Avedon Carol responds to my questioning why the establishment media seems to go out of their way to find excuses for why Bush is not responsible for any of the bad things that are going on today. Just to be clear, that question was partly rhetorical. Avedon pretty much states what I already believe to be the truth: that the establishment media is horribly compromised when it comes to reporting just the basic facts about what is going on today. To do so without finding a way to suggest it might not be Bush's fault will subject them to the label of "liberal bias", derision, and possible exclusion from the Kool Kidz Klub (and all the money that goes along with membership in said club). There are exceptions of course. Paul Krugman is one of them, but he has the advantage of not being part of that media culture and thus not subject to its rules of behavior. The one who is really a surprise is Dana Milbank. He is perhaps the most overtly skeptical journalist who reports on the Bush administration and yet still has a position of semi-prominence in the establishment media. Even if I don't always agree with all that he says, I applaud him for the courage he has shown. I wonder how long it will be before he gets shipped out to Siberia.