So, the right-wing's response to McClellan's confirmations of deceit and duplicity seems to be coalescing around, "This sure doesn't sound like the Scottie I knew ..." I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean or how they hope it will provide cover for their man Bush: should Scottie's head be scanned for slithering alien worms and his closet checked for body-snatching pods? Whatever, we can slap it down right now: It doesn't matter if McClellan was motived by money or revenge or a whole chorus of little Gaelic voices singing in his head. The former press Secretary has merely confirmed what we all knew already by the embarrassing truckload and that has conservative apologists squirming like slimy, salted snails (Apologies to innocent mollusks the world over). Of course, McClellan actually has the temerity to blame the media for letting his boss get away with all that shit. David Gregory to the rescue!
Well, shucks Stretch! If you and your fellow Warriors for Truth really want to demonstrate their integrity going forward, the opportunity to restore that sorely needed credibility is sitting right in front of your studio made up faces:
Glenn Greenwald -- The Pentagon has posted to its website the roughly 8,000 pages and audio tapes it was forced to provide to the New York Times regarding its "military analyst" program. Anyone who reads through them, as I've now done, can only be left with one conclusion (other than being extremely impressed with David Barstow's work in putting together this story): if this wasn't an example of an illegal, systematic "domestic propaganda campaign" by the Pentagon, then nothing is.
Here we have a story with almost everything any 'serious news' outlet could possibly want right at the time they need it most. It's been reported already, so there's little work and no risk involved, it concerns the entire electorate on the most pressing foriegn policy issue facing the nation during an election year, Congress may soon conduct an investigation into it, if true it's at the very least unethical and perhaps blatantly illegal, it's organized and vast; most important of all for the media incredulity vis-a-vie the Bush administration and Iraq, it involves, well, the integrity of the media regarding the Bush administration and Iraq. Best of all, those same Serious and Responsible new outfits have some of the allegedly corrupt military analysts on their payroll and/or under contract, some of them no doubt sitting happy and fat in a corner newsroom office. All a reporter has to do is walk a few hundred feet at most with camera and mic in hand and, you know, and ask the analyst about it. Wow, shouldn't be too hard to do some hard-hitting, investigative journalmalism, eh?
And yet for over a month there's been nary a peep about it on those very cable news stations that are under assault, and now righteously defending themsselves, for lazy, sloppy, and naive reporting in the recent past. My question to them: the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So, traditional media, who's running your asylum?