In re-examining the whole Plame affair, I stumbled onto a thought that I dobut was original, but I have not read it anywhere and am very curious (which will shortly turn into frustration) as to why no "journalists" are pressuring the "esteemed" Mr. Novak to give up the goods.
The journalist/source confidentiality arraingment and First Amendment protections are designed to prevent whistleblowers from being retaliated against. What is fascinating about the Plame Affair is that Novak has literally turned the journalist/source protection on its head. Ambassador Wilson blew the whistle on the Bush administration's lies regarding Nigerian uranium. Novak's source, almost certainly a high-level White House official, retaliated against Wilson by blowing Plame's cover as a covert CIA agent (I still get goose bumps thinking about the Alias parallels).
So, what we have is a whistleblower being retaliated against, but Novak is protecting the retaliator instead of the whistleblower. It is an exact mirror reflection of what the journalist/source proection is all about.
Why the hell aren't Novak's peers calling him out on his bogus refusal to reveal his source? Certainly, it is in their interest to prevent government whistlblowers from being retaliated against. Certainly, it is in everyone's interest to see turncoats be prosecuted. Certainly, it is a journalist's ethical duty to prevent the bastardization and erosion of the journalist/source protection. So, again, why isn't anyone giving Novak the smack down?