And a happy Fourth of July to you, too

Republicans condemn reporters, and a conservative pundit calls for the death penalty for editors.

Published June 30, 2006 6:30PM (EDT)

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved a resolution Thursday condemning reports on the Bush administration's monitoring of financial transactions and saying that it "expects the cooperation of all news media organizations" in protecting the president's antiterror plans.

The resolution is symbolic, and that's not good enough for some of its supporters. Melanie Morgan, a fixture on "Hardball" and Fox News, says it's high time for the government to bring treason charges against the New York Times for reporting on the financial-monitoring plan. "My advice to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at this point in time is chop-chop, hurry up, let's get these prosecutors fired up and get the subpoenas served, get the indictments going, and get these guys behind jail," Morgan says.

And if someone -- say, New York Times editor Bill Keller -- is tried and convicted? Morgan says she'd have "no problem with him being sent to the gas chamber." As for other editors "responsible for leaking national security classified information"? Morgan says she'd like to see them "locked in a steel cage with the family members of slain troop members who would happily deliver the ultimate punishment of death."

God bless the USA.


By Tim Grieve

Tim Grieve is a senior writer and the author of Salon's War Room blog.

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