Bob Ain't Judy, Jack Shafer says, but beyond that he still has some harsh words for the Washington Post superstar:

"What troubles me about Woodward's conduct in the Plame affair is his Miller-esque self-centeredness. Absolute vigilance in protecting the confidentiality of sources is wonderful, but not when it comes at the expense of finding a way to report the news.

"Even though Woodward has publicly apologized to Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. for caching the Plame nugget rather than sharing it with the Post, I'm not convinced he feels that he's done anything wrong. To sit on such incendiary information for so long, especially while other reporters are being threatened with jail, is beneath the standards to which I thought Woodward subscribed. I can see him waffling for two months, six months, or nine months. But 29? If he owes Post editors an apology, surely he owes his readers one, too, and reassurances about what kind of reporter he'll be in the future."

On the other hand, Shafer is also fair to point out the differences: "The most significant difference between the two journalists is that Woodward has gotten it right--spectacularly right on many occasions--more often than any other working reporter. The Miller record, especially on the WMD front, isn't even in the same solar system."