So the Democratic Majority in Congress caved to Bush yesterday. We're clearly all pissed and rightfully so.
However, I'd like to take a step back from this and see how this plays itself out in the media. For this reason, I've taken a look at news headlines (and headlines only, not the substance of the reports) of the Bush administration's unreliable ally on the Iraq war - Germany. I've compared this with US headlines.
The result: striking. Follow me below the fold.
Headlines in the German media this morning:
Vereinigte Staaten - Kongress beugt sich Bush (United States - Congress bows to Bush) Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
US-Kongress - Pralle Kriegskasse für Bush (US Congress - Full war chest for Bush) Stern
Bush bekommt seinen Willen (Bush gets his will) Handelsblatt
USA - 120 Milliarden für Bushs Kriegskasse (USA - 120 billion for Bush's war chest) Focus
Irak-Politik - US-Kongress beugt sich Bush (Iraq policy - US Congress bows to Bush) Spiegel
Bush setzt Milliarden für den Irak-Krieg durch (Bush pushes through billions for Iraq war) Die Welt
Kompromiss zur Finanzierung des Irak-Krieges - Bush gewinnt Machtkampf im Kongress (Compromise on financing the Iraq war - Bush wins power struggle in Congress) Bild
Bushs Veto zwingt Opposition in die Knie (Bush's veto brings opposition to their knees) taz
US-Demokraten geben Kampf um Rückzug aus dem Irak auf (US Democrats give up fight on withdrawal from Iraq) Der Tagesspiegel
US-Demokraten geben nach - Neuer Irakkriegsetat ohne Abzugsplan (US Democrats give in - New Iraq war budget without withdrawal timeline) Deutsche Welle
10 headlines from German news reports. You probably don't know the names but these are major German news organizations from across the political spectrum - left to right.
Overall, the assessment is the same: Bush wins, Democrats lose and cave in.
Now, let's take a look at the headlines of major US news organizations:
Congress Passes War Funds Bill, Ending ImpasseNew York Times
Congress OKs Iraq funding without timelineBaltimore Sun
House, Senate pass war funding billCNN
Congress Passes Deadline-Free War Funding BillWashington Post
Bush predicts bloody summer in Iraq; House OKs fundingBoston Globe
Congress passes war funding billLos Angeles Times
Congress OKs war bill sans timelineWashington Times
Senate Approves Iraq Funding Bill Without Timetable For Withdrawing U.S. TroopsFox News
Congress OKs Iraq funds, benchmarksChicago Tribune
Again, 10 news headlines from major news organizations across the political spectrum, this time from the US. Notice the difference to German headlines?
In case you're still wondering what's wrong with the American media, here's the take from a small paper from über neutral Switzerland:
Kapitulation der Demokraten (Capitulation of the Democrats) Der Zürcher Oberländer