Tim Russert should be our man in Iraq.

You'd think that a Wall Street Journal reporter would try to bring balance to her reporting from Iraq, but instead, Faenaz Fassihi (that's as French a name as I've ever seen) gives us excuses like this:

BOB GARFIELD: When you read criticism of the press in general, that it is somehow so fixated on bad news that it doesn't report the good, that it's essentially suppressing the good news out of Iraq, what do you all say to one another? How do you react?

FARNAZ FASSIHI: I can just say that if there were five car bombs going off in New York and 50 people kidnapped a day, I'm sure that metro reporters would be writing those stories and not talking about the school that was painted. When you're sitting in Iraq and putting your neck on the line to try to bring as balanced a story as possible, it's very frustrating to hear criticism like that, because you know, as a professional reporter, that the only reason you're there is because you want to convey the truth. And I can say that everyone is trying to go out their extra mile to find out exactly what's happening there, good or bad, to try to find progress, obstacles, frustration. And I think, considering, we've done a pretty good job. I'm proud of what my colleagues have achieved.

It's too bad Mr. Russert isn't recording Meet the Press in Baghdad. He'd teach those reporters a few things about journalism. He'd discuss school building with three representatives from Kellogg, Brown & Root and then balance it out by bringing in someone from Bechtel Group. That's the NBC way.

Elsewhere: Julia takes a look at Sen. Kneepads' web site.