Has anyone seen a statement like this in the traditional media lately?
So we'll be filing a Freedom of Information Act request for the methodology document today.
There's a fronton full of traditional journalists out there; surely SOME of them are covering the Petraeus/Crocker jai-alai match. Is there any one among them investigating, as opposed to rewriting copy from the AP, the WaPo or the NYT?
TPM gets it. Which is why they're filing an FOIA request for Petraeus's infamous counting methodology.
You know, it's really not hard. When someone appears in front of the National Press Club waving a document of paramount importance to the most significant news story of the moment, would it be so hard for a member of the Press to demand a copy?
Apparently so; it seems only bloggers have journalists' antennae. Petraeus is claiming that his numbers showing a reduction in violence are accurate. Sure, we think they're suspect. What happens if we can prove it? The potential is there to alter permanently the frame of the debate. If it can be shown that we're being lied to in the most fundamental and public way possible, even many Republicans will have to sign on to a real withdrawal plan.
You think I'm dreaming. I don't think so, and here's why. The Republican caucus is looking for a way out. They hope to sell one or both of two premises: We're making progress, AKA the surge is working; and we'll reduce the troops to pre-surge levels, so there's really no problem. Their plan is to water down legislation so it looks like the already-planned troop reduction is exactly what Americans want, and that the President was right all along.
That's where proving that Petraeus is not leveling with Congress is so important. If Petraeus's testimony is left standing, we have a very tough road ahead of us. The only journalist out there who seems to understand the stakes is Spencer Ackerman, at TPMmuckraker.
So cheers for REAL media, boos for the rest, and let's, please, have some real reporting for a change.