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Spin and Counterspin
One outlet reports cautious optimism on the troop surge in Iraq. The next day, another reports deepening pessimism.
Were I paranoid, I'd speculate that MSM heavyweights were trying to do their Democratic buds a favor by spinning the war in a slightly positive way to show what a great thing it was to have "rational" people in charge. Now that it is becoming clear that a) this also helps the president and b) the Dems are going to spend most of their time in pointless pissing contests instead of trying to get things done, the standard negativity is returning to the forefront.
But, knowing only to well the truth in the axiom, "never ascribe to malice that which can be adequately explained by incompetence," I'm more inclined to think Iraq is still a bubbling gumbo of conflict so complex nobody on the street can claim to have a handle on the whole thing. Which, of course, doesn't prevent the media from trying.
First link via Instapundit.
Which unfortunately is what the political process is all about--the assigning of blame!
Posted by: Mark on April 4, 2007 09:15 AMUnfortunate? That's like saying it's unfortunate that rain makes things wet. In any bureaucracy, things only get done because someone, somewhere, is going to be blamed if it doesn't get done. The most effective bureaucracies are ones that harness this natural desire to blame someone else, by concentrating responsibility on those most capable of fixing problems. Our political system is not only designed to do this, but also tends to reward those who fix problems with increased power and popularity.
Its only real weakness is that it's vulnerable to being gamed by people who invent or create problems, so they can claim credit for fixing them. The media used to be a hedge against this, but after Vietnam they became willing, even eager, participants in this duplicity. Now that task is falling to the blogosphere.
God help us all.
Posted by: Tatterdemalian on April 5, 2007 01:51 PM