HIS MAJESTY IS INERRANT IN THESE MATTERS

First The Washington Post reported an exchange between James Webb and George W. Bush in which Webb was frank about his impatience with the war and Bush was downright boorish.

Then George Will followed up in the opinion pages of the Post, dishonestly editing the president's snappish remarks, leaving out "That's not what I asked you," which preceded Bush's repetition of "How's your boy?"

Now we have a news-section follow-up in the Post that quotes Bush in full -- but then completely sidesteps the question of whether Bush might been the boor.

Go read it -- 1,027 words and not a hint that the president might have been out of line. Instead, "fairness" is achieved by quoting a number of people who praise Webb's lack of niceness and several more who think he was being a jerk.

Bush? Well, Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute says, "I think the president was trying to be a nice guy." And a Post online commenter says, "I think that 'How's your son doing?' is the most bipartisan thing the president could ask him."

So there. The president is the soul of decorum, and, in the Post, that's just not subject to dispute.