That crap's been going on for years at AP. I'm not even sure it has to do with the politics of the writer; I saw similar "here's why they're really doing this" cynicism passed off as verified fact in stories during the Clinton administration as well. I think it's just that most of the Washington reporters, print and TV, think the mere fact of having that job makes them pundits, with the "responsibility" of "interpreting" our national politics for us.<p>Maybe those of us with time on their hands could call up the AP Washington bureau when they ship stories like this and bust their balls a little: "Hi, I'm calling from the News-Times-Journal-Press-Tribune. Your BUSH-PRESCRIPTIONDRUGS story is missing an attribution: Which of the White House flacks said the timing was planned for 'maximum political gain'? What? None of them did? The writer just put it in there? Ummm, OK, we'll pass this along to our op-ed desk. Are you guys also going to file a news story on this?"
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