John Moltz

Jaded

In my usual perusal of the blogs to the left (literally and figuratively), I've seen that most link to this, but no one really seems to be making a big deal of it.

This is one of the pitfalls of being an administration critic. Everyone on the left (and possibly many on the right) simply assumed that, yes, Cheney played a part in getting his good friends at Halliburton a sweet no-bid contract at great taxpayer expense.

But, hey, now there's actual evidence, guys! Yell-oooo?! I realize there's so much to be outraged about that it's hard to keep feeding the same emotion on an ongoing basis, but...

Taking advantage

Bush Campaigns Heavily Via Air Force One

President Bush (news - web sites) is using Air Force One for re-election travel more heavily than any predecessor, wringing maximum political mileage from a perk of office paid for by taxpayers.

While Democratic rival John Kerry (news - web sites) digs into his campaign bank account to charter a plane to roam the country, Bush often travels at no cost to his campaign simply by declaring a trip "official" travel rather than "political."

The White House refuses to provide any detail on how they come to the numbers for which they reimburse the taxpayers for his corrupt misuse of official transportation.

Why does this abuse of executive privilege no surprise me? How long are the taxpayers of the nation going to put up with this crap?

Remember when...

...Bush invited an Iranian spy to the State of the Union address?

Good times. Good times.

Who had "Unduly self-righteous" in the pool?

Remember my prediction that Judith Miller would be unduly self-righteous (link via The Gadflyer via Pandagon) about pimping Chalabi's bullshit?

"You know what," she offered angrily. "I was proved fucking right. That's what happened. People who disagreed with me were saying, 'There she goes again.' But I was proved fucking right."

Ah, well. No damage done, eh, Judy?

Uh... er... wait a minute... now that you mention it...

Again, not a Daily Show quote

Mostly because they're still on vacation, but here's a quote from Mr. Burns from Sunday's episode of The Simpsons that might sound like a similar defense you've heard recently:

I can't be held responsible for what my goons were ordered to do!

Hmm... Followed up with the equally salient:

Non-violence never solved anything!

FYI

I've got a database project due in two weeks that will be taking up a lot of time, so posts will be light to non-existent, unless I'm suddenly struck by a bolt of realization that unveils all the secrets of Java Server Pages and MySQL.

Dupes

Mmm, it must be great to be a war hawk, so flush with pride on getting...

... er... duped (link via Counterspin Central) by Iran.

And I wonder how Judy Miller's feeling right about now? Probably unduly self-righteous.

ADDENDUM: Matthew Yglesias finds Jonah's solution to looking like a fool: me no understand - me just a cave man!

This ought to be good

Bush to Outline "Clear Strategy" for Iraq Monday

President Bush will outline what the White House called a "clear strategy" for Iraq on Monday night in a speech aiming to convince Americas he is in command of the situation.

Feel free to "gong" Bush if he says any of the following in his "clear strategy."

• Freedom haters (or haters of freedom)
• Bad apples
• Stay the course
• Anything akin to "Some say we should pull out of Iraq and allow anarchy to rule" that implies Kerry wants to do so when he clearly doesn't
• I'm a war president
• Any strategy that seems clearly designed to make everything Lakhdar Brahimi's fault
• Mentioning Saddam's torture as an excuse for our torture.

I'm sure there are more gong-able items. Add 'em if you've got 'em.

Not Daily Show quotes

Frequent readers will note that I frequently pad the content of this site with quotes from the Daily Show. Note that these are NOT quotes from the Daily Show.

They are quotes from Jon Stewart's graduation address (link via Forwarding Address: OS X) at the College of William and Mary. A technicality perhaps, but one I'm willing to employ.

And what does Mr. Stewart have to say to the next generation?

Lets talk about the real world for a moment. We had been discussing it earlier, and I…I wanted to bring this up to you earlier about the real world, and this is I guess as good a time as any. I don’t really know to put this, so I’ll be blunt. We broke it.

...

If you end up getting your picture taken next to a naked guy pile of enemy prisoners and don’t give the thumbs up you’ve outdid us.

...

We declared war on terror. We declared war on terror—it’s not even a noun, so, good luck. After we defeat it, I’m sure we’ll take on that bastard ennui.

The hell?

