No doubt, that line comes from one of my favorite movies, and many politically inclined individuals, Mr. Smith goes to Washington. The interaction between the press corps and Senator Smith is classic seeing as the truth is given such low regard. Well, I begin with a Caveat, I do not know the truth of the situation here or abroad completely, but like many things I make a reasonable estimation of the current situation and believe, like many things, the truth is somewhere in the middle. That being said, let us begin.
For quite a while now, there has been a concerted effort to discredit the Bush administration as incompetent, dishonest, and/or dishonorable. Consistently, however, we find, like with the Plame Affair, or Michael Moore's "documentary," or "reporting" on events in Iraq, that there are significant elements of the population seeking to tarnish the administration for political purposes. Yet often enough, things sort themselves out, and in the administrations favor. Really, to those who are on the fence or voting for Kerry, (See e.g. Jacob Levy, Dan Drezner, Tyler Cowen, and others.) Isn't there a strong concern that you're being played by a media that distorts and corrupts the truth? Some question the administration ability, but seriously, do we seriously expect that Iraq would be completely rebuilt before even the foundation was laid for the Freedom Tower, nothing is built in a day, and everything takes time, and I think there is little doubt that much is improving.