By Dan Kennedy • The press, politics, technology, culture and other passions

The “T” word

A reader called my attention to Jules Crittenden’s latest in the Boston Herald, in which he accuses the New York Times of treason. Obviously I disagree. It will be interesting to see whether this is the Herald’s front page tomorrow.

But you know what? I think this is where we may be heading. No one is going to charge Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Bill Keller with treason, but Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, U.S. Rep. Peter King and others are calling for an espionage case to be brought against the paper.

The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz today writes on his blog: “Man, I have never seen this kind of Times-bashing before.”

I’m afraid we may just be getting started.

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4 Comments

  1. Rick in Duxbury

    I question his paying attention to Wolcott. For Vanity-freakin’-Fair to call others hypocrites is hilarious. Two consecutives months of fawning VF pieces on George Clooney’s environmentalism while he flips his Vegas Strip real estate development for $109 mil. Progressive pontificating amidst ads for champagne, diamond watches and thousand-dollar jeans. Ever notice no one has attempted a lampoon of VF?

  2. Anonymous

    I was telling someone the other day about the amount of time I’m actually being taped at some point: work,buying gas,various stores,library,bank, to name a few. I kind of find it hard to believe terrorists haven’t caught on to the likelihood, that all activities they participate in, are being monitored. Gripe if you will about the Times,but this action by them didn’t tip off anybody unless they are very,very stupid.

  3. whispers

    Alberto Gonzales is “calling for an espionage case to be brought” against The New York Times?Isn’t he the Attorney General? Wouldn’t that be his job to do? Or is he so locked into the mode of posturing he doesn’t realize that? Or does he privately realize that it’s a silly idea, but want to be able to posture publicly while hoping nobody notices the conflict?It’s kind of like Chief Wiggum complaining about crime in Springfield. In many ways.

  4. Lex

    Given that there’s a Bush speech on the White House Web site dated 9/24/01 describing the program, I think even espionage is, to be polite, a reach.This is all about motivating the base in an election year, pure and simple.That said, I think the possibility that all this unhinged language could provoke an act of violence against a journalist is a legit concern.Locked and loaded,L.

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