Too Cute At the Times

I've supported the New York Times, blog-stealing den of thieves that it is, in its position on the Judith Miller case. But the lead story in the Times today, on the White House silence on Karl Rove's possible role as leaker of Valerie Plame, is just--for want of a better word--too cute for me.

The Times rightly supports Miller, who won't cough up her source. Fine. But the fact is, the editors of the Times know who that source is. They have to. There is not even a tiny doubt that they don't. It is S-O-P. That being the case, since they know more on this than they are willing to let on, it is unseemly to say the least for the Times to needle the White House for being silent on the leaker.

I know, I know. Two different situations. Still, the Times ought to realize it has zero public support on this subject, and it should handle stories on the leaker case with a lot more delicacy and a lot less arrogance than it has shown. Stories like this convince people that the Times is more interested in grinding political axes, and making the White House look bad, than anything else.