St. Judy's Got to Go

[norml]

The Imperial City
St. Judy's Got to Go
But what about the senior Times executive at the root of her mess? Sulzberger’s not going to fire himself.


By Kurt Andersen
How apt that Steve Martin is being awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor this week of all weeks, in Washington, D.C., of all places. Because as I try to make sense of the rank, messy legal and ethical murk enveloping Times reporter Judith Miller and her paper and a pair of top White House aides, I am reminded of Martin’s old routine about the foolproof way to escape any legal trouble.


“What do I say to the tax man when he comes to my door and says, ‘You have never paid taxes’? Two simple words: ‘I forgot.’ How many Times do we let ourselves get into terrible situations because we don’t say ‘I forgot’? Let’s say you’re on trial for armed robbery. You say to the judge, ‘I forgot armed robbery was illegal.’ Let’s suppose he says back to you, ‘You have committed a foul crime . . . and you say, “I forgot”?’ Two simple words: ‘Excuuuuuse me!’ ”


What was farce the first time has reappeared as tragedy.


Okay, maybe tragicomedy.


Two weeks ago, in his last of several testimonies to the federal grand jury investigating the leak of a covert CIA agent’s name, Karl Rove finally talked about a relevant conversation he’d had with a Time reporter in 2003, a conversation he said that he had (Whoops!) forgotten to tell investigators about earlier. And if Rove maybe might’ve could’ve possibly made any other “misstatements” to the president or the FBI or prosecutors, his lawyer said, the cause was just “faulty memories.” I forgot.


Similarly, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, was interviewed by Miller at the Old Executive Office Building weeks before the CIA agent was outed in 2003, yet until just the other day, Libby seemed to have (Whoops!) forgotten about that conversation.


snip


http://www.nymetro.com/nymetro/news/columns/imperialcity/14870/