I think the shocking thing about this (link via Pandagon) is... who knew we had anti-propaganda laws? Where the hell have they been the last three years?

Kos is right

GOP hoping June 30 transfer fixes Iraq

We're in good shape if the Bush election effort pins their hopes on June 30.

It's all they can do - hope that Bush either pulls a rabbit out of his ass or for a deus ex machina ending (or combination of the two).

Seen apart from the glassy fog of Bush worship (which is to say, tax-cut worship), how could anyone possibly expect that Gilligan will not screw up yet again at everyone else's expense?

He's done it in every episode I've seen.

ADDENDUM: Lead Balloons at Bad Attitudes notes this may work nicely with Kerry's preferred style, which worked pretty well against Howard Dean.

'Bout fucking time

Pentagon Plans to Stop Funding Iraq's Chalabi

The Pentagon plans to stop funding Ahmad Chalabi, the Iraqi exile it once hoped might help lead Iraq but whose intelligence reports and motives were doubted elsewhere in Washington, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.

The officials, who asked not to be named, said the Pentagon would stop giving Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress roughly $340,000 a month as of June 30, when the United States plans to give some authority to a still unnamed interim government.

No more for you, Chalaaaaaaaabi.

I consider this akin to hiring a contractor who burns your house down but you continue paying him anyway. Talk about a welfare queen.

But some say our $340,000 a month was, er, "decently" spent.

The Pentagon, however, defended the INC's information and a U.S. defense official echoed that, saying: "They have provided decent information, especially in regards to force protection issues and the whereabouts of folks (Iraqi fugitives)."

They provided "decent" information about "folks"? When did Sheriff Lobo start working at the Pentagon?

Wait, don't tell me. Probably some time after January, 2001.

In its prewar role, Chalabi's INC directed numerous Iraqi defectors to the U.S. government to provide intelligence that critics now say was largely spun to prod the United States into taking action against Baghdad.

Included in the questionable intelligence was information about purported biological weapons labs, the source of which was described by U.S. officials as a fabricator promoted by Chalabi's group.

Doesn't seem so decent to me.

Shorter David Brooks

In Iraq, America's Shakeout Moment

Major league fuck ups like our adventure in Iraq are uniquely American!

Priceless!

Unless you actually worked at that plant.

Berg video

kuro5hin gives a long rundown of the things about the Berg video that just don't add up.

Personally, I don't know what to think.

Exploding

Abuse Scandal Focuses on Bush Foundation

What did the president know and when did he know it?

CIA Wrong on Iraq 'Mobile Labs,' Powell Says

These would be the labs that Bush claimed last year showed "We found [WMD]" and Cheney said in January were "conclusive evidence" of a WMD program.

The wheels are coming off.

The stinking of the process

Jerome Doolittle makes a connection that speaks volumes Rummy's lack of serious intent regarding Abu Ghraib prior to the photos being released.

ADDENDUM: Seymour Hersch says (link via Atrios) Rumsfeld approved the physical intimidation and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners.

Platitude watch

Bush: Berg's Killers Must Be Hunted Down

"We must confront the enemy and stay on the offensive until these killers are defeated," Bush said in his weekly radio address, as he sought to shift the focus from the abuse of some Iraqi prisoners by American troops.

Mmm... that's goooood platitude! "We must confront the enemy and stay on the offensive until these killers are defeated!" Because, again, there are just a fixed number of terrorists - it's not like there are more born every day. And, let's see... if we get five a month, we should be done killin' 'em all... uh... well... about the time the sun burns out.

On the bright side, Bush's environmental policy will render the Earth uninhabitable long before then.

So... stay the course! Wrongdoers! Gonna git 'em! Rummy's doin' a good job! Best war ever! Vote Iraq=9/11 Party in November!

Set that bar nice and low

Why is it the bloggers on the right feel we must only look at Abu Ghraib through the lense of Nick Berg or Saddam?

Uh... is there simply a limit to the standard to which we are held - that we only need to be a bit better than terrorists and tyrants, and that no matter how small or large that bit is, we need be concerned no further?

No one cannot concede the point that Saddam and the people who killed Nick Berg are worse than we are. But, gee, maybe we can aspire to a little more than that.

And as for media bias in the coverage of Berg and Abu Ghraib, not so much.

Whaaaaaaaa???

