Wonder Who Created This Problem

NBC's Andrea Mitchell had a live chat today linked to her new book. In it, she mourns the lack of more open debate:

Burke, Va.: What is your assessment of the news media's performance for the duration of the George W. Bush administration? Have they been diligent in accurately presenting the important facts regarding foreign and domestic policy to the American public or have they been too entrenched with the administration, avoiding the critical examination of issues necessary to maintain a good check and balance?

Andrea Mitchell: The Bush administration has managed to control its message, at least up until now, better than any that I've ever covered -- and I've covered five administrations. The loyalty of the top officials in the White House and other departments and agencies has been noteworthy. It has certainly made it harder for aggressive journalists to cultivate leaks.

From the president's perspective that has helped present a unified front, except for some areas of foreign policy during the first term. I'm not sure how well either journalism or the public has been served by the refusal to encourage debate and a fuller discussion of foreign policies.

But how can any administration be open to "debate and fuller discussion of policies" in a world of "gotcha" journalism, illustrated here by reporter columnist writer Dana Milbank in a Washington Sketch piece about "message chaos:"

For about an hour and a half yesterday, Republicans had a new tax-cut policy.

Addressing a group of credit-union officials in the morning, Treasury Secretary John W. Snow said that hurricane recovery spending would "push to the back burner" the GOP's plans to extend the tax cuts this year.

But about 90 minutes later, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) held a news conference in his office and asserted that "we're not reexamining" the commitment to extend the tax cuts. "That's not an option," DeLay said, then, for emphasis, added: "Not an option."

Milbank's rap on the Democrats is an even better example:

Across the aisle and on the other side of the Capitol, Democrats were having similar difficulty staying on message. Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) went to the Senate floor to announce his opposition to Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr., and to say that "senators should take notice" of the civil rights objections to the nominee.

But as those words were ringing through the chamber, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), was outside the cloakroom telling reporters that Reid "is speaking as an individual and as the senior senator from Nevada." The leader of the Democrats, Leahy said, is "not speaking for the caucus."

Katrina has washed away party discipline in Washington...

It's "message chaos" when one Democrat decides to vote against Roberts, and another one for? Or when, as Milbank later points out, Dick Cheney says he doesn't think we need a Katrina recovery czar, but John McCain does?

And yet reporters are indignant when administrations and parties try to carefully script their answers.

Cause, meet effect.