Gray Lady Gray Bar Hotel Meter: Inaugural Edition

Factors Against: It's still almost inconceivable Bush would do this.

Factors For: Belgium is now investigating SWIFT's compliance with American subpoenas to determine if it is lawful. This may jeopardize further cooperation and make SWIFT effectively a terrorist-safe money conduit.

Switzerland is evaluating its cooperation with SWIFT.

Both of these show an actual, tangible harm to national security, and undermine Bill Keller's claims that he can't see how his treason could help Al Qaeada.

Further, Bush seems really pissed off.

Few Democrats are willing to defend the NYT. Only left-wing media types, who don't have to stand for election, are willing to do so.

And politically, this seems to be the best time to do it. The NYT cannot even manage to allege any wrongdoing or illegality here, except for vague "questions" about "privacy." They've blown a major, effective program for no reason whatsoever, except their own personal aggrandizement.

Chances that the NYT will be exposed to legal compulsion* of some sort:

* Either a Congressional hearing featuring direct, under-oath questioning of NYT reporters and editors, or a Justice Department investigation into them, or, more likely, a grand-jury investigation into the leakers in which NYT reporters and editors are compelled to reveal their sources or face prison, as occurred in the case of Judy Miller

posted by Ace at 03:24 PM

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