NOW we see that they were lying: a blinding glimpse of the obvious

it's a good thing rosa brooks is directing her comments to traditional media outlets and not including the blogosphere and non-traditional news sources...

Like freed hostages who gradually cease to identify with their captors, mainstream media outlets seem to have been seized by a new spirit of liberation in their coverage of the Bush administration. Lately, we've seen a rash of astonished, outraged stories and editorials relating to the administration's recently discovered malfeasance.

[...]

The new media message is righteous and clear: Administration officials tricked us — all of us! They assured us that everything they did was legal … necessary … for our own good … but now we see that they were lying!

Well, yeah. So what else is new?

[...]

Bush and Cheney valued power and expedience, nothing more — and much of the time, they didn't even bother to cover their tracks when they bypassed long-standing laws and regulations. Similarly, when it came to compliance with our laws and constitutional traditions, they hardly even pretended to give a hoot.

So why did it take us so long to notice?

[...]

It's hard not to conclude that collectively, we were all too cowardly, slothful or puffed up with our own self-importance to ask the right questions and stand up for principle. The administration didn't trick us; we tricked ourselves.

Someday, the Bush era may come to seem like a bad dream, a shameful, inexplicable interlude in American history. We're right to be outraged by Bush and Cheney, but we should also save a bit of outrage for when we look in the mirror.

yeah, well, rosa, the media STILL aren't taking nearly the forceful stance they should be taking in light of the illegal outrages perpetrated on the citizens of the united states and half of the rest of the world by the criminal occupants of the white house... as supposed keepers of the flame of truth, journalists should insure that these outrages are on display on the front pages of newspapers, as lead stories on local, network and cable news, and front and center on every news website, daily, across the country... citizens and media alike can't afford a minute's rest until that cabal is removed from office...

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