Hey Jude

Hi Ms Miller, I hope you'll forgive my overfamiliarity by referring to you as "Jude."

I see you are still defending your position against all comers, even though the NYT felt the time had come to let you go.

I see your claim that "if your sources are wrong, you are wrong" but wonder how thoroughly you vetted those sources.

I see that you referred to yourself as "miss run amok" indicating that you were a law unto yourself yet you also claim that you were not out of control and resent Maureen O'Dowd saying that you ought to have been put on a leash.

I note a consistent pattern here: it's not your fault - your sources were wrong, but it's not your fault that they were wrong, you just reported what you were told. Despite the fact that I don't trust a single word you say, for the sake of argument I will accept that claim. But here's my problem with it.

Even if I accept your claim that you were an unwitting accomplice in the lies the administration used to lead the US into an illegal war, over 2,000 US military personnel have died. US mercenaries (known as "contractors") have died. Members of the few allies the US has in Iraq have died. Tens of thousands of US military personnel have suffered severe wounds (more severe than anything seen in the Vietnam war), post-traumatic stress syndrome, etc. Many tens of thousands of Iraqis have died. Many, many tens of thousands of Iraqis have been wounded. So much death and destruction based upon lies. Lies that you, unwittingly (you claim) facilitated.

And yet you express not the slightest sorrow that, however unwittingly, you facilitated this. Nary a word to say that you wish you had known the truth earlier so that you could have, perhaps, reduced the suffering and bloodshed. Not the slightest concern for the dead and wounded, only for yourself.

The only way I can express my feelings for you is to paraphrase the words Joseph Welch uttered to Joseph McCarthy: Have you no fucking sense of decency, woman? At long last, have you left no fucking sense of decency?

In an earlier era most newspaper correspondents would have served a term in the military before becoming journalists. In that earlier era, those journalists would have retained their service revolvers after leaving the military. And in that earlier era, any journalist who had, however unwittingly, facilitated the number of deaths and casualties that you had, would have retired to his or her bedchamber, placed the service revolver against his or her temple, and pulled the trigger. They would have done that because they could not live with the shame of even indirectly and unwittingly having facilitated those deaths and casualties.

Do the honorable thing. Kill yourself. Now. No more fucking self-publicity. No more fucking self-promoting web-site. No more fucking multi-million book deal. No more fucking defending the indefensible. No more fucking excuses. Fucking kill yourself, now. Have you no fucking sense of decency, woman? At long last, have you left no fucking sense of decency? You cannot have, because if you did you'd have killed yourself by now rather than live with the shame of what you've done.