NYT - Traitors in our midst

I read on one blog where someone couldn't imagine what would possess the New York Times to reveal classified information that greatly aided our enemies. I suppose in a perfect world, and in an earlier time, such would be hard to imagine.

I have no such difficulty. I understand that the Times hates George W. Bush so vehemently that any act it can accomplish to harm him in any way is acceptable--even if it damages the nation as a whole. And I understand that the Time's loss of circulation and readership (and ad revenue) would drive them to try anything to gain readership.

Of course, none of those reasons are good enough to place the lives of Americans in jeopardy, and that's exactly what they have done. They may use that old "freedom of the press" cry as vindication, but it doesn't wash; the founding father gave the freedom of speech and press to the public, not to some institution that believes it is above the rest of us. There's nothing in the First Amendment that gives anyone the right to be traitors to their nation in the name of free speech and more especially not when dealing with forces would want to destroy our very way of life. It's total insanity, born out of greed and arrogance.

There have been some calls for the Justice Department to take legal action against not only those who reveal secret and classified information to news organizations, but to those news organizations who publish it. I believe that is justified in certain cases--not with "whistle-blowers" who are apprising the public of some misdeed or corruption, but with those who give information out of hatred and spite for the administration (or any other administration) that will harm the public welfare. These people need to be punished and severely at that.

The editor, the publisher and the reporters who presented the information to the public (and to al-Qaeda) are all traitors and should be treated as such. The death penalty would not be too good for them.