The Washington press corps is wowed by George W. Bush's handling of the China-plane crisis. Major papers call his performance "vigorous," yet humble. Indeed, the credulous treatment of the spin coming out of the White House is reminiscent of the Reagan-Bush era when author Mark Hertsgaard aptly described the national press corps as "on bended knee" before Ronald Reagan -- and later, before George H.W. Bush. Now, after eight years of kicking Bill Clinton and Al Gore for every offense imaginable -- and some that were simply imagined -- the big-name journalists are back on their knees again before George W. Bush, oohing and aahing about his understated leadership.

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For the full story, click on the link below. The author, Robert Parry, broke the Iran-Contra Scandal as an AP reporter in 1985, a year and a half before the rest of the Washington press corp was finally forced to recognize it.