Topic: CNSNews.com
An April 6 CNSNews.com column by Rich Galen claimed:
The Washington Post -- not exactly known as a semi-official mouthpiece of the Bush administration -- in a Thursday morning editorial called Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's visit with the president of Syria "foolish;" her statements about a diplomatic breakthrough "ludicrous;" and her "attempt to establish a shadow presidency ... counterproductive."
But as Media Matters pointed out when Galen made similar claims on CNN, the Post editorial omitted key information reported in Post news article that undermined the editorial's attacks on Pelosi. Further, rather than being "not exactly known as a semi-official mouthpiece of the Bush administration," the Post's editorials backed several Bush administration policies and have tended to agree with the unambiguously conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page.
Galen also repeats the talking point that Pelosi said "she brought a message to Mr. Assad from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that Israel is ready for peace talks with Syria," which Israeli officials contradicted. In fact, Pelosi's office released a statement in response to the editorial, which asserted that Pelosi also made clear that Israel continued to demand that Syria cut ties with extremist groups, and told Assad that "in order for Israel to engage in talks with Syria, the Syrian government must eliminate its links with extremist elements, including Hamas and Hezbollah."
