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Michael R. Gordon reported in The New York Times on November 28 "that American officials worry that a small group of advisers from the Shiite Dawa Party that [Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-]Maliki is surrounded by may skew the information he receives."

Or, to quote Maureen Dowd, writing November 29 in The New York Times:

Mr. Hadley bluntly mused about Mr. Malaki: “His intentions seem good when he talks with Americans, and sensitive reporting suggests he is trying to stand up to the Shi’a hierarchy and force positive change. But the reality on the streets of Baghdad suggests Maliki is either ignorant of what is going on, misrepresenting his intentions, or that his capabilities are not yet sufficient to turn his good intentions into action.”

It’s bad enough to say that about the Iraqi puppet. But what about when the same is true of the American president? ["Turning on the Puppet"]

Or, as Paul Krugman concludes his December 1 op-ed piece in The New York Times:

Luckily, we’ve got good leadership for the coming economic storm: the White House is occupied by a man who’s ideologically flexible, listens to a wide variety of views, and understands that policy has to be based on careful analysis, not gut instincts. Oh, wait. ["Economic Storm Signals"]