Whither or Wither?

In the following (previous?) post, I quote extensively from an article in The New Republic entitled "Wither NATO." Now, as a wordsmith, I balked at using their spelling. Maybe it was the usage I balked at, but I feel the need to explain myself. Wither means to shrivel up, while whither asks about whatever "place, result, or condition" NATO is headed. I guess their usage is defensible (whilst this sentence is not), but the spelling I used better fits the meaning the title seems to require. So, I'll use a little blogetic license, and use whither. I know that they might have meant to say that NATO shall now wither, but I would rather say that we need to explore whither NATO shall go. If you don't like the way I said it, sue me. Or upbraid me at mgersh1@yahoo.com.