Watched a movie, Nothing but the Truth, about a newspaper reporter who disclosed the name of a covert CIA operative, refused to reveal her source, was held in contempt and was imprisoned for a year.
One argument was that her disclosure was an act of treason against the United States. The counter argument made by her attorney was that she was protected from punishment by the First Amendment to the Constitution, which protects freedom of the press.
By enumerating certain freedoms in the Constitution (speech, religion, assembly, press), the Founding Fathers, intentionally or otherwise, gave the impression that those four freedoms had greater ranking than all others. That was a mistake. While there may have been sound historical reasons why the Founding Fathers were particularly concerned about the enumerated freedoms, they are of no greater importance or substance than others. My freedom to choose what cereal I eat in the morning, or whether to smoke, or the career I wish to pursue, is as absolute as the four freedoms enumerated in the First Amendment. Freedom never includes the right to initiate the use of force against others, which the reporter did when she aided our enemies by exposing the secret operative. And reporters have not one iota of greater freedoms than the rest of us do.
As someone who lived through World War II, I wonder if those who applaud the reporter and her principles would do the same had she revealed aforehand the landing site of the D-Day invasion.
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