A Cabal

The Wall Street Journal:

[The Mary McCarthy scandal] would appear to be only the latest example of the unseemly symbiosis between elements of the press corps and a cabal of partisan bureaucrats at the CIA and elsewhere in the "intelligence community" who have been trying to undermine the Bush Presidency.

Lest you think that's a good thing, remember J. Edgar Hoover. A rogue agency works against democracy.

All the attacks on Bush and the war are based on the fact that he relied on bad intelligence supplied by the people who are now working to undermine him. It was the same intel that Clinton had. Now that it's shown to be wrong, they want to blame him for believing them.

For the CIA to become a fire hydrant of leaks is some of the worst corruption we can have after 9/11. Iran isn't going away, just because we have a bunch of jealous partisans who don't want to fight unless they're giving the orders. Some of these people seem more interested in shifting blame and setting policy than in doing their jobs.

And the media come in for their share of blame, as well:

As for some of our media colleagues, when they stop being honest chroniclers of events and start getting into bed with bureaucrats looking to take down elected political leaders, they shouldn't be surprised if those leaders treat them like the partisans they have become.

I've always thought the media had a liberal bias, but the past 6 or 7 years it has become more than that. It's an open hostility and arrogance that will speed their financial decline as people find other sources they can trust.