Law And Order

Anyone who thought the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals was going to overturn the contempt order against Matt Cooper and Judy Miller wasn't paying attention. (The opinion is here.) Given the controlling Supreme Court authority, the appellate court couldn't have ruled any other way. Time and the Times could have saved Floyd Abrams's fat fee and hired some legal hack like Glenn Reynolds or those Powerline idiots and gotten the same result.

The Supreme Court isn't going to review this one, absent a call from the White House or Gonzales to Fat Tony Scalia.

I feel sorry for Mr. Cooper and his family. The villians aren't the appellate judges who applied the law, but rather Robert Novak and the Administration thugs who broke the law in the service of their unelected leader. I hope Cooper names the thugs, gets a book deal out of the story and retires early on the proceeds. Miller can simply skip the country and find work in one of Ahmed Chalabi's shady enterprises.