The Media

A Perfect Political Storm is a drama, and dramas need an audience, and an impresario to play the promoter and host. The great political storm, surrounding the Presidency of George W. Bush, has remained strangely quiet, in part, because of the reluctance of a corporate, right-wing Media to see their Man defeated, humiliated and driven from power. The Media, itself, has made itself a target for overthrow.

The very failure of the mounting scandals to ignite into a general conflagration is drawing increasing attention to the failures of the Media.

The exception that proves the rule made its appearance today in the Washington Post, as a four part series profiling the role of the Vice-President in the policies of the Bush Administration appeared in Sunday's Post. Sure enough, it bore the unmistakeable fingerprints of a Media hesitant to do anything, but offer support for this wretched Administration. Laura Rozen, at War and Piece passed on the dirt, from a sharp-eyed newspaper editor. Paragraphs 8 thru 11 (by my count) were re-written by a hack editor with an instinct for preserving some shred of the President's reputation.

The Washington Post piece, itself is devastating -- or, at least, this first part is.

Paragraphs 8-11, reveal that the Media is pulling its punches with this crew, and that news is at least as important as the lawlessness of the Vice-President and the incompetence of the President.