Eschaton

Howler on the liberal media:

DID WE MENTION THE FACT THAT SPIN WINS? When have you seen such an odd lead paragraph? In yesterday’s Post, Helen Dewar wrote the page-one lead story about the Homeland Security bill. Here’s how she got things started:

DEWAR (pgh 1): The drive to create a federal Department of Homeland Security, one of President Bush’s top priorities since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, drew close to fruition yesterday as key senators agreed to a slightly revised version of the White House’s proposal.

Say what? Bush, of course, opposed the department when it was proposed—and opposed it for roughly eight months after that! Somehow, they’d heard this at the New York Times. If you read far enough into yesterday’s piece, you did receive this information:

FIRESTONE/BUMILLER (pgh 14): In fact, the White House had rejected the idea of a consolidated security department when it was proposed last year by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee...
(15) The administration changed its mind in June after the idea gained unstoppable Congressional momentum.

But that history had ceased to exist in the Post, where Homeland Sec had become Bush’s long-standing cause. Meanwhile, Firestone also confabulated a tad, right at the top of his piece:

FIRESTONE/BUMILLER (pgh 2): The measure would collect in one department tasks now spread over 22 federal agencies...White House officials said they were pleased by today’s breakthrough and expressed hope that a completed bill could be on the president’s desk for signature by Thanksgiving.
(3) Democrats who had held up the measure before Republicans regained control of Congress in the midterm elections gave in to relaxed Civil Service rules demanded by the White House.

According to Firestone, Democrats “had held up the measure” before last week’s elections. In fact, it was Republicans who refused to allow a Senate vote on Homeland Security. Dems opposed the president’s version of the bill, but offered to take up-or-down votes. Republicans wouldn’t allow it.