The Buck Stops...um, Over There

Helen Thompson demonstrates clearly who's reasonable and who's completely whacked with this op-ed:

WASHINGTON -- White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan says President Bush was "pleased" with the latest investigation that blames CIA analysts for the false information that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

That's the reason Bush invaded Iraq, remember? Once again it's those low-level bureaucrats who took us into war. And once again a panel of "don't rock the boat" establishment figures has let the commander in chief off the hook.

I asked McClellan if the president was upset to be so misguided and at such a human cost. Well, you had to be there.

He danced around on the subject, talked about "a culture in the intelligence community that had not adapted to meet the threats that we face today." But he could not be pinned down on how the president personally felt about making war on the basis of bum information.

Any other president would have blown his stack. Instead, Bush honored former CIA Director George Tenet with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

No shiite. I still don't know what's worse--the baldfaced lies told by the Bush administration, or the utter lack of concern from slightly more than half the voting public that apparently doesn't mind being lied to. As for Ms. Thomas, well, she shows a hell of a lot more class than either George W. Bush (who broke with tradition in no longer calling on her--because he can't handle tough questions) or Brit Hume, who's said absolutely foul things about her on the air.

Helen Thomas is by no means a perfect journalist--but she is A journalist, which is a hell of a lot more than you can say for most of them these days...