Shot In The Dark: Disintegration

July 21, 2004

Disintegration

You know the basis of your credibility - if you're a darling of the left, like Joe Wilson - is falling apart when even the WaPo bails on you.

Their conclusion:

Mr. Wilson chose to emphasize the latter point, that no deal was likely -- but that does not negate the one Mr. Bush made in his speech, which was that Iraq was looking for bomb material. This suggests another caution: Some of those who now fairly condemn the administration's "slam-dunk" approach to judging the intelligence about Iraq risk making the same error themselves. The failure to find significant stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons or an active nuclear program in Iraq has caused some war opponents to claim that Iraq was never much to worry about. The Niger story indicates otherwise. Like the reporting of postwar weapons investigator David Kay, it suggests that Saddam Hussein never gave up his intention to develop weapons of mass destruction and continued clandestine programs he would have accelerated when U.N. sanctions were lifted. No, the evidence is not conclusive. But neither did President Bush invent it.
So when will Kerry renounce Wilson?

Dems?
Posted by Mitch at July 21, 2004 06:31 AM | TrackBack

Comments

I realize it's probably a small consolation, but Strib still loves him; witness today's editorial.

Posted by: jdm at July 21, 2004 06:47 AM

Thanks for the pointer. BLogged about it!

Posted by: mitch at July 21, 2004 07:29 AM

Come on, Mitch. The WaPo editorial page leans right--not WSJ right, but right nonetheless. It's not surprising that they hammered Wilson. I've been expecting it for a week.

Posted by: Jeff Fecke at July 21, 2004 10:30 AM

Jeff Fecke wrote:

"Come on, Mitch. The WaPo editorial page leans right--not WSJ right, but right nonetheless."

Always good to open with a joke.

Posted by: Thorley Winston at July 21, 2004 11:22 AM

The WaPo does lean right. Right of Michael Moore.

Posted by: Aodhan at July 21, 2004 11:27 AM

Jeff - You call it leaning right, I call dealing with facts as they are presented. Surely you were not complaining of them "leaning right" when the lies of Joe Wilson were being covered in full as the truth. Right?

Posted by: Dave V at July 21, 2004 12:08 PM

Guys, guys, guys, the WaPo was never big on the Joe Wilson bandwagon. Seriously, go back and read it. The WaPo editorial page is known to lean right. I'm not making this up or projecting, it's the truth. That doesn't make it evil, but it also means that it's not exactly a surprise that a generally conservative editorial page excoriates someone on the left. It would be surprising if it didn't happen.

Posted by: Jeff Fecke at July 21, 2004 12:33 PM

You say they lean right, whatever, it is up for debate. I for one would not make that argument. I suppose the Star Tribune editorial is "centrist" or "leans a little left"? You should read this article from the Weekly Standard. The Washington Post DID IN FACT give it a whole lot of coverage. Here is one part of the article, most of the evidence is on the 2nd page, I'd post more but you can read the whole thing yourself.

"Wilson continued to receive uncritical press. Walter Pincus wrote up his October 5 Meet the Press appearance for the Washington Post the next day, and two days after that, Wilson and his wife were the subjects of another gauzy Washington Post profile by Richard Leiby and Dana Priest."

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/337paflu.asp?pg=1

Posted by: Dave V at July 21, 2004 01:13 PM

I suppose if you get all your spin from Atrios and Marshall, the WaPo would seem conservative.

Posted by: Dana at July 21, 2004 01:21 PM

Jeff- Can you find one conservative who would agree with your view that the WaPo editorial page is "known to lean right"? I would gladly embrace any editorial page that I believed was leaning even slightly my way, as I'm sure most conservatives would. The WaPo is not as egregiously left wing as the NY Times, Strib, or LA Times, but it most certainly does not lean right. Next thing you'll be telling us is that CNN is a bastion of conservative thought.

Posted by: elder at July 21, 2004 04:43 PM

I concur with the Elder and I might add, where is the proof that the WaPo "leans right" editorially?

Posted by: Thorley Winston at July 21, 2004 05:51 PM