Stand By for Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth

I look forward to hearing the amusing arguments the Bonds-haters will pose as they pretend to care about the freedom of the press:

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The Bush administration urged a federal judge here Wednesday to force two San Francisco Chronicle reporters to divulge who leaked them secret grand jury testimony of Barry Bonds and other athletes who took part in the government's BALCO probe.

Noting that it is a crime to leak grand jury materials to the media, "there is no reporter's privilege in criminal cases, under the First Amendment or under common law," federal prosecutors Brian Hershman and Michael Raphael wrote in a 51-page brief.

The attorneys said California's shield law protecting California reporters from divulging their sources does not apply to the federal probe of who violated a court order and leaked the documents.