But You Don't Just Lie

Okay, my earlier defenses of Judith Miller are getting tougher and tougher to stand by. In this post at Atrios we learn that Libby asked Miller to attribute any statements to him to "a former Hill staffer," rather than to a "Senior Administration Official." He is, of course, a senior administration official. Any other description would be a lie.

It's one thing to promise not to name a source. But if you choose to describe that source beyond them being familiar with the issue at hand, then you don't lie in the description. You don't, say, agree to describe a source as "an omniscient presence mostly located on Saturn's Fourth Ring," just because they ask you to, and you don't even imply to them that you ever would.

Sheesh. You're making it tough for me, Judy. Really tough.