Burying the Lede

Scott Wilson and Anne E. Kornblut have an article about how "The Obama administration is aggressively pushing back against Republican criticism of its handling of terrorism suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab."

The Republican argument is that the Obama administration would have obtained more intelligence from Abdulmutallab if they had ignored the constitution. They key fact is that Abdulmutallab is currently cooperating. Republicans in congress and the press, who have no information not available to the public, have asserted otherwise, because they feel free to make claims of fact totally unsuported by evidence. I would call those statements "lies."


Wilson and Kornblut wait till paragraph 11 to note that "Senior administration officials said Abdulmutallab is cooperating again. U.S. investigators brought over members of his family from Nigeria on Jan. 17 to encourage him to talk."

The point is that in ballanced coverage of a political controversy, the facts, with a known liberal slant, must be downplayed.