Accountability

I was out driving today - registering kids for school, running a few errands - and torturing myself by listening to Bush's press conference. What did I hear, but the familiar voice of David Greene asking W about accountability. In particular, Greene asked about Consiglieri Gonzales and why Bush hasn't held him accountable (not a bad question for an NPR reporter). The question got Bush's dander up; he replied, "....implicit in your question is that Al Gonzales did something wrong...this is a man who has testified, he sent thousands of papers up there. There's no proof of wrong, why would I hold somebody accountable who has done nothing wrong...."

Greene followed up, but didn't offer even a few "proofs of wrong" that Gonzales has done - but, hey, maybe he just assumed Bush would acknowledge the crime family he has surrounded himself with and that would be that. I could forgive Greene for being a bit slow-witted in the heat of the moment- going mano-a-mano with The Decider himself - but , good God, Greene (and the whole apparatus of NPR News for that matter) had the leisure of all afternoon to do a little basic fact checking before All Things Considered aired. Greene could have looked at Crooks and Liars, Think Progress, The New York Times, or The Boston Globe for a wee bit o' reality. But, alas, that would be tiresome, so instead Greene did his usual rehash of the press conference, offering a digested (regurgitated) summary of Bush's remarks with no digression into the world of research. No wonder Bush chummily remarked to Greene during the press conference, "I know you're a kind open-minded fellow." High praise indeed.