I tend fall into the nebulous middle on this. I think the wayward PFC deserves military-level punishment, but then I would want a military investigation into what level of incompetence allowed this doofus access to classified material. Firing squad? I suppose Pvt Slovak would make an argument for the possibility. I tend to not favor death sentences for anyone but child molestors, and if we don't do that, then I can't see it. But if at best he embarrasses the current administration ( any worse than their ..cough..own amazing incompetence does) then perhaps a lengthy stay in cell would be more appropriate. He is a jerk, but the punishment should fit his motivation and results of his actions. As far as I can see, no one is dead here. In general this stuff is water cooler level, and maybe a refreshing reminder that you don't have to possess a lot of intellect to work in the state department.
As for Wikileaks, and Assange, these people have existed for ages, and "the press" sometimes cooperates with them, and sometimes doesn't. Whatever biases they may have, this stuff getting out is news. And Wikileaks circumvents the standard outlets, anyway. So reporting it happened is news. It may be a service in plugging up the leaks. It is fair game to attack the press when they don't report on information that they would prefer to suppress for political favors or run stuff they know is bogus for the same reasons. Just ask Dan Rather.
