With friends like this . . .

The NYTimes is channeling Emily Litella regarding its part in the Plame affair. But some of its columnists are still in denial. Paul Krugman seems to think it was a pretty good thing that the public's faith in the Bush administration's integrity has been damaged, even if it was due to Armitage and Powell. Hey, they're part of the administration too. But how he transfers their lack of honor to Bush, Cheney, Rove and Libby isn't clear. As the WaPo pointed out recently, the ones most to blame for damage to Plame's career are herself and her husband, Joe Wilson. Of course, the Times' publishing of his charges and its demand for a special prosecutor had a lot to do with the magnitude of the fiasco.