Judith Miller In Jail With Other Criminals

Longtime readers know I love Ann Althouse. I don't always agree with her, but think she's the best and smartest blogger on the net. Today I disagree with her:

I respect civil disobedience, defying the law for a cause. Part of it is accepting the consequences, as Judith Miller is doing. It's a very powerful image, a person going willingly to jail for a principle deeply believed in. It can work to produce a change in the law.

If Judith Miller and the New York Times think this is getting them anywhere but invited to better Manhattan cocktail parties, they are mistaken.  Most don't like the media specifically for the very reasons Miller chose to go to jail: They have an entirely too high opinion of themselves and feel they're above everything; truth, country, right, wrong, and now the law.

I'm sure the martyr Miller was giddy with the prospect of dominating the headlines knowing a media so in love with itself and out of touch would make this the new Aruba, but the tragedy in London has sadly spoiled that. Now, she'll have to be content figuring out how to spend the money from the book deal about her "ordeal."

Miller is not Martin Luther King --because she's wrong. Her cause is misguided. Her principles are immoral. She's where she belongs. And her being where she belongs is more than news. It's great news. As is the case when any lawbreaker goes to jail.