We're heartened by the news that the Justice Department is investigating the leak which led to the New York Times revelation of the secret intelligence gathering operation conducted by the NSA (National Security Administration). We remember how excited the media was over the possibility that the identity of a minor CIA functionary had been leaked by an administration official and their high hopes that someone in the administration (i.e. Karl Rove) would be indicted for it. We await the same degree of breathless reporting, endless speculations, and fervent hopes that someone who really has done serious damage to our national security will be caught and punished.
Since, however, the leaker in this case was trying to make Bush look bad the media will probably hold him or her to a different standard than they would have held Rove or Libby. That the leaker made each of us more vulnerable to those who want to kill us will be a matter of little moment to those who assess the heinousness of a crime in terms of who stands to gain or lose politically.