The President visits the troops in Baghdad on Thanksgiving and the whole trip was hush hush for security reasons. And surprise, surprise - the usual suspects are a tad grumpy:
Democrats Temper Praise for Bush Visit With Criticism:
The surprise visit stunned and confused his rivals, who struggled — in the midst of Thanksgiving dinner — to balance praise for the president's gesture with renewed criticism of his Iraq policy, which they said would be among his greatest vulnerabilities in next year's election.They managed to handle the criticism part as the rest of the article demonstrates.
But the biggest whines were from the media - Some Understand Covert Journey; Others Fear Bad Precedent:
But Philip Taubman, Washington bureau chief of the New York Times, said that "in this day and age, there should have been a way to take more reporters. People are perfectly capable of maintaining a confidence for security reasons. It's a bad precedent." Once White House officials "decided to do a stealth trip, they bought into a whole series of things that are questionable."It must be tough to acclimate when you've just beamed down.
Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, criticized the White House correspondents who made the trip without spilling the secret. "That's just not kosher," he said. "Reporters are in the business of telling the truth. They can't decide it's okay to lie sometimes because it serves a larger truth or good cause."
However, the blue ribbon goes to Ole Shifty Joe:
Former White House spokesman Joe Lockhart, who worked for President Bill Clinton, said: "There's no way to do this kind of trip if it's broadcast in advance, for security reasons. My problem with this is not that he misled the press. This is a president who has been unwilling to provide his presence to the families who have suffered but thinks nothing of flying to Baghdad to use the troops there as a prop."Good to see that Joe is still a lying crapsack.
