A feds voice

One of the common frustrations we have heard in recent years is that Bush administration officials simply do not listen to feds. Therefore, feds generally feel less available to speak to the press.

So last week when I was enjoying some vacation, I read a piece by Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus headlined "The White House's Chilling Effect", and she mirrors this point.

The Bush administration is constantly telling us that it can't tell us too much, for fear of chilling debate among the president and his top advisers. This argument would be a lot more persuasive if -- on the rare occasions the public is permitted a peak behind the White House curtain -- there were more evidence of something to chill.

Five years and counting, the notion that this is an insular White House headed by an incurious president isn't exactly administration-bites-dog news. But recent developments have reinforced and even broadened this image: This White House is not just reluctant to hear anything that conflicts with its pre-set conclusions -- it's also astonishingly ineffective in obtaining and processing information it wants to have.