Would You Give A Drunken Teenager Car Keys?

If not, then why give journalists protection from testifying about their sources?

US senators wrestle with a plan to shield journalists who protect anonymous sources, as a top reporter languishes in jail, still defying the courts in a politically charged leak probe.

Judith Miller of the New York Times will mark two weeks of time served for refusing to divulge her source in a legal showdown which has mushroomed into a bona fide scandal, centering on White House political guru Karl Rove.

She went to jail rather than tell a special prosecutor who outed CIA agent Valerie Plame, supposedly as an act of revenge after her husband alleged President George W. Bush stretched the truth to wage war on Iraq.

Miller reportedly had a tough time adapting to prison life, sharing a cell in prison in Alexandria, Virginia, outside Washington.

"It has definitely dawned on her that this is really in jail -- it is certainly no summer camp," New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller told Editor and Publisher, a newspaper industry trade paper on Monday.

"The food has not agreed with her and we have been trying to impress on her that she needs to eat. We have been hammering that in."

The New York Times did not respond to calls for comment on Miller's plight on Tuesday.

As Miller paid the price for what supporters say is a brave defense of press freedoms, senior US Senators prepared for a hearing on a bill which would shield reporters who refuse to divulge anonymous sources.

It's awfully funny how the guys always talking about the evils of privilege are seeking their own exclusive privilege so vociferously.