Of Nazis, Novaks and the First Amendment

Sometimes First Amendment rights can be difficult to defend, says Martin Fishgold, president of the International Labor Communications Association. "It is difficult to defend the First Amendment rights in the Valerie Plame case of syndicated columnist Robert Novak and New York Times Reporter Judith Miller, both of whom have been used over and over again by the Bush Administration to sell unpopular policies, against all ethical journalistic practices," Fishgold writes.

Nevertheless, he says, defending First Amendment rights must be an absolute. "If you open the door for interpretation, you open the door for abuse of the privilege. From my point of view, one must allow the Nazis and the Novaks to slip in under the coverage if one wants to defend First Amendment rights."