The White House Appreciates Bloggers Who Regurgitate

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In an interview with Texas Monthly, former White House counselor Dan Bartlett complains that many reporters are overly critical of President Bush. "White House correspondents have been tagged, unfairly, with not being tough enough on the administration and President Bush in the run-up to the [Iraq] war. ... The problem is, they're acting now like they have to be five times more critical, and I think they've gone overboard." He adds, "There's a lot of perfect hindsight now about things we would have done differently. ... There are comments the president made that he would love to take back. 'Bring 'em on' is one he regrets. ... He does and I do. Me personally, [I regret] the 'Mission Accomplished' banner." Thank goodness for "influential" conservative blogs, which Bartlett calls "a direct IV into the vein of your support. It's a very efficient way to communicate. They regurgitate exactly and put up on their blogs what you said to them. It is something that we've cultivated and have really tried to put quite a bit of focus on."