Bush Says Zarqawi Killed Berg, Cites Saddam Ties

President Bush on Friday blamed al Qaeda supporter Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for beheading American Nicholas Berg and cited him as an example of Saddam Hussein's "terrorist ties" before the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Bush's revival of accusations linking Saddam to terrorism comes as the president faces growing doubts among Americans over his Iraq policy.

First off, there appears to be at least some doubt about it being Zarqawi. Second, isn't it a little unpolitic to bring up the guy you should have fucking gotten but for your personal agenda? Third, the Zarqawi/al Qaeda ties are even in question.

The administration tied Saddam to a terrorism network run by Palestinian Abu Musab al Zarqawi. That network may be behind the latest violence in Iraq, which killed at least 143 people Tuesday.

But U.S. officials say the evidence that Zarqawi had close operational ties to al-Qaida appears increasingly doubtful.

Asked for Cheney's views on Iraq and terrorism, vice presidential spokesman Kevin Kellems referred Knight Ridder to the vice president's television interviews Tuesday.

Cheney, in an interview with CNN, said Zarqawi ran an "al-Qaida-affiliated" group. He cited an intercepted letter that Zarqawi is believed to have written to al-Qaida leaders, and a White House official who spoke only on the condition of anonymity said the CIA has described Zarqawi as an al-Qaida "associate."

But U.S. officials say the Zarqawi letter contained a plea for help that al-Qaida rebuffed. Linguistic analysis of the letter indicates it was written from one equal to another, not from a subordinate to a superior, suggesting that Zarqawi considered himself an independent operator and not a part of bin Laden's organization.

You know, my wife and I just got finished watching Shattered Glass about twenty minutes ago, and... I gotta say... I'm struck by the parallels. When liars get caught lying, they don't stop. They keep going.

"Quote" "Facts" "Unquote"

Last night my wife read me part of a hilarious article from the print edition of Quill which apparently isn't available online (for free, anyway) about the growing misuse of quote marks.

Some examples included some friends of the writer who have a mail box that reads the "Smiths", and businesses who have signs that read things like this dish is "fat free" or customers enjoy our "quality".

Every time I see a sign like that I think "Who the heck does that?!"

Turns out it's the writers at NRO! Who knew?

War crime

Kevin Drum asks who's tough on terror?

He notes the Pentagon tried three times to get the Administration to attack Zarqawi's camp in Khurdish-controlled northern Iraq and quotes MSNBC:

Military officials insist their case for attacking Zarqawi’s operation was airtight, but the administration feared destroying the terrorist camp in Iraq could undercut its case for war against Saddam.

Drum:

Zarqawi has reportedly killed at least 700 people since then. But it might be many more. We will probably never know for sure how many people died at his hands because of George Bush's uncertainty in the face of danger.

Failing to act against Zarqawi to prop up the case for war should be considered the most reprehensible example of Bush's utter disregard for truly fighting terrorism in the interest of advancing a radical conservative agenda. This needs to be known.

I'm sure he meant "Clinton"

Berg Died for Bush, Rumsfeld 'Sins' - Father

The father of Nick Berg, the American beheaded in Iraq, directly blamed President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday for his son's death.

"My son died for the sins of George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. This administration did this," Berg said in an interview with radio station KYW-AM two days after a video showing the execution of his son was shown on an Islamist Web site.

Uh-oh

Looks like we violated the Geneva Convention.

So, uh...

...when do we invade ourselves?

Because, you know... if nations simply flaunt international laws...

Justification by anecdote

Any time I read Instapundit, I'm convinced that the war hawk maxim is as follows:

Remember, it doesn't matter how bad things are in toto, if one anecdote is true (or not - because the names are never revealed - but whatever, right?), then it was all worthwhile.

Your prints are in

Looks like Neil Bush got his bachelor party photos back.

Bah-dump-bump! Enjoy the buffet! I'm here all week!

Parsing a typical Bush statement

Bush Says No Justification for Berg Beheading

"The terrorists are going to seek any excuse and try to change their excuses to try to justify murder, destruction and chaos."

And THEIR excuses are so much lamer than OUR excuses! (And nice sentence construction, by the way!)

"They have no regard for innocent life."

Gotta throw in the subliminable reference to abortion. Remember, terrorists=abortionists!

