Disappeared News

FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) has asked viewers to please contact CBS and NBC about their broadcasts of Bush's August 21 press conference in which they edited the video to hide part of what he said when questioned about the Iraq war.

Since they took words out, viewers would not know that something was missing. I didn't. You'd have to find out on the Web someplace that this egregious cut was made. Did Bush ask for the cut, or did they just do it automatically, like well-trained lap dogs?

The unexpurgated version would have been:

Q: But are you frustrated, sir?

BUSH: Frustrated? Sometimes I'm frustrated. Rarely surprised. Sometimes I'm happy. This is -- but war is not a time of joy. These aren't joyous times. These are challenging times, and they're difficult times, and they're straining the psyche of our country. I understand that.

It appears that Bush realized what he had just said and tried to fix it up.

FAIR reports that:

Reporter Bill Plante previewed the answer by saying that Bush "conceded that daily reports of death and destruction take a toll, both on the nation and on him." The edited quote that followed:

Frustrated? Sometimes I'm frustrated, rarely surprised. These aren't joyous times. These are challenging times, and they're difficult times. And they're straining the psyche of our country. I understand that.

Why do we need to have journalists buffing up the president's image? Haven't they realized yet that he's sinking in the polls despite their attempts to save him?

What's wrong with good, honest journalism anyway? Just give us the news, please.