DON'T CONFUSE ME WITH THE FACTS

Susan Estrich, writing for Fox News:

The Democrats, especially the Democrats running for president, have a problem, and his name is Petraeus.

... he almost certainly impressed a lot of people sitting at home by displaying all the traits Americans hope for in a military leader.

Peggy Noonan, writing for Rupert Murdoch's new acquisition, The Wall Street Journal:

In a way, David Petraeus won the day when MoveOn.org came forth with its famous "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" ad. They shot themselves in the foot and deserve to be known by their limp.... No one--no normal American--thinks a U.S. Army four-star came back from Iraq to damage our democracy by telling lies.

Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll conducted September 11 and 12 (PDF):

This week General David Petraeus gave a report to Congress on the progress in Iraq. Based on what you know, was General Petraeus's report truthful and objective or was it slanted toward the policies of the Bush administration?

Truthful 35%
Slanted 40%
(Don’t know) 25%

So -- according to a Fox poll -- a plurality of Americans (including 22% of Republicans, by the way) thought Petraeus wasn't telling it straight. But one Murdoch employee told you that's something "no normal American" would think, while another assumed he "impressed a lot of people," whereas, in fact, 65% of the country couldn't say that he'd even met our minimum requirement for him -- that he tell the truth.