the "liberal media" continuing to kiss bush's ass

MEDIA STRAINS TO PORTRAY BUSH AS ACTIVE PARTICIPANT IN MIDEAST CRISIS; CNN SAYS MIDEAST TURMOIL GOOD FOR BUSH.

It's been kind of interesting to watch the big news orgs struggle and strain to portray President Bush as an active, hands-on participant in resolving the mideast crisis. As I noted below, Newsweek got extraordinary access to Bush for days on end, and somehow managed to portray him as a decisive crisis manager without capturing him in the act of making a meaningful decision. Now check out this extraordinary paragraph on CNN's politics page:

The Middle East crisis is giving President Bush a second chance to be a peacemaker and, however counterintuitive, an unexpected new chance to make headway on his grand goal of leaving the Middle East more democratic than he found it.

That one belongs in the time capsule, doesn't it? Anyone by chance recall Bush's first effort to be a "peacemaker"? Me either. I do, however, vaguely recall him initiating a war of choice on false pretenses that has left over 2,500 Americans dead and many tens of thousands severely wounded. Maybe in the world of CNN war is peace, as the Orwellian phrase has it. It's also worth pointing out that the Bush administration has actually rebuffed calls for the U.S. to push for a cease-fire.

The CNN paragraph links to this article in Time magazine which, while not as favorable as CNN's billing of it, doesn't even mention that the United States is speeding precision bombs to Israel, an act which is kind of at odds with Bush's alleged bid to be a "peacemaker." Meanwhile, the Time article takes readers through the usual things which are supposed to portray an active crisis manager at work, saying that Bush "initiated a series of phone calls from Air Force One and the Oval Office to leaders around the region." Yes, that's right, the President made some calls. And the article concludes on the following note:

Aides say he is content for now to take steps toward transforming the region in less obvious but, they believe, more fundamental and lasting ways.

It's impossible to know what this actually means, or whether any aides actually said this, but accepting it for the moment at face value, it's reassuring to know that Bush is "content" with the impact his administration is having on the Middle East. For a moment there one might have thought things weren't going all that well over in that part of the world.

(The Horse's Mouth)

(first seen at Eschaton)