It’s a tired old line, used by politicians backed into a corner by low approval ratings, floundering economies and prolonged, ugly conflicts in foreign countries: The media has a liberal bias.

So it should be no surprise that President Bush is claiming it now. If only Bush had a basis on which to form his argument.

Bush doesn’t pay attention to news distributed to the masses by media outlets. Doesn’t read newspapers. Or watch CNN. Or listen to NPR.

In an “exclusive” interview with Fox News’ Brit Hume Sept. 22, Bush explained his position. Sort of. Bush says he gets his news straight from “objective sources:” his handpicked advisers.

“I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a kind of flavor for what’s moving,” Bush said. “I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who probably read the news themselves … I mean, our society is a good, solid democracy because of a good, solid media.

“But I also understand that a lot of times there’s opinions mixed in with with news. I appreciate people’s opinions, but I’m more interested in news.”

The Bush administration’s main beef with the media involves the coverage of the continuing conflict in Iraq. The positive developments in the shattered country aren’t covered, Bush claims, and the administration has launched a public relations campaign to counteract negative reports.

But it’s hard not to focus on the negative aspects of Iraqi reconstruction when soldiers are killed day after day — more than 100 now since Bush declared major combat finished May 1.

The Bush administration would like the public to believe every overworked soldier in Iraq is pleased with their condition. But more than 10 U.S. newspapers received identical form letters from soldiers expressing their pride. Several soldiers visiting their families on leave didn’t bother to show up for the flight back to Iraq.

“We’re making good progress in Iraq,” Bush said. “Sometimes it’s hard to tell when you listen to the filter.”

Of course, that begs the question of how Bush actually knows enough about the “filter” to criticize it if he doesn’t pay attention to anything else but what his advisers feed him?

But if Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s recently leaked memo is any indication, perhaps Bush actually does know the somber state of affairs in Iraq.

Then, perhaps, the media’s coverage of the war has not been so negatively filtered after all. And so Bush does a disservice to himself and to our country if he continues to limit the sources of his knowledge to the closed circle of his “objective” advisers.