HERE'S A SYMPTOM OF THE PROBLEM

The war whore pundits never apologize, never explain and continue to write and go on interview and talk shows. Their books sell well and they are still highly respected. Case in point: Thomas Friedman of the NY Times. (via Atrios)

Cenk Uygur: I think that, you know, one of the things that has not been discussed enough in this McClellan issue is, and these revelations, is the press' role. He said the press is an enabler here, but one thing we have not seen is a lot of mea-culpa from the press.

Michael Hirsh: Absolutely. Absolutely. No, I mean, that's, you know, I was inspired to write that. Because McClellan, I mean of all people Scott McClellan, the human punching bag, a zealous Bush advocate, as you can see now because of this sense of betrayal by his former colleagues in the White House you can hardly believe what he came out and wrote. But, you know, he himself has come and out and said, "You know what, this was a bad idea. This Iraq War was a misconceived strategy." And yes, you have these very prominent gentleman, and sometimes ladies of the press who have not been able to make an equivalent mea-culpa. And I point out that in my case, in my article, you know, I think example number one has got to be Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, who embraced what he called "a war of choice," which, you know, in my view is just the euphemism for a war crime. And he's never been held accountable for it. He continues to go from success to success, and best seller to best seller. And I find that somewhat astonishing. I mean, it's quite clear, it should be by now, that he had no idea what he was talking about.

More of the interview with Hirsh here.