State of the Union: West Wing had a decent, but still somehow missing something, episode tonight built around the lead up to the State of the Union. The ability of the president to select the tone and details in this constitutional exercise was suggested, as does current activities in the real world. I first read about the administrations' editing of health care reports around Christmas, and posted something about it here. A report sponsored by Rep. Waxman (D) and others goes into more detail. See also here (1/14). A taste:


In elaborating upon these findings in the executive summary, the scientists used “disparity” or “disparities” over 30 times.

The final version of the National Healthcare Disparities Report, by contrast, avoids the use of the word “disparity.” It favors the word “difference,” in part because this term does not imply the need for improvements in health care.

As the response to my comments suggest, this sort of spin is defended in several ways. One, the President has the right and perhaps duty to personally edit certain information before releasing it to the public. Two, these sorts of reports tend to come from Washington DC sorts who have their own (often liberal) biases. And, three, the final product is the best result. True (the final effort rises and falls on the criteria used), sure/it depends (and are the final result less so?), and I leave it to you (given the results thus far) to decide.