Patrick Fitzgerald is a tough muffuga :

A federal prosecutor on Tuesday demanded that Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper testify before a grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA officer’s identity, even though Time Inc. has surrendered e-mails and other documents in the probe.

Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald also opposed the request of Cooper and New York Times reporter Judith Miller to be granted home detention — instead of jail — for refusing to reveal their sources.

Allowing the reporters home confinement would make it easier for them to continue to defy a court order to testify, he said. Special treatment for journalists may “negate the coercive effect contemplated by federal law,” Fitzgerald wrote in filings with the court.

“Journalists are not entitled to promise complete confidentiality — no one in America is,” Fitzgerald wrote.

On the other hand, now that I’ve shed my blogger status, I can see that these special privledges apply to me too. Therefore, as a self-appointed member of the media elite, I must say that I’m outraged by the Special Prosecutor’s reckless behavior in this case. Doesn’t he understand that this country was founded on the concept that the free press has a right to cover up for criminals? Somebody needs to tell Mr. Fitzgerald that Matt Cooper has a good sense of humor. That’ll make everything better.