"But we will not be deterred by the terrorists. We will defeat the terrorists and a free and peaceful Iraq will emerge."

I still live in magical candy land! Come down and see me by the chocolate river where the lollipops bloom! And when you vote this November, remember to vote for the team that brought you swell-sounding but meaningless platitudes! We can defeat the terrorists! I mean, what, there's got to be just a fixed number of them, right? And our monumental fuck ups don't make any more, so just a few hundred thousand more suicide bombings and we should be right as rain!

Vile

Ugh.

Here's a guy who, while perhaps wanting to make a buck (nothing wrong with that), also seemed to genuinely want to help the Iraqi people.

While atrocities like this are carried out, idiot Republicans try to downplay and flat-out deny our abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

I keep wondering how long it will be before we're in an Israeli/Palestinian-style spiral of hatred, if we aren't already in one.

Busy

I'm busy today - actual work. It's a travesty.

Thanks for sucking so badly!

Bush Says U.S. Owes Rumsfeld 'Debt of Gratitude'

Yeah, so... uh... thanks for being so megalomaniacal and... uh... insisting we wouldn't need many troops in Iraq... and... um... all the torture and rape and... killing... and stuff.

And why is it I can only think of Dr. Klan in Kentucky Fried Movie saying "You have my gratitude!"

"We are building a fighting force of extra-ordinary magnitude!"

The Walkman it ain't

Sony unveild 20GB iPod rival

Wow... uh...

Words fail me.

Oh! Wait!

BLECH.

There we go. That was the word I was looking for.

And you need a color screen on an MP3 player because... uh... well... because... Well, you just do, OK?

Communion double standard

Kerry Takes Communion on Mother's Day

You can email Mike Glover at mglover@ap.org to ask him why he neglects to mention pro-choice Republican Catholics Schwarzenegger, Giuliani, Pataki and Ridge.

Why should this issue be just about Kerry?

More "Iraq=9/11!" nonsense

Cheney Defends Rumsfeld, Says 'Get Off His Case'

Thanks, Dick. And then Dick's spokesman wraps the whole Iraq=9/11 package up nicely.

"Americans want to keep Rumsfeld on the job. Why? Because the guy in the glasses they see on TV is the guy who is protecting them by going after the terrorists. That's who he is to the average American. That's the place he's earned since 9/11," Kellems said.

The average American still thinks Iraq was involved in 9/11! And that's the way we likes it!

With jelly on it!

The common response from the wingnuts of the land (and Joe Lieberman) to Abu Ghraib is "no one ever apologized for 9/11!" (Here and here, for some examples.)

Yes, and no one ever apologized for canceling Farscape and Firefly. So our brutality is justified!

Reminds me of the old Roz Chast cartoon about famous illogicians. The last was a clown who said "If A = B, then C! With jelly on it!"

The revolution will be blogged

Orcinus has a long but seminal post (link via Atrios) on the state of the media in this country and what we can do about it.

Writing letters to the editor every chance you get is a simple way to start.

Did you know that...

...Deborah Olin shot a man during a drug deal gone wrong down in Nashville?

Well, I heard it's true.

Indeed.

Primal Scream (link via Daily Kos)

One of my great pleasures in life, I am ashamed to say, is saying “I told you so” when I give prudential advice and it is ignored. In the greatest “I told you so” of my life, I gain no pleasure at all in saying it. It makes me dizzy with sickness to say it, incandescent with rage to say it. It sticks in my throat like vomit. It makes me want to punch some abstract somebody in the mouth. It makes me want to scrawl profane insults in this space and abandon all hope of reasonable conversation.

That’s because the people who did what they did, said what they said, on Iraq, the people who ignored or belitted counsel to the contrary, didn’t just screw themselves. They screwed me and my family and my people and my nation and the world. They screwed a very big pooch and they mostly don’t even have the courage to admit it. They pissed away assets and destroyed tools of diplomacy and persuasion that will take a generation to reacquire at precisely the moment that we need them most.

And more from Digby (link via comment on Atrios, where it sucks to be Joe Lieberman).

Tomorrow's headlines today

KERRY LIES ABOUT PRISONER ABUSE

Caught in an ever-growing web of his own deceit, John Kerry attempted today to explain away a statement made yesterday concerning recent revelations of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Kerry's explanations have been called "Clinton-esque" by Republicans, who say this incident proves the Senator is unfit to be Commander-in-Chief.

