W.'s Head in the Sand - New York Times

W.'s Head in the Sand - New York Times: "They've tarnished American moral leadership with illegal detentions, torture, secret C.I.A. prisons in countries only recently liberated from the Soviet gulag, and Soviet-style propaganda both at home and in Iraq.

Guess the Bush administration didn't learn anything this fall when federal auditors said it had violated the law by buying favorable news coverage of its education polices. Bush officials got right back into the fake news business, paying to plant propaganda in the Iraqi press. They outsourced this disinformation campaign to something called the Lincoln Group - have they no shame?

You have to admire Scott McClellan, the president's spokesman. He kept a straight face when he called the U.S. 'a leader when it comes to promoting and advocating a free and independent media around the world.' He added, 'We've made our views very clear when it comes to freedom of the press.'

Exceedingly clear. The Bushies don't believe in it. They disdain the whole democratic system of checks and balances."