The president's comments did serve to highlight a debate within the administration over what to do about Iraq.
At this point they are so desperate to sell this line that here they actually resort to designating Powell as the person who is "seen as" the leader of a faction that urges restraint. Seen by whom? By hopeful liberals in the media, that's who. Notice they don't say that Powell is the leader of such a faction. They can't, because in the next paragraph Powell is going to call the Iraqi regime "evil" and use the Official Diplomatic Code Word ("all of his options") that means "Blowing them up is definitely on the table." What we have here is a U.S. media establishment that has totally made up a struggle that they wish was happening. They then report this to the public over and over, citing each other as their source. They've gone past shading the truth and highlighting only the stories that fit their agenda, now they are literally making up news and reporting it as fact. It's all become a kind of show business that deals in fiction as readily as it deals in fact. Rather than "news," it's all about getting on TV so that I can hide in a journalism suit and promote my agenda. |
The still-doesn't-get-it CNN continues to peddle the Great Liberal Hope that there is a "debate" going on in the White House, as opposed to a wide range of options being made available to the President.