After a very brief consideration for what the first blog post should be about, the New York Times is the clear winner.

The NYTimes published the details of a secret government program that was tracking the flow of money to terrorists. It was an international operation and had proven to be successful. The NYTimes published the details of the operation on its front page, after being told by the administration that doing so might cause irreparable harm to the effort.

My opinion is that many liberals today have lost all perspective on what matters in the world today: 1) First comes your family, 2) Next comes your country, and 3) then comes your hatred for the guy sitting on the other side of the aisle. Someone let the NYTimes know - pronto!

Absolutely anything goes apparently, even placing Americans at risk.  Every adult knows the NYTimes has an issue with the Bush administration, so would the paper publish simply as an attempt to make Bush look bad?  It seems like tortured logic, especially since most everyone who is serious agrees that the program was legal and successful.

I've been reading what the liberals have been using as excuses for 'outing' the program, and I'm left wondering about the people making the arguments:

1. "The terrorists already knew about it." 
   Really?  This liberal claim is really amazing when you think about it, since no one in America knew - no one 'connected the dots'.  I mean, the story rated a front-page above-the-fold story in the most influential newspaper in the world, so they must have thought the outing would make a splash.
2. "It's in the Public Interest to know." 
   I would argue that there are many things that are not in the public interest to know. Certainly the secret programs to defeat our enemy fits this category, right along with troop movements.

The NYTimes has really been struggling lately; their circulation is way down, they've had to lay off a whole bunch of people.  I think the NYTimes is headed towards extinction, or at a minimum towards being relegated to one of the 'unserious' papers - like the one of those gossip papers.

I live in Idaho, so I've never actually seen a physical copy of the paper outside of a library - but if I do, let me state publically now that I plan on doing my part.  I'll gladly pay for one of their papers - and then take every copy in the box and throw them all away.

Joe
Boise, Idaho