Press Bias, or Merely Press Incompetence?

Instapundit quotes from, and links to, an interesting post about the "grim milestones" the press keeps dredging up in order to add some spice to its coverage of the Global War on Terror:

"Did anyone ever think to criticize World War II after the 2.303 'grim milestone' was reached (the number of people killed at Pearl Harbor)? Obviously not; back then people had the moral compass in place. Just think that as the war ended, they would have been able to count that 'grim milestone' a staggering 182 times, since in WW2 about 420,000 (American?) people died, 407,000 of them military."

Maybe the press isn't biased against this President or the War on Terror. Maybe they're just not that good at what they're supposed to do, and keep recycling the same worn phrases and stories (quagmire?) because that's all they're capable of. Neither option speaks very well of the Fourth Estate, which has become a fifth column.