Darn That Liberal Media

[See also previous blog post- Shame on the New York Times]

Jonathan Alter, of Newsweek, tells of an effort by Bush to stop the NY Times story...

...Bush was so desperate that The New York Times not publish its story on the National Security Agency eavesdropping on American citizens without a warrant, in what lawyers outside the administration say is a clear violation of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. I learned this week that on December 6, Bush summoned Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger and executive editor Bill Keller to the Oval Office in a futile attempt to talk them out of running the story. The Times will not comment on the meeting, but one can only imagine the president’s desperation...

Too bad for George, the Run-Amok days at the NY Times of their fave reporter taking cues from the Vice President's office are over. The Times made the right call, albeit one year too late. Call it How Sulzberger Got His Groove Back.

Still, the media coverage of this scandal has been extremely limited and oblivious in general. Most of that 'liberal media' are buying the President's lies that is standard wartime national security procedure. I watched alot of cable news last night and didn't hear anyone address why the President chose to bypass the FISA system and no one note that the 72-hour retroactive warrant clause blows away his only excuse- the need for speed. As David Sirota points out in his latest blog post, the talking heads are all treating this as it were another partisan squabble about the war, not a huge debate over unchecked and unconstitutional power of the executive branch. We should thank our lucky stars CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News didn't exist during Watergate.

Who needs to get a blowjob for people to pay attention to this?

Related links:
-Paper in a Bubble: Is the Times Even More Cut Off than George Bush?
-Critics Question Timing of Surveillance Story