Speaking to AP reporters, Kerry said of the abuse "But look this is, this is the frosting."

Bush campaign spokesperson Karen Hughes said "These pictures, and the allegations of rape, beatings and murder are clearly not frosting.

"Perhaps in liberal Massachussetts frosting is having to expose your genitals and take a broom stick up the butt, but in middle America, the America represented by George W. Bush, frosting is a confectionary topping consisting of sugar and egg whites.

"Frosting is really delightful. Having a broom stick up the butt is not, in any way, delightful. Unless you're John Kerry, apparently."

As the controversy began to swirl about him, Kerry decried Republican criticism of the comment.

"First of all," Kerry said, "I was not describing the abuse. I was describing Donald Rumsfeld's horrible job as Secretary of Defense. I thought he should have been fired months ago and recent events have only served to put metaphorical 'frosting' on a 'cake' that is made up of Secretary Rumsfeld's misdeads. Give me a break."

AP reporters were unable to confirm the existence of what Senator Kerry called "metaphors", which he defined as "a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them" by press time, but Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie said "Maybe in liberal Massachussetts they have these crazy figures of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them, but in Middle America, the America represented by George W. Bush, everything is taken literally."

Harkening back to former President Clinton, Gillespie added "Listening to Senator Kerry, one expects him to start arguing with himself about the definition of 'is' or to rush into the Oval Office and have sex with an intern, or... or... for him to suddenly start to try to force himself on me sexually.

"Well, maybe in liberal Massachussetts men force themselves on other men sexually, but in Middle America..."

As the Kerry campaign attempted damage control today, several cable news channels were feverishly booking military experts and pastry chefs to analyze in detail the differences between torture and frosting.

"I wasn't comparing frosting and torture!" a frustrated Kerry yelled, involking frightening, red-faced images of Howard Dean.

Be careful what you wish for

While I was not surprised by the revelations of abuse of prisoners in Iraq, I'm all for Rumsfeld getting chosen to take one for the team since, you know, he's evil and all. But I can't help but wonder who the adminstration will trot out to replace him. Their replacements are often worse than those they're replacing.

Anyone seen Kissinger recently?

Kerry has comanding lead in poll

Actually, that could either be "in poll" or "on poll" as I saw this on a street poll in Tacoma's Old Town.

As it's a cell phone photo, it's a little hard to make out, but Kerry leads Bush by eight lines to either one or two.

Either someone tried to cross out one Bush vote or someone should tell the Bushies not to put their lines on top of each other. Actually, on the outside chance that this is the system that's going to replace electronic voting machines, don't bother.

Regardless... landslide for Kerry!

Ha-ha!

It's funny with the torture and stuff!

Remind me again why they haven't prosecuted his ass for illegally scoring prescription drugs?

Time for the "L" word

Reading this link (scroll down to "Advice to John Kerry" if it doesn't jump for you) from Bad Attitudes, I found myself wondering why Kerry doesn't call Bush a liar.

I suspect it's because they can't pin a specific lie about Iraq on Bush himself. He wrapped himself in phrases that are technically true but designed to mislead people into thinking that Saddam had nuclear weapons and Iraq and Al Qaeda were the bestest buds.

Well, here's another one for you: Bush promised $15 billion to fight AIDS in Africa and never delivered. Or another: Bush lied about the cost of the Medicare bill and covered it up.

Just pick a lie. Just open the door. Because you're not going to get the message across just calling him a "misleader".

The rest of the advice there is good. I'm sure there are all kinds of fancy numbers behind picking a vice president, but they're just that - numbers. If he picks Gephardt he will make his job harder, not easier. He needs someone with Edwards' sparkle.

It's early still, but it'll soon be time to get on the stick.

Can't stand the heat

Disney's blocking Miramax's release of Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 911".

Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore's documentary linking President Bush with powerful Saudi families, including that of Osama bin Laden, is stirring up controversy even before its release.

Boycott Disney.

MORE: Disney is apparently concerned about tax breaks it receives from Jeb. And here I thought the United States didn't have a royal family.

It's worse than you think it is

The recent report on the administration's malfeasance in covering up the real cost of the Medicare bill serves as a reminder.

