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Gonzales Says Publishing Leaks Is A Crime
loqi writes "The NY Times is reporting on a statement from US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales declaring that journalists may be prosecuted by the federal government for publishing classified information. On the 1st amendment ramifications: "'But it can't be the case that that right trumps over the right that Americans would like to see, the ability of the federal government to go after criminal activity,' he said. 'And so those two principles have to be accommodated.'" So our 1st amendment rights don't trump the right of the federal government to violate them?"
The post you're responding to is actually making that very point. The Bush Administration has released information against the interests of the country in order to engage in dirty politics. Now, by attempting to override the first amendment, they want to guarantee that it's illegal for anyone to blow the whistle on their schemes. In other words, the only protected speech is the president's own. There is indeed a lack of balance in this scenario.
I don't see what your comparison with Sen. Durbin adds to the discussion beyond a cheap shot at Democrats. Are you claiming that Plamegate, the domestic wiretapping scandal, the secret phone monitoring scandal, and now this denial of first-amendment rights are all instances of similar "incompetence" and not a systematic circumvention of the constitution?