Impeach!

Via talkingpointsmemo.com, sports writers see the need for a change in President.

There is a steroids scandal in baseball. Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams of the San Francisco Chronicle helped break the story. They're headed to jail because they won't reveal the names of the person or persons the government says leaked them federal grand jury testimony. Bush is against a federal shield law for reporters.

Mike Lupica reminds us of Ted Olsen's words:

" "One of the most vital functions of our free and independent press is to function as a watchdog, working to uncover stories that would otherwise go untold. Journalists in pursuit of such stories often must obtain information from individuals who, for fear of retribution or retaliation, are unwilling to be publicly identified."

He writes:

"A federal shield law was originally proposed by Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, a Democrat, and Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana. Specter got into this earlier this year, with modifications that specifically exclude shield rights in cases dealing with national security or terrorism.

Only in the current political climate is no distinction drawn between a pusher of steroids like Greg Anderson, Bonds' former trainer, and reporters out to tell the truth about people like Anderson. And like Bonds.

Fainaru-Wada and Williams were not threats to national security, just to some drug cheats in baseball. The idea that they must go to jail to protect the rights of those cheats is an outrage.

Sen. Specter has identified the real threat here. It is against a free press. In the America of this President, you need more than a shield law to protect that. You need a new President."