After some laughably docile reportage on the issue yesterday, the Times tries to put some teeth in their coverage of Bush & Cheney's "friendly appearance" before the 9/11 commission. Their unsigned editorial turns up the heat, saying:
It would have been a pleasure to be able to congratulate President Bush on his openness in agreeing to sit down today with the independent commission on the 9/11 attacks and answer questions. Unfortunately, Mr. Bush conditioned his cooperation on stipulations that range from the questionable to the ridiculous. ...Given the White House's concern for portraying Mr. Bush as a strong leader, it's remarkable that this critical appearance is being structured in a way that is certain to provide fodder for late-night comedians, who enjoy depicting him as the docile puppet of his vice president.
But, as Leila pointed out to me, Bush doesn't mind appearing like a fool if it distracts the public from what he really is: a villain. The unrecorded, off-the-record, completely controlled appearance isn't laughable, it's sinister. They want you to make a joke of it, so you won't pay attention to the serious truth underneath.
If you're paying attention to what's going on in the Supreme Court today, you can see the trend clearly: that the Bush administration wants the executive branch to have unlimited dictatorial powers and secrecy. When the media calls that "ridiculous", they're not wrong, but they're ducking half the issue.