The Endless War

Time investigates Rudy's 9/11 record and praises his "extraordinary grace under fire" and "intimate knowledge of emergency management." But: The evidence also shows great, gaping weaknesses. Giuliani's penchant for secrecy, his tendency to value loyalty over merit and his hyperbolic rhetoric are exactly the kinds of instincts that counterterrorism experts say the U.S. can least afford right now.

"Giuliani's limitations are in fact remarkably similar to those of another man who has led the nation into a war without end."

Pretty tough stuff.

TPM's Greg Sargent is tired of hearing about the Petraeus report:

"There is simply nothing that can get the big news orgs to stop reporting that the September progress report on Iraq is being written by General Petraeus, even though we all know it's being written by the White House. Just sit back and marvel at all the wrongness -- and at how lazy, predictable, comprehensive and dispiriting it is."

The offenders: WP, NYT, AP, CNN, Fox . . .

At the New York Press, Russ Smith tells political reporters to zip it:

"One of the more irksome themes of this summer is the complaint among those mainstream journalists who comprise what's called the 'commentariat' or 'punditocracy,' that presidential campaigns begin earlier and earlier every four years. This is not only condescending, but dishonest as well. If, in a fantasy world, the thousands of key-punchers who deride the number of polls and fund-raising totals released more than a year before the actual election, they could choose to ignore the entire process. In this scenario, no matter how desperately Mitt Romney attempts to become a household name through advertisements and attending public forums in Iowa and New Hampshire, if the media wasn't there to cover every syllable the man utters, few Americans would even know the man existed.

"The reality is that political reporters and columnists, and their editors, are thrilled with the 'Permanent Campaign,' regardless of how much they grouse about lousy hotel accommodations and mind-numbing speeches. It's a lot more fun, I imagine, than trying to decipher for readers the tiny print of a Congressional farm bill or pontificating about yet another rambling speech by Sen. Robert Byrd about the majesty of the institution he's served in since about 1895."

I would normally agree. Except this time: Imagine if we just blew off the coverage of the last eight months. We would have missed Obama getting in and raising more money than Hillary, Romney raising a small fortune, McCain's bus crashing and almost burning, the improbable rise of Rudy . . . Like it or not, a whole campaign is unfolding out there.

After my fulminations about scant media coverage of the brewing mortgage meltdown, I happened upon this David Leonhardt column in the NYT, noting that at Ben Bernanke's confirmation hearings, Sen. Paul Sarbanes "pointed out that the number of people taking out adjustable-rate mortgages soared in 2004. 'Are you concerned about the potential for a bubble in the housing market?' the senator asked Mr. Bernanke. "And specifically, does the drastic increase in the use of risky financing schemes, including interest-only and even negative amortization mortgages, concern you?"

So I checked, and the New York Times didn't use that exchange in its story at the time. Neither did The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune or USA Today. Guess it didn't seem like a big deal, huh?

How exactly is this going to win back readers?

"The Winston-Salem Journal will eliminate its daily business-news section, combine some Sunday sections and eliminate five positions to reduce costs, the Journal's president and publisher said in a letter to employees."