Politics of Convenience

OK Rove bashers, explain this one to me.

On one hand, we've got certain prominent members of the media — The New York Times just for instance — screaming bloody murder that Karl Rove (search) exposed a super secret spy and he ought to be jailed for it.

Just Friday, Paul Krugman told his readers that John Gibson — me — says Rove should get a medal. But Krugman figures it should be delivered to his jail cell.

On the other hand, you've got the self-same media just a few weeks ago saying it didn't matter that Rove exposed her — if he did — because she'd hadn't been super secret for years.

This contradiction is contained in a friend of the court brief submitted to the federal court in Washington, D.C. when Judy Miller (search) of The New York Times and Matt Cooper (search) of Time magazine were on the hot seat — reveal sources or go to jail.

The media — and this was everybody including this network, CNN, Time magazine, The New York Times, Newsweek, The Washington Post, everybody — argued that Cooper and Miller ought to be off the hook because the CIA had outed Valerie Plame (search) years ago by accident. And even before that, the Russian KGB was on to her and the CIA moved her back to the U.S. for safety's sake.

Since she returned to the U.S., she's been driving that Jag convertible to Langley everyday out in the open, big as you please. So it was clear she was outed, or in from the cold, or whatever spook terminology you want to use.

But doesn't it kind of jump out at you? In March of this year, the media is arguing she wasn't a covert agent anyway in a brief filed with a federal judge. Just a few short weeks later, certain parts of the media are arguing that Rove illegally and immorally exposed a secret agent and may have endangered her life.

Which is it? She was already outed when the issue was keeping Cooper and Miller free, or she was super secret when the issue is locking Rove up?

I smell the politics of convenience here. And the stink is coming from the morning paper.

That's My Word.

Watch John Gibson weekdays at 5 p.m. ET on "The Big Story" and send your comments to: myword@foxnews.com