Reply #6: I wrote her an email (address below) [View All]

...What accounts for this contrast in responsibility-taking? The answer is one I've argued in this space before: Americans demand a higher standard of truth from the news media than they do from their political leaders. They expect politicians to lie, mislead and dissemble, and they expect the news media to catch them.

But even when reporters uncover such transgressions, it doesn't necessarily translate into changes in policy or admissions of guilt. That has certainly been true of this president, who values loyalty above competence and evidences not the slightest inkling of his own fallibility. Now that the voters have seen fit to re-elect him, the nation can expect the same, only more so.

We can only imagine what kind of report Thornburgh and Boccardi would assemble on the administration's conduct of the war. Five'll get you 10 they'd find a lot more guns smoking in the White House than they ever did at CBS.



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(Sally Kalson can be reached at 412-263-1610 or skalson@post-gazette.com.)