Prometheus 6

For the last six years the Bush Republican government has wielded the Justice Department like a rapier.

This case will be used to legitimize Bushista intrusions into anything less trivial than the question, "Did Barry Bonds do something that wasn't illegal or against the rules of baseball at the time in question?"

Media-Sourcing Debate on Deck at Capitol
Congress Is Likely to Revisit
Calls for Federal Shield Law
As Baseball Case Culminates
By JESS BRAVIN and SARAH ELLISON
December 22, 2006; Page B3

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is increasingly at odds with some Republicans over its efforts to make journalists reveal confidential sources.

The controversy is reaching a flashpoint in San Francisco, where the Justice Department is expected to file papers today urging that two San Francisco Chronicle reporters face jail if they refuse to reveal their source for confidential grand-jury proceedings concerning baseball slugger Barry Bonds's alleged use of steroids.

This is the same sort of tactic that Republicans tried with their judicial nominees. You remember how they declared they should get a pass on anyone as extreme as Janice Rogers Brown.