Once again the Associated Press, formerly a thoroughly admirable even—handed news—gathering organization, is revealed as staffed by partisans more interested in pushing a viewpoint than in reporting facts in a disinterested manner. Look at the language Terrence Hunt chose to lead—off his coverage of President Bush's State of the Union address:

A politically weakened President Bush declared Tuesday night that America must break its long dependence on Mideast oil and rebuked critics of his stay—the—course strategy for the unpopular war in Iraq.

"Politically weakened" and "unpopular war in Iraq" are both judgments, and have no place in a straight news report, especially not in the lead paragraph.

Hat tip: David Owen

Thomas Lifson  2 01 06