If you're thinking about Wikileaks, think about how the official reaction is being widely regarded as a very overbearing, and very un-American thing, not as a typical expression of well-established values.

Indeed, for a summary of well-established American values, see the collection defined by the Pentagon Papers, the Watergate story, and more recently, the NYT's Warrantless Wiretapping story. Together, they put the Administration on the wrong side of our national character, and to a very embarrassing degree.

So I agree with you; the Wikileaks response doesn't just look bad, it is bad. But you join others on the more dubious side of the issue when you cite errors like this as excuses or justifications for vastly more abusive practices elsewhere, rather than violations of civil liberty that shouldn't be tolerated by self-respecting people anywhere.