Blog-Slapped: You Guys Call That Reporting?

Today’s subject is bad governance coupled with bad journalism.

Peter Baker of the “Washington Post,” has written an article giving wind and wings to (p)resident Bush’s hypocrisy.

w. was in Missouri yesterday under the pretense of pulling Sen. James Talent (r) chestnuts out of the electoral fire. Talent’s in trouble and Bush thinks by showing up there and accusing the Democrats of surrender on Iraq, this guy will hold his seat.

If the people of Missouri’s voting track record in recent elections is any indication, he may be right.

And that would be a shame.

Here’s Bush, who put himself before another crowd of flagwaving idiots so that he could get another gratuitous standing ovation: “There’s a group in the opposition party who are willing to retreat before the mission is done,” Baker dutifully reports. “They’re willing to wave the white flag of surrender. And if they succeed, the United States will be worse off, and the world would be worse off.”

Yep, things here and abroad are certainly a lot BETTER than before we invaded Iraq.

Here’s some more for that article: “Bush’s tone has turned tougher as he appears at more political events [since there’s nothing to do in Washington]. At a Washington fundraiser this month, he said it was important lawmakers ‘not wave the white flag of surrender’ without asserting that any of them were actually doing so. In his appearance in a St. Louis suburb, he said directly that some Democrats want to surrender, adopting the more cutting approach of his senior political adviser, Karl Rove.

Bush also took the media to task for writing about he and Snoopy Cheney’s precious spooky programs.

But he better be careful because the U.S. Supreme Court he normally gets rubber stamped from just delivered a "stunning rebuke" to his obviously illegal military tribunals plan for the people he has illegally detained at Guantanamo Base, Gitmo, Cuba Linda.

Of course, everyone knows Bush is full of shit with a “trustworthy” poll rating in the dumps.

What’s annoying is the report by Baker, and this undercooked filet by Matt Spetalnick of Reuters, amplifying whatever the (p)resident, says sans critique or an opposing point of view.

What Baker and Spetalnick did not mention in their stories is the fact General George Casey, the highest ranking military guy in Iraq, made a presentation at the White House detailing a pull-out plan last week. No less than the "The New York Times," reported on it, but neither scribe saw fit to point it out or use them to contrast Bush’s fightin’ words.

WBAI’s “Wake Up Call” did give voice to California Sen. Barbara Boxer (D), who noted that the plan presented by Casey resembled that offered up by the Democrats and which Bush is now seeking to make hay out by doing his favorite thing, calling himself COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF a lot, and painting the Democrats as pinko-cowards.

So the scribe wrote Baker today, thanks to the great device that allows readers and bloggers to communicate with reporters who are shoveling drivel at them. Here’s what it said.

“Mr. Baker,

I'm ready to blog-spank you. This report is incomplete and fails to take note of the president's hypocrisy. You and I know both know the military in Iraq has been putting together a plan for withdrawal that would achieve the same thing the Dems plan would.

When you dutifully report the president's every utterance, without contrasting and balancing information, you're serving as his bullhorn, not as a journalist."