May 27, 2008

Although Scott McClellan's memoir is chock full of juicy bits about George Bush, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby and the myriad pre-war lies the White House force-fed America, perhaps the most important (and most overlooked) critique McClellan levels is aimed squarely at the "liberal media" and how they acted as "deferential, complicit enablers" of the administration's "propaganda" leading up to the war. On the TODAY show this morning, Matt Lauer asked "the big three" -- Charlie Gibson, Brian Williams and Katie Couric -- whether they thought McClellan was accurate in his criticism of the press. Their answers are revealing to say the least:

Gibson: "I'm not sure we would have asked anything differently [if given an opportunity to do it again.]"

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To her credit, Couric admits that mistakes were made and that she could have done a better job vetting the administration's claims; although she also admitted that the White House threatened to cut off her access after she filed critical reports. But Gibson and Williams (along with, one would assume, the majority of the elite press) simply lack the ability to recognize that they were duped, and that they thus duped their viewers. Indeed, as Glenn documents in a lengthy post today:

"This is why most establishment journalists will never be convinced that they failed to do their job, no matter how much evidence is presented: because of the understanding they have of what 'their job' actually is."

For a comprehensive breakdown of just how laughable the Gibson/Williams defense is, be sure to read Glenn's post in its entirety.

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