Our Unbiased Press

Observations by a fellow blogger about the priorities of reporters when given the opportunity to meet the president of Kurdistan motivated me to check out the transcripts of the latest White House press briefings by Scott McClellan.

Walter Pincus was once quoted in the New York Review of Books as saying getting on the front pages of papers like the Post and the New York Times is "like writing a memo to the White House." That may be so, but I wonder exactly what happens to journalism when reporters begin to think that writing memos to the White House is in their job description.

Oh hell, I don't wonder. This is what happens, in an exchange about the new bill intended to explicitly ban torture:

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not going to get into discussions that we're having with congressional leaders about how to move forward on the legislation.

Q You've already said the President is going to veto anything that would exempt us from torture. You have -- this White House demeans --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, that's not correct, that's --

Q -- you demean all Americans when you support torture. And your answer is so fuzzy --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, Helen, our answer is very clear, and that's flat-out wrong what you're suggesting, because this President has made it very clear what our policy is --

Q Didn't you say that he would veto any part of that legislation of defense spending?

MR. McCLELLAN: We did express our views on that legislation, but it is not the way you characterized it, because there are laws and treaty obligations that are on the books. We adhere to those laws and treaty obligations.

Q No, you don't. You are supporting torture.

MR. McCLELLAN: You are wrong. This is a -- the United States is a country that --

Q Is the story in the paper today wrong?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- believes in adhering to our laws and our values. And we do. And this President believes in abiding by our laws and our treaty obligations.

Q Why do we keep reading about torture then?
 

Surely not because reporters keep writing about it--and in a way that equates support for torture with opposition to a specific bill.

I believe the exchange above is with the always entertaining Helen Thomas. But still.

Comments

[Tim Graham]

Pincus explains what George Bush was aiming at when he said he didn't read the papers, but had them summarized for him by staff. It undercuts their idea that they're half-running the government, advising the president on what a truly wise politician would do -- listen to them, factor all their opinions into his decisions.