaking news 24/7 because the other inmates would rather watch the soaps. So? Much of the news on 24/7 cable is repetitious anyway. CNN International - which most of us can’t get - has far more insightful programs than the lightweight schlock CNN normally feeds its American audience. Not to mention the wretched fare on America’s favorite go-get-em, 24/7-ready-for-another-battle Fox News.
As far as I can tell, Miller has primarily missed the minute-by-minute blow-by-blow devastating footage of Katrina’s wrath across New Orleans and the Bush Administration’s failure to save one of America’s most colorful and cultural cities.
Since the destruction of New Orleans will become akin to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake in the annals of U.S. history, I’m sure she’ll be able to access - albeit via delayed replays and newspaper archives - more information than she’ll ever want about the unfolding of this $200 billion dollar and counting tragedy. That and the simultaneous increase of casualties in Iraq - Bush’s other misguided folly. Both, in my view could have been avoided – and would have saved Americans billions of dollars and thousands of dead. Fareed Zakaria has an interesting column on this spend-thrift administration and its Congressional cronies that are bankrupting this country – according to a recent report released by the libertarian CATO Institute.
Regardless, a respite from 24/7 headlines should give Miller time for a little reflection and perspective. But obviously not enough to make a difference. Yet.
I can’t help but wonder if certain members of America’s political ruling elite – including Mr. Bolton – have more than pure altruism in mind as they trek across the Potomac to line up to see Ms. Miller – perhaps to the tune of Jail House Rock on CD? What is Miller being promised to continue to keep her mouth shut? And who’s behind the promises? And who might end up in the same place – if Miller decides to sing?
Meanwhile, Miller’s probably saving lots of money. She gets free room, board and wardrobe courtesy of the US taxpayer and has nowhere to spend her reporter’s salary – which I assume that New York Times continues to pay.
She should also have some time to read serious books and journal articles – as opposed to living off of the self-serving, one-sided tales planted by none other than the then Iraqi National Congress Head - now head of the Iraqi Oil Ministry Ahmed Chalabi. If I remember correctly, Miller turned his power-hungry, Scheherezade fantasies into front page NY Times stories that helped goad the US into invading Iraq come hell-or-high-water and that ultimately gave Chalabi a kingdom he never owned and the U.S. our worst nightmare since Vietnam.
“Once burned, twice shy?” Not Judy.
Maybe that’s the real reason why I lack sympathy for Ms. Miller as she sits in her jail cell on the Potomac, folds laundry, checks out library books to other inmates and holds court each day. It seems to me that she should have learned something between 2003 and now.
At the top of the list should have been to stop letting herself be used by the Ahmed Chalabis and the John Boltons of this world. But apparently she hasn’t figured this out. Is she that gullible? Or what?