More Bad Press

Even Bob Somerby generally endorses the theory that the press are more lazy and stupid than conservative, per se. This, of course, excludes Fox News, The Washington Times, The New York Post, and the like. The laziness manifests itself via a herd approach to reporting the press’s collectively received wisdom. Al Gore is a liar; George Bush is stupid, but honest, trustworthy, and compassionate; Everybody hates Hillary Rodham Clinton [“Rodham” is mandatory]…

As a number of bloggers, myself included, have noticed, Bush coverage has become a bit less fawning of late. And in particular, a “Bush Lied” conventional wisdom may be starting to take shape. Witness, for example, the two editorials cited in the previous post (“Becoming Sane”), though they stopped just short of using the word “lie”. And today, there’s another negative story, this time in the Washington Post: Former Aide Takes Aim at War on Terror. The aide, Rand Beers, rips the administration’s tactics in the War on Terror as well as the War on Iraq, and with tenure at the NSC dating back to the Reagan years, he has some credibility. Beers held the same job that Oliver North held during Iran-Contra, Director for Counternarcotics and Counterterrorism; for more discussion, see Billmon’s post. While you’re there, make sure to take a look at his collection of pre-war WMD quotes.

Back to the media, Beers apparently left the NSC around March 14th, though the article doesn’t give an exact date. Shortly after leaving the NSC, he joined John Kerry’s campaign. My point: this story has been “out there” for about three months now. That it appears so shortly on the heels of a rise in negative press in general, is at least suggestive of a turning tide in press coverage.

AB