The Kerry Spot , channeling the voice of the Media Research Center, explains why it's bad for reporters to use soldiers for ventriloquism practice

The Kerry Spot on National Review Online:

"Tim Graham of the Media Research Center is persuading me that it's a big deal that Edward Lee Pitts, reporter for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, coached the soldier to ask the question about the armor. Rumsfeld gets skeptical and hostile questioning all the time from Pentagon correspondents. It's par for the course, what everyone expects. What made the question from Specialist Thomas Jerry Wilson such big news was that now the tough questions were coming from the soldiers, not from the press. But the thing is, the question - while a good one, and one applauded by the other troops - wasn't originating with the troops, it originated with Edward Lee Pitts. So the distinctiveness of this exchange, the originality that made people turn their heads and take notice, isn't what we thought it was. In fact, it's the usual press v. Rummy battle that we see all the time. Graham also made a comment I found interesting - he had heard that Bush was keeping Rumsfeld in place as Secretary of Defense because the President doesn't want to appear to be listening to, or agreeing with, the arguments of Rummy's critics. I understand that Rumsfeld has come under some unfair criticism - but is that really Bush's reasoning? Wouldn't we hope the reason Rummy is staying in place in the second term is because he's still the best person for the job?"