AP author eyes Completely glazed over by bias

The frequency of AP bias and the number of times I have commented on it almost kept me from pointing out yet another one. However, this one was so beyond the pale I had to point it out. Here an AP author, Deb (3rd) Reichmann, has the gall to claim she can define the legacy of George Bush's presidency. The story is about Bush and 2006; what she thinks he thinks he has to accomplish. Throughout the article, Deb's fangs are dripping with venom after leading this whopper of a statement:

"President Bush, bruised by months of setbacks, enters the new year hoping to win congressional battles over tax cuts and immigration, get rebellious Republicans back in step and nurture a new democracy in Iraq — the make-or-break issue of his legacy."

It is the last part that reveals the politically blind nature of Deb's viewpoint. She just does not have a clue to reality if that is the peephole she reduces Bush's already earned legacy to whether the democracy in Iraq succeeds. It is the "make or break" issue that in her mind comprises the totality of his legacy. While it must be a bitter blow to her that Clinton is still trying to formulate a legacy for his presidency 5 years after leaving office by continued attempts at historical rewrites, she blindly denies the robustness of Bush's legacy sealed before he even leaves office.

While reading one nasty comment after another in the article there is one paragraph dealing with positive items. However, it is couched in the words "Among successes the White House claims in 2005: ..." and followed by a punching one liner "The list of setbacks is longer." One wonders what bitter food she must have been consuming as she wrote: sour grapes, lemons, liquid drain opener??

The success of an Iraqi democracy has nothing to do with Bush's legacy. He has already successfully given them the opportunity and the tools to create their own democracy. If they reject it or decide later to choose tyranny instead, the gift was still given. If I were to bestow a gift of $25,000 to a struggling lower class citizen, I would have given an opportunity to take a life and make something of it. That person choosing to reject or waste my gift would in no way diminish my sacrifice. Iraq can not tarnish Bush's legacy, only their own. Reichmann's self-imposed blindness cannot allow her to see that.