From an AP story on crumbled political marriages, via CTV.ca:

Carlos Menem: The Argentine president locked his wife, Zulema Yoma de Menem, out of the presidential residence in 1990 after she repeatedly assailed his policies. On one occasion while he was away, she invited journalists over for a barbecue to criticize his leadership.

In the Conservative election platform of 2006, the party promised more openness and transparency in government.

That was then, this is now.

Remember the relentless pounding that the Drudge Report gave to U.S. President Bill Clinton during the worst of the Monica Lewinsky affair?

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has put that behind her and thrown some bones to one of the most influential political news outlets on the Web -- the Drudge Report.

An NYT editorial:

In a rare moment of bipartisan sanity, the House voted 398 to 21 for a much-needed measure that would help protect reporters from being forced to reveal confidential sources in federal court.

Americans who are concerned that proliferating subpoenas are threatening the First Amendment and the public’s right to know should thank Rick Boucher, Democrat of Virginia, and Mike Pence, Republican of Indiana, for sponsoring the bill, and John Conyers Jr., the Judiciary Committee chairman, and Roy Blunt, the Republican whip, for steering it through the House.

Now it’s up to the Senate. The Judiciary Committee passed a somewhat watered-down version of the House bill a few weeks ago. The Senate bill’s champions — Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, and Patrick Leahy, Judiciary Committee chairman — now need to persuade Harry Reid, the majority leader, to move the issue to the floor.

Bush administration officials have raised the threat of a presidential veto. The administration’s distaste for a federal shield bill — and its claims that it threatens national security — should be seen as just another extension of its obsession with secrecy. Hardly a total shield, the measure is crafted to balance the legitimate needs of law enforcement with the public’s right to know and the potential harm to news-gathering when reporters are required to disclose confidential sources. The House and Senate versions allow for disclosure when truly necessary to protect the country.

Michael Mukasey, the president’s nominee for attorney general, suggested last week that it would be better just to fix the Justice Department’s guidelines on this issue. Those guidelines apply only to subpoenas from the Justice Department. They do not address the large threat to robust reporting about government and corporate wrongdoing when reporters are forced to reveal confidential sources in civil litigation or cases involving other executive agencies or a special prosecutor.

If Mr. Bush still has doubts, he should remember that 398-to-21 House vote before lifting his veto pen.

In a Reason article entitled Amusing Ourselves to Depth, San Francisco writer Greg Beato asks whether the Onion is America's most intelligent newspaper (thanks, Kevin S.!).