The recent outing of New York Times reporter Judith Miller as little more than a Bush administration flunky should surprise no one who followed her overheated coverage of Saddam's WMD in the run-up to the Iraq war. The disgraceful stenography to those in power that she passed off as journalism seems to be of a piece with publisher William Randolph Hearst's goading of America into the Spanish-American War in 1898. (Legend has it that Hearst sent a telegram to a reporter in Cuba that read: "You supply the pictures and I'll supply the war.) Just one paragraph of Miller's WMD reporting in the Times (9/9/2002, with Michael Gordon) offers a bitter taste of her toadying: "More than a decade after Saddam Hussein agreed to give up weapons of mass destruction, Iraq has stepped up its quest for nuclear weapons and has embarked on a worldwide hunt for materials to make an atomic bomb, Bush administration officials said today."

I turns out, of course, that Saddam possessed no WMD (oops!), and that Miller's chief sources for her coverage were Iraqi exiles in the orbit of Ahmed Chalabi, himself an Iraqi exile on the Pentagon's payroll who was itching for Saddam's ouster. In defense of her coverage, all Miller could muster was this blithe tautology: "If your sources are wrong, then you are wrong."

Now let's raise the curtain on act two of "Judith Miller: Woman of Mass Destruction" (kudos to Maureen Dowd for that coinage). Following Joseph Wilson's Op-Ed in the Times in 2003 criticizing the administration's WMD evidence, the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame (Wilson's wife) was leaked by administration officials in an effort to discredit her husband. A number of stories were written about the leak, the most significant being one in which syndicated columnist Robert Novak, Republican hatchet man par excellence, played the name-Plame game. Another reporter whom administration officials (in this case Scooter Libby, the top aide to vice-president Cheney) spoke to was Judith Miller. Now here's the rub: Miller never wrote a story about the leak, and went to jail to hide her source. Miller must have known that the administration was actively seeking to disembowel Wilson's credibility, yet concealed this from her editors. She, and the Times(sadly and somewhat unwittingly, in keeping with their latest mode of cavalier idiocy), claimed that a First Amendment issue was at stake—a reporter's need to protect his or her source. But as Justice Black has written, the First Amendment was not designed to shield the powerful from the prying of the press, but rather to protect those who would expose those in power and subsequently be targeted by the mighty wheels of governmental reprisal.

As we watch the current administration's lies unravel—as Chronogram goes to press, reports are emerging suggesting that Libby perjured himself before the grand jury in the Plame investigation—it's useful to remember that lies need messengers, and that "diverse and antagonistic sources" are not synonymous with "administration officials."

In other news, closer to home: Chronogram has been honored with an arts patron award by the Ulster County Arts Council. (The award will be presented at an event on November 10 at New World Home Cooking in Saugerties.) We take the honor that the Ulster County Arts Council has bestowed quite seriously, and humbly, as the award is for service, which is one of the core tenets of Chronogram's mission: to nurture the creative and cultural life of the Hudson Valley. Congratulations to all who all who have ever contributed to the success of this magazine, even in some small way. We believes strongly in community, and what we can accomplish is limited only by our imagination and our willingness to work toward a shared mission. Thanks to all who have shared our mission along the way.

And lastly, we invite the community of Chronogram readers to join us and celebrate the 12th birthday of this magazine on Wednesday, November 16, at 6:30pm at the Steel House restaurant in the Rondout section of Kingston. (About the Steel House, which opened last summer: Located in the cavernous Millens Steel building, which had been decaying for many years, the Steel House is a thoughtfully renovated space, preserving elements of the building's industrial past—exposed brick rises from floor to 50-foot-high ceilings; heavy accents of wrought-iron throughout—in combination with the demands of a 200-seat, 21st-century waterfront eatery. A good look at the restaurant's cathedral-like dining area alone is worth the trip.) DJ Dave Leonard will be on hand to help us get our groove thing working, and the party will see the unveiling of the first-ever crop of (limited edition) Chronogram T-shirts, a number of which will be raffled off. For more information, or directions to the party, visit www.chronogram.com or call (845) 334-8600.

—Brian K.Mahoney