There is a certain beauty of simple writng. The "just the facts, ma'm" style was effective.

This article does exactly what it says. It shows that everything the McClellan is now saying was reported already by the media in some of the smaller cities. These things were also reported on the Internet and in the foreign press. The article does a service by reminding us all of these things. All this being true, the addition of McClellan's voice in saying these things now is not without value. After all, the insular Washington press and the insular political power structure believes only what is said by Washington insiders and what is reported in the Washington press. McClellan raising his voice on these matters means that our Senators and Congressmen will finally learn about what the rest of the world knew years ago.

This is excellent journalism that puts forward detailed proof that the cheney/bush lies were known as lies at the time and responsible journalists reported them as such. This serves as a clear indictment of the right wing big corporate press who escorted the neocons into the worst military, constitutional, and international disaster in the history of our nation. Perhaps the only antidote to this complicity is if they would all unite and call for immediate impeachment of bush and cheney, and then agree to disaggregate the near monopolies of news reporting that has so clearly failed to report news for the people, as needed for an informed democracy. For another excellant story on media coverage leading to the illegal invasion and ... More »

A somewhat irate traipse through the Knight-Ridder reporting leading up to the US invasion of Iraq demonstrating that the facts were available in spite of McClellan's presentation of propaganda and that at least one news organization was on the story and got it right at the time, protestations by others notwithstanding.

The McClatchey journalists have little respect for Scott McClellan as he tries to "set the record straight", 5 years after the invasion of Iraq. But they like even less the loyalists who won't even now come clean and make admissions of the truth of 2003. McClatchey's record is far better than most in speaking truth to the American public about the Bush administration's foreign fiascoes. This article enumerates some of the readily available information that, had Scott McClelland paid attention, would have armed the presidential spokesman with fact instead of fiction.

This is an important retort to MCClellan and others who wait until they leave their jobs to blow the whistle on the boss. I don't know anyone surprised by Scott's "revelations," except to be surprised he did not come to them sooner. As for the media, well, saying "the media" is like saying "the voters," or "the public," it's a broad net may catch the right fish, but also sweeps up a lot of innocent fish in the process. Many in the media missed the boat, for sure. But some did not. Those who missed the boat owe those who did not a tip of the hat and the rest of us an apology.