Cursor's Media Patrol - 01/18/06

'Scandalology 101' "Consider the Abramoff scandal," writes Patricia Goldsmith, in which "the Democrats are blameless only because they were ruthlessly cut out of the action, but it's still a treat watching Wolf Blitzer trying to twist the facts to fit the bipartisan scenario demanded by the RNC talking points of the day."

'Does the President Really Know Best?' asks Elizabeth de la Vega, while Robert Parry's analysis of a recent presidential appearance finds Bush offering a "fictional account of the run-up to war in Iraq," and apparently unable to remember "important events in which he played a leading role."

David Corn envisions how "Karen's Rules" might help to spin a CIA missile attack on a Pakistani village, that was "off the front pages by Monday and competing for time on national cable news broadcasts with runaway convicts and other local crime news."

Baghdad Burning's Riverbend presents a photo essay documenting successful Iraqi reconstruction efforts after the 1991 war, when foreign expertise was unavailable, in the time before the 'Parade of Weasels.'

FAIR profiles 'CNN's "Cordial" Hire' of "a great addition to our 'Headline Prime' line-up."

The White House was reportedly "disappointed at the decision" by the Supreme Court on Oregon's Death With Dignity Act, which Justice Scalia linked with "polygamy or eugenic infanticide" in his dissent, in a case said to show "the Administration's true colors."