Posted by Nicholas Beaudrot of Electoral Math
In addition to agreeing with, well, little ol' me that the hunting accident may have been a better A1 story than the Iraq war, the Medicare bill, or the budget, Jay Rosen hits on the key point on display during Cheneyshotaguyintheface-gate. The Bush approach to press relations is radically different from any previous President, and the press corps either can't tell or doesn't care:
Other White Houses had a “line of the day” they wanted to push. Nonehad a spokesman like Scott McClellan who, no matter what the question,will mindlessly repeat the line of the day as a way of showingjournalists that they have no rights to an answer. That isn't “spin,”although it may superficially look like spin. That's shutting down thepodium and emptying out the briefing room without saying you're doingit.
