Media Fantasies

by Peter Daou

Media Fantasies: Bush's Best Week Ever! ~ Echidne links to a quintessentially Bush-propping ABC News article: It's been the kind of week that President Bush and the beleaguered White House have only dreamed about. A spate of polls now shows a slight rise in public confidence in the war in Iraq after Bush conducted a high-powered summit at Camp David on the Iraq war, made a surprise trip to Baghdad to meet with troops and newly elected Iraqi government leaders, and then returned home to a triumphant Rose Garden news conference.

In addition, Bush's top adviser, Karl Rove, learned he would not face charges related to the 2003 leak of the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame. This may have been the president's best week ever. However, Bush isn't out of the cross hairs. His overall approval rating remains at 37 percent, and late-night comics are still poking fun at him.... Says Echidne, "I hope that this was meant as a joke, because if it wasn't the alternative reality has truly taken over the so-called liberal media."

In the interest of sobriety, here's the real news from Iraq:

7 U.S. Troops Wounded Looking for Comrades
Secret memo reports a near complete breakdown of law and order
10 Workers Kidnapped From Baghdad Bakery
Police: Masked gunmen abducted U.S. soldiers
Horror show reveals Iraq’s descent
Insurgent attacks kill dozens across Iraq

And from Afghanistan:

Taliban attacks leave 30 dead
Taliban is back; Snow and Bush contradict each other
Taliban's war on schoolgirls