How things used to work  

Jay Rosen has a provocative read of the whole Cheney-on-the-grassy-knoll phenomenon, culminating with his larger thesis about the changing role of the media vis-a-vis government.

I think the Bush years have been a disaster for the Washington press. In my view, the White House withdrew from a consensus understanding of how the executive branch had to deal with journalists. It correctly guessed that if it changed the game on you, you wouldn't develop a new game of your own, or be able to react. I believe this strategy is still working, too.

And I agree that the Bush folks have played the press well generally -- in my post below, I was quite serious when I said that the administration (or Cheney, if there's really a dissonance there) didn't mishandle the press in this case, and furthermore I think it's insane ever to assume that there isn't a good reason for the way these folks handle their business. They're too smart for that. Whether it's part of a visionary reading of the press's role and how the executive can shape it, I don't know, but they sure do work those levers of power.