I'll Swap you a Russert for a Carol Coleman

In addition to reflecting poorly on Bush, this story about Irish journalist Carol Coleman's interview with George Bush and the White House's reaction to it reflects poorly on the White House press corps. Bush was so put off by the temerity of Coleman, who dared to ask follow up questions and interupt when he strayed from answering her questions, that the White House lodged a complaint with both her news organization and with the Irish Embassy. Those of us who watched Tim Russert lob soft balls at Bush in February and just move on after Bush avoided answering even those easy questions, those of us who recall the NYT's Elizabeth Bumiller's confession that she and her cohort were too intimidated by Bush to question the nonsense coming out of his mouth at the beginning of the war can't help but contrast their no-balls performance to that of Coleman. According to the TAP article I've linked to, Coleman's performance is standard for the Irish press. Sadly, so are Russert's and Bumiller's for the American press.