One of the most insightful things I heard at YearlyKos was EmptyWheel's exposition (while on the Plame panel) of the different functions of journalists and blogs.   EmptyWheel explained that what blogs can do that journalists can't is take a set of disparate facts reported by journalists and put together a narrative or a story connecting those facts.  The bloggers' tools in putting together these stories are (1) logic; (2) knowledge of human nature; and (3) observations of the characters involved in these dramas.

This sort of speculation is inappropriate for a reporter because of the reporter's role in sticking to the facts.  But it is entirely appropriate for a blogger who provides analysis on subject matters of interest to readers.  EmptyWheel, of course, has skillfully performed this function in analyzing just what in the heck Judy Miller may have been up to in the Spring and Summer of 2003, and many of her speculations have turned out to be correct.