The yap dogs of war
John Podhoretz:
"THE president's stunning trip to Baghdad is already the subject of wild over-interpretation by the solipsists in the American chattering classes, who can't help but think the journey was really about them.
"Politically obsessed people are sure the trip was part of his reelection campaign, with Bush fans excited by and Bush opponents reeling in shock and awe from the public-relations coup.
..."Philip Taubman, the Washington bureau chief of the Times, whined to Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post that "in this day and age, there should have been a way to take more reporters. It's a bad precedent."
"Memo to The New York Times: Want to know why people hate the press? Listen to the words of your own paper's bureau chief, who has succeeded here in elevating the self-absorption of the media to an entirely new level of absurdity.
..."Tom Rosenstiel, the highly respected director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism told Kurtz that the reporters on Air Force One violated a public trust because they didn't go public with news of the trip.
"That's just not kosher," Rosenstiel said.
"If Taubman had made the profession of journalism seem ridiculous by carping about the number of reporters on the plane, Rosenstiel has made a mockery of the very idea of media criticism by attacking those reporters who actually managed to keep a secret.
"The secrecy was necessary to protect the lives of the president and everyone else aboard Air Force One as it traveled into a city where terrorists are firing missiles at airplanes.
"White House communications director Dan Bartlett made it clear to the 13 reporters traveling with the president that if word leaked out, the trip would instantly be canceled.
"Thus, in Rosenstiel's view, it would have been better had the soldiers in that tent at the Baghdad airport not been paid a visit by the president - because that's what 'excellence in journalism' demands."
This yapping shows what poor sports some of the Dems and their supporters in the press are. They lack the grace to say, "good play" when their opponent makes one.
John Podhoretz:
"THE president's stunning trip to Baghdad is already the subject of wild over-interpretation by the solipsists in the American chattering classes, who can't help but think the journey was really about them.
"Politically obsessed people are sure the trip was part of his reelection campaign, with Bush fans excited by and Bush opponents reeling in shock and awe from the public-relations coup.
..."Philip Taubman, the Washington bureau chief of the Times, whined to Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post that "in this day and age, there should have been a way to take more reporters. It's a bad precedent."
"Memo to The New York Times: Want to know why people hate the press? Listen to the words of your own paper's bureau chief, who has succeeded here in elevating the self-absorption of the media to an entirely new level of absurdity.
..."Tom Rosenstiel, the highly respected director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism told Kurtz that the reporters on Air Force One violated a public trust because they didn't go public with news of the trip.
"That's just not kosher," Rosenstiel said.
"If Taubman had made the profession of journalism seem ridiculous by carping about the number of reporters on the plane, Rosenstiel has made a mockery of the very idea of media criticism by attacking those reporters who actually managed to keep a secret.
"The secrecy was necessary to protect the lives of the president and everyone else aboard Air Force One as it traveled into a city where terrorists are firing missiles at airplanes.
"White House communications director Dan Bartlett made it clear to the 13 reporters traveling with the president that if word leaked out, the trip would instantly be canceled.
"Thus, in Rosenstiel's view, it would have been better had the soldiers in that tent at the Baghdad airport not been paid a visit by the president - because that's what 'excellence in journalism' demands."
This yapping shows what poor sports some of the Dems and their supporters in the press are. They lack the grace to say, "good play" when their opponent makes one.
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