The Virtual Ink Shortage

The virtual ink shortage continues to plague American media. A check of the NY Times and Washington Post web sites reveals no evidence of the exposure of various Kerry "embellishments" of his military service.

The Times does feature this shocking exposé, however:

Washington Post Rethinks Its Coverage Of War Debate

The executive editor of The Washington Post, Leonard Downie Jr., said in yesterday's newspaper that he and other top editors had erred before the war in Iraq by not giving front-page prominence to more articles that cast doubt on the Bush administration's claims that Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction.

"We were so focused on trying to figure out what the administration was doing that we were not giving the same play to people who said it wouldn't be a good idea to go to war and were questioning the administration's rationale,'' Mr. Downie said in a front-page article that assessed the newspaper's prewar coverage. "Not enough of those stories were put on the front page. That was a mistake on my part.''

The Post article is one of several that have appeared in recent months in which news organizations have begun to publicly second-guess their coverage of the war.

Horrible. The right wing cabal controls the media, what more proof do you need? But that's nothing compared to today's LA Times revelation:

Rumsfeld And Bush Failed Us On Sept. 11

Donald Rumsfeld, one of the chief opponents of investing real power over purse and personnel in a new national intelligence chief, told the 9/11 commission that an intelligence czar would do the nation "a great disservice." It is fair to ask what kind of service Rumsfeld provided on the day the nation was under catastrophic attack.

"Two planes hitting the twin towers did not rise to the level of Rumsfeld's leaving his office and going to the War Room? How can that be?" asked Mindy Kleinberg, one of the widows known as the Jersey Girls, whose efforts helped create and guide the 9/11 commission. The fact that the final report failed to offer an explanation is one of the infuriating holes in an otherwise praiseworthy accounting.

<...>

Why wasn't Rumsfeld able to see on TV what millions of civilians already knew? After the Pentagon was attacked, why did he run outside to play medic instead of moving to the command center and taking charge?

The story did get some TV time. However, the transcripts have apparently changed. (Note: Linked story updated. Not sure why Glenn didn't just completely rewrite the story though. Integrity maybe?)

Update: Tom Mortensen points to this link and asks the media "This is a stunning revelation if it can be verified. Is there any one in your organization that is more interested in a Pulitzer or an Emmy than they are in seeing John Kerry elected president?"

Maybe I'm a cynic, but no one's going to win a prize for telling this story Tom.

Though this deserves something of that sort, I suppose.