Speaking power to truth

Commenting on Sid Blumenthal's piece (one that should be a blockbuster, but won't be) about what The Decider knew and when he knew it, Tristero says this:

But the truth, George W. Bush knows, can be magically nullified through the exercise of sufficient power. That - and only that - is his mad delusion, a delusion nurtured by his toxic upbringing where his family shielded him from the consequences of his failures and incompetence. It is a delusion that has led to the pointless suffering and death of hundreds of thousands of people. But as deluded as he was, and is, he knew Sabri was telling the truth. And that is why Bush made sure no one found out about it until long afterwards.

And therein lies a huge insight. One definition of a proper press is those who speak truth to power. The traditional media not only don't do it, they refuse to acknowledge that duty as part of their job description, and lash out at the blogosphere precisely because we do try to do just that.

But a pretty good working definition of the Bush Administration is that they operate by speaking power to truth.