Journamalism

Brad DeLong yearns for a better MSM as he asks repeatedly" "Why oh why can't we have a better press corps? Todays' installment features Dana Millbank in the WaPo who, very subtly, softens his report of the Libby trial, which might otherwise have been useful, to protect his media pals and BushCo. There are three big reasons why people aren't marching in the streets (more than they are) about BushCo's war crimes: there is no draft, citizens are not asked to sacrifice (war without taxes) but most significantly, the fact that we have an in-the-tank media.

Dana gets two things wrong in these four paragraphs. First, Cheney doesn't "think" he controls Russert: Cheney does control Russert. Cheney's press aide Cathie Martin is correct when she says that Russert will not push Cheney or attempt to closely question him.

Second, the trial does not confirm "some of the darkest suspicions of the reporters." The reporters have no suspicions about how they are used by the Republican leadership. They have been active coconspirators here. The trial confirms some of the darkest suspicions about the reporters.

These two weasel-words by Milbank--"thinks" instead of "does" and "of" instead of "about"--are markers of the extent to which the Washington press corps is still, after everything, in the tank for and shading its reporting in favor of the Bush administration.