Shred of Honor

The Iraq war was the biggest undertaking of the Bush Administration, and the guaranteed consequence of something that huge and messy is that big mistakes happened. Innocents died, some Americans behaved poorly, even criminally, and, when things didn’t go according to plan, the leadership didn’t know how to respond and lost the confidence of the American people.

Part of the reason for the loss of confidence was that the media didn’t do the Bush Administration any favors. Perhaps the media did its job by headlining all the missteps and bad news (Abu Ghraib, WMD, suicide bombing, IEDs, Sunni-Shiite conflict, etc.) as soon as they were discovered. Many in the media refused to accept the Administration’s view of events and often substituted an opposite interpretation. So be it; an unrestricted press is not the price but the glory of a free society.

The stimulus bill that will be signed into law this month is a much costlier and vaster government enterprise than the Iraq war. There is absolutely no doubt that the following will occur: 1) some funds will make their way into the hands of fraudsters and illegal aliens; 2) deserving people that the programs are intended to help won’t receive their benefits; 3) government purchasing procedures will be over-ridden, and some contracts will be fast-tracked to those who contributed to politicians’ victory in November; 4) every day will see violations of the President’s principles of transparency and no-conflict-of-interest by someone in the government; 5) the recovery will be uneven, and some Americans will never get as good a job or house as the one they lost.

Will the media be as diligent in pursuing stimulus stumbles as they did Iraq war failures? If there’s any shred of honor remaining in the profession, they will. © 2009 Stephen Yuen