Reporting on Gonzales in context

If I see "quaint" and "obsolete" printed alone again, out of context, anywhere near the name Gonzales, I'm going to write angry letters to editors. Shame on you, Irish Times. How's that for righteous indignation and action?

I think the role of Gonzales in shaping US prisioner of war policy should be thoroughly aired in public, but I find it grossly negligent (or politically malignant) of journalists the world over to keep reporting that Gonzales declared the Geneva convention "quaint" and "obsolete", just like that. He did write those things, so it's technically fair game, but the full context gives a very different meaning.

What he actually wrote was that the current war on terrorism "renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions requiring that captured enemy be afforded such things as commissary privileges, scrip (i.e., advances of monthly pay), athletic uniforms and scientific instruments." (some commentary here)

I think people would react quite differently if that sentence were in the evening news.