Where's Novak?

Today's Wall Street Journal lead editorial applauds Time Magazine's decision to turn over Matt Cooper's notes to federal prosecutors. Besides breaking ranks with the journalism fraternity, the editorial hits a new low in how far conservatives will go to cover up the crimes of the Bush administration.

The editorial never once mentions the name of Robert Novak, the columnist who printed the administration leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame's name, a clear violation of the Secret Agents Secrecy Act. The as yet unidentified administration officials wanted to punish Joe Wilson -- Plame's husband -- after he wrote an op-ed in the New York Times contradicting administration claims before the invasion of Iraq that Nigerian uranium had found its way into Iraqi hands. The editorial dismissed Plame as a "office-bound spouse." This from the newspaper that fumed for years about Whitewater, the un-scandal that eventually led to President Clinton's impeachment.