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Progressive: The "War on Terror" Fog (5/17/06) by Ruth Conniff
A front-page New York Times article of last Sunday—"which could have come straight from the White House press office"—flatteringly presented CIA Director nominee General Michael Hayden on the eve of his confirmation hearings as a brave defender of Americans' legal privacy rights—despite having personally headed NSA spying programs that wiretapped or gathered info on Americans' communications without court orders.Then the idea that spying on Americans without a warrant is perfectly legal is presented, as if it were a legitimate theory.... The Times also omits mention of the fact that Hayden persuaded the paper to sit on the NSA spying story for a full year before breaking news of the program. The Sunday valentine to Hayden looks like a way of repairing a strained relationship with an important source.
See also Center for American Progress: A Nation of Suspects (5/18/06) by Eric Alterman. Government surveillance of reporters has progressed from fleeting rumor to anecdotal evidence to full-blown story status, meeting with official denials and stonewalling at every step.
While the story itself may be difficult to advance, where, for goodness sakes are our nation’s leading editorial pages? The Washington Post has offered up a single editorial on the subject.... The New York Times' editorial board—usually much tougher toward the administration than that of the Post—has yet to address the issue at all.
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