On–air admission from Chris Matthews:

MATTHEWS: What I keep doing here is asking people on and off camera who come on this program, high-ranking officers, enlisted, former officers. I get sometimes, not all the time, two different versions, the version they give me on the air and the version they give me the minute when we’re off the air.

The version they give me when we’re on the air is gung-ho, we’re doing the right thing, everything is moving along. The version they give me off the air is, Rumsfeld is crazy. There aren’t enough troops over there. We’re not taking this seriously enough, or, we shouldn’t be there, sometimes.

Now, I don’t doubt what Matthews is saying is true.  But the question is: what will it take for the media to stop being a passive forum for lies?  They are so interested in protecting sources and not ruffling feathers, and getting guests, that they forgot their whole raison d’etre: to inform the public of reality.