Somewhere right now, more things are getting covered up that we don't even know about in a further attempt to clean up Bush's record in the runup to the election.

As bad as this administration seems right now, it's worse. This is them appearing better than they really are.

That's a scary thought, innit?

Shorter Ron Fournier

Kerry's a flip-flopper. But Bush is fun!

Fournier's fawning over Bush's darling use of humor is sweet enough to give you diabetes. This is Fournier's second article in 4 days that provides lip service to the GOP "Kerry's a flip-flopper" spin. The lie has been chosen! Long live the lie!

Unbelievable.

It's interesting to compare the two articles. The first says "Kerry is bad!" and allows Democrats to pathetically retort "Kerry is not bad!" The second says "Bush is good!" and allows Democrats to pathetically retort "Bush is not good!"

Fournier also has the gall to remark on how Republicans are Gore-ing Kerry.

Republicans didn't Gore Gore and they aren't Gore-ing Kerry. Ron Fournier and his assinine buddies in the Washington press corps are.

Yahoo also helpfully provides a link to the Bush campaign web site at the bottom, but not to the Kerry campaign.

Mmm. Lovin' that liberal media.

Somerby notes Kerry still isn't receiving the shoddy treatment Gore did, but the press has clearly decided which candidate it doesn't like.

Don't make me do it!

You know, even in light of the CEO of Diebold's open support of George Bush, it would be easier to resist conspiracy theories about electronic voting if conservatives weren't such proponents of not having a paper trail at the expense of all rational thought.

Same as the other one

Kerry in $25 Million Ad Wave to Counter Bush Blitz

And ad campaign that largely focuses on Kerry's military record. Which prompted this odd complaint from the Bush campaign.

"Months after locking up the Democratic nomination, John Kerry now feels compelled to reintroduce himself and rewrite his own record," Schmidt said.

Uh... he's rewriting his own record... from 35 years ago? Does anything they say make any sense any more?

Ah, well, hey, those talking points worked so well against Gore, why not trot 'em out again, right?

Whaaaaasssaaaap?

CHA-LAAAAAAA-BI!

Anyway, if you're wondering what's up with Johnny, we're spending a few days at a hotel in town (the Silver Cloud of Crazy Apple Rumors fame) while our hardwood floors are refinished.

For some reason I can't get share the Internet connection in the room via Airport. At least to the point that it works. My wife's iBook says it's connected to the Internet, it can ping Yahoo, but she can't get mail or open web pages.

So, we're sharing the connection. But still, I'll try not to be a stranger.

It's a two-fer!

Apple's Jobs advising Kerry on economic issues

It's not just Buffett, it's Jobs, too! (Uh, hey, how about donating some money, Steeeeeeve???)

Looks like I picked the wrong week to not publish. And to stop sniffing glue.

Oh, heck, who am I kidding? I could never stop sniffing glue.

D'oh-eibold!

(Not sure how I missed this on Friday but...)

California Bans E-Vote Machines

California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley ended five months of speculation and announced Friday that he was decertifying all electronic touch-screen voting machines in the state due to security concerns and lack of voter confidence.

He also said that he was passing along evidence to the state's attorney general to bring criminal and civil charges against voting-machine-maker Diebold Election Systems for fraud.

Bazillion dollar cheeseburger in paradise

Buffett Joins Kerry Campaign as Economic Advisor

Summer is here

Perhaps not on the calendar, but as I'm sitting on the porch with a gin and tonic enjoying the wonders of wireless technology after a day of house stuff and (finally) a Mariners drubbing of their opponent, summer has arrived in every other way.

Sadly, no

Looks like Jonah should read this before he assumes the military has nipped the abuse in the bud.

As disgusting as this whole thing is, I have to say I'm not surprised in the least. This kind of thing is really just part and parcel of these situations. It's another reason not to get into them in the first place.

Objectivity

Generally, reporters are forbidden from expressing their personal opinions on at least the matters they cover and often more broadly. The paper my wife works for won a case against an outspoken lesbian reporter they banned from covering education because of her political activism.

So, why is the NPR religion reporter an outspoken Christian with a defined agenda for Christian journalism? You can't tell me that it'd be that hard to find someone who was, if not just a Deist, at least not intent on conducting journalism "informed by a Christian world view."