The Political Chase

Battles within Battles

The first analysis from the Washington Post on Bob Woodward’s capers gives a justified punch in the eye to The New York Times.

Who’s the source? “A senior administration official said that neither Mr. Bush himself, nor his chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr., nor his counselor, Dan Bartlett, was Mr. Woodward’s source. So did spokesmen for former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, former C.I.A. Director George J. Tenet and his deputy John E. McLaughlin.”

Oh yeah? What senior administration official, New York Times?

When the whole Judy Miller mess began to unravel, the New York Times’ reporting on the matter was worse than the local paper of the town I grew up in – population 6,000. The Times’ first analysis article on Woodward and the Post, which made some major stabs at both, was considerably better reporting than any Times article published about its own fiasco.

It is the Times responsibility to report the news accurately and without prejudice. Their article on Woodward and the Post was indeed prejudiced. And, how (why) was the Times able to rise to the occasion so quickly, when just a few weeks ago their reporting abilities fell short of the quality of a newspaper published weekly with a circulation of maybe 4,000?

What a mess the Bush administration has caused with its malicious, if not illegal, acts against Joseph Wilson. Washington is spinning uncontrollably, their own party is crumbling, the polarization of the nation deepens, and now the mainstream media has its own fray.

And to top it off, Vice President Dick Cheney has the unmitigated gall to make these remarks last night.

President Bush and Vice President Cheney lashed out again against Democratic senators who have questioned the handling of prewar intelligence on Iraq, with the vice president accusing critics of engaging in “one of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges ever aired in this city.”