VodkaPundit & Me

Here's what Stephen "VodkaPundit" Green had to say about a recent AP story:

The AP headline reads:

Cheney Fields Tough Questions From Troops

Here are both of the "tough questions" from the story:

"From our perspective, we don't see much as far as gains," said Marine Cpl. Bradley Warren, the first to question Cheney in a round-table discussion with about 30 military members. "We're looking at small-picture stuff, not many gains. I was wondering what it looks like from the big side of the mountain — how Iraq's looking."

From what I've read and heard about the military, a corporal is supposed to be focused on the "small-picture stuff." Everything else is, as they say, above his pay grade. Is the fact that he's looking for a little high-level encouragement really a "tough question?"

Here's the second one:

Another Marine, Cpl. R.P. Zapella, asked, "Sir, what are the benefits of doing all this work to get Iraq on its feet?"

If a White House Press Corps reporter has asked Cheney the exact same question, he's have been chided by his colleagues for lobbing a softball - if you'll allow me to mix metaphors. But when that question is asked by some poor prole - er, corporal - it's reported by the AP as if it had all the furious heat of a Nolan Ryan fastball.

The problem isn't so much that the MSM has bad standards. The problem is, standards in the MSM are purely situational.

Here is what Dan Gray sent to me in e-mail this morning, referencing the same article:

It's time to bring these guys back; the U.S. should phase out a withdrawal over three years, from 160, to 120, to 90, to 75, to 50, to 25 etc. This GWOT crap is so much b.s. w/ the borders wide open to Canada and Mexico; in fact, it is laughable.

Here is what I said in response (well in advance of having read the above):

Dan:

With all due respect, that reads more like a biased article from a SF paper than one that reflects what the headline claims it does. There was one mildly tough question, another that sounds rather neutral, and then all good news.

I share your angst over the borders, but being wrong there doesn't make it wrong to do other things. I don't understand the reluctance to secure the borders in the least, but that doesn't mean that Iraq isn't a success on its own terms.

Great minds drink, er, think, alike!