Congressman Jim McDermott has embarked on a face saving mission to excuse and mitigate his illegal activities.  His belief is that his free speech rights outweighed any concept of legality.

What a bunch of crap.

As I previously noted here, a Federal Appeals Court has ruled he violated Federal law when he turned over an illegally taped telephone call to reporters.

Well now, in a guest column to the Seattle Times, he defends his actions and paints his victims portrait..  My comments in line:

Defending the people’s right to know

A nation cannot be free without free speech. It’s why the Framers made freedom of speech the First Amendment to the Constitution. It’s why 19 major news organizations representing thousands of journalists have joined to support me in my First Amendment case.

It is also a nation of laws.

And, it’s why The Seattle Times, instead of criticizing me, ought to be standing with me to defend the people’s right to know ["McDermott's leak is no better" Times editorial, April 9].

More than nine years ago, Republican congressional leaders, called together by Rep. Newt Gingrich, then speaker of the House and third in line to be president, met in secret to plot deception against the American people. We know only because one of those involved, Rep. John Boehner, attended the meeting by cellphone, thus broadcasting the entire secret meeting on the open airwaves, available to anyone who happened to be listening to a consumer scanner.

Incercepting or taping is against the law. Also it ought to be noted that most consumer scanners, as he calls them, did not have built in taping capabilities when this happened, 9 years ago. The couple just happened to have a setup that allowed them to do so?  While they were out Christmas shopping?  How convenient…I think we all should have the ability to intercept cell phone calls in the mall…

This was so obivouly a setup it is not funny.

A couple in Florida heard it, recognized the voices, and understood the implications of what they were hearing. They taped the call and drove to Washington, D.C., where they stopped me in a hallway and handed me a sealed envelope. We had never met before nor have we met since. They believed the people had a right to know what Republican leaders were plotting. After listening to the tape, I agreed, and gave it to two newspapers.

Two points.  Said couple were indicted and convicted of violating the law.  How are your actions any different?  That you subsequently escaped indictment is a travesty of justice.  Second,  why release them to the news hounds?  The ethics committe and the AG are the ones who need to know this.  Why use the media?  That’s easy:  Embarassment.

The fact is Jimbo, you didn’t give a rat’s ass about the public’s right to know anything, nor was justice on your mind.  All you cared about was creating a scandal to hurt Newt Gingrich and the other Republicans.  Period.  Be a man and admit it.

Had you been concerned about any of that, you would have done the honorable thing and brought them to justice.  Instead you played politics and it bit you in your ass.

For more than nine years, we have persevered in defending the First Amendment. Early on, the case was dismissed, specifically because of my First Amendment rights, only to be resurrected by Republican leaders seeking retribution.

First ammendment rights do not trump the law.

As anyone who ever bothered to ask me knows, Republicans are not interested in settling. Although we did have discussions about settling, they got nowhere. But instead of maintaining their confidentiality, Boehner has publicized them and misrepresented what was said. He violated the privacy of our discussions in order to use rhetoric as a ruse to rally their base and raise money, so they might continue their assault on free speech.

Now that’s ironic.  You who leaked a private call then now complain about your conversation being leaked.  Pot meet Kettle.

Recently, the Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 against our position. Judge David Sentelle, a Republican appointed by President Ronald Reagan, wrote a strongly worded dissent:

"I see no distinction, nor has Representative Boehner suggested one, between the constitutionality of regulating communication of the contents of the tape by McDermott or by The Washington Post or The New York Times or any other media resource. For that matter, every reader of the information in the newspapers also learned that it had been obtained by unlawful intercept. Under the rule proposed by Representative Boehner, no one in the United States could communicate on this topic of public interest because of the defect in the chain of title. I do not believe the First Amendment permits this interdiction of public information either at the stage of the newspaper-reading public, of the newspaper-publishing communicators, or at the stage of Representative McDermott’s disclosure to the news media."

Which ignores the central point:  Did you break the law?  Yes…you did.

From Watergate, to plotting to mislead the American people, to the Iraq war: None of it would have been uncovered without First Amendment protection. After talking with us, The Washington Post recently published an editorial titled: "Ban Snooping, Not Free Speech."

What being against federal law isn’t enough?

That is what’s at stake in my First Amendment case, but The Seattle Times is on the sidelines throwing stones. If you want to accuse me of being partisan, fine.

I am accusing you of being a partisan hack. 

But don’t undermine my right, and yours, and every American’s, to protect and defend our country against leaders who would plot in private to mislead the public.

Look bub, this isn’t your first time playing this game, you have leaked stuff before.  Don’t destroy our countries right to have laws simply because it didn’t fit in to your agenda that week.

Frankly you are an embarassment to this state and to our nation, and you are nothing more then an opportunistic showman who violated the law to gain politcal advantage.  And don’t get me started about your comments and actions concerning the war.

You are no better then the Watergate people you castigate.  But you were lucky and escaped prosecution.

Final word.  Shut up and pay up, cheapskate.