Why isn't this the biggest news story of the day?

Posted by Cenk Uygur at 4:59 AM on October 21, 2005.

[For more on the Wilkerson speech, go HERE]

Read this article in the Washington Post about Colin Powell's former right-hand man, Colonel Larry Wilkerson. And then explain to me why this isn't huge news. Granted, Colonel Wilkerson explains what we have always suspected. But when a top former Bush administration official comes out and says the White House has been taken over by a cabal and that George Bush is overmatched for his position, I would say that qualifies as headline news.

I want to make a quick plug for print journalists here. I often lambaste the mainstream media for doing a poor job of covering this administration. No, that's not fair, poor isn't a strong enough word -- a terrible job. But it's important to give credit where credit is due. If it weren't for the print journalists in this country, we would have never found out about half of the outrages that have gone inside this White House.

They have had their down moments, to say the least. Judy Miller's pre-war coverage was disastrous. And before I've even gone after Dana Milbank, who wrote this piece, on his condescending coverage of Rep. John Conyers. But all that being said, next to television news, print journalists are the gold standard. They might not give the stories the headlines they deserve, they might not press on as much as they should on certain stories, but if it wasn't for them, we would never even find out about most of these stories.

I shudder to think what this country would do if we had to rely on television news.

This article and another one in the Washington Post today shows there are still men of courage left in this world. We have to highlight Colonel Wilkerson's words because he proves it is much more important to be loyal to your country, rather than your party. He cares about this country. He thinks it's headed in the wrong direction and it's about time we listened to smart people warning us to change direction.

Cenk Uygur is co-host of The Young Turks, the first liberal radio show to air nationwide.