From WNYKR's in New York, this is NPR's On the Media. I'm Bob Garfield.

And I'm Brooke Gladstone. In the days and weeks following the terrorist attacks of 9-11,

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was a constant presence on our TV screens

as the star of countless press briefings in the ramp up to the war in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon Press Corps appreciated his wry humor, his haiku-like obfuscations.

He was considered hot property by the public.

He even had an online fan club.

His image was burnished further as he led us by the hand through the invasion of Iraq,

but the allegations

of Iraqi prisoner abuse seemed to have changed all that for Rummy.

On Wednesday, in a stunning about face for an administration known for closing ranks,

President Bush allowed his scolding of Donald Rumsfeld to be leaked to the press,

then followed a deluge of calls from the media and the public for Rumsfeld to resign,

from the Economist magazine to the New York Times to an outburst at a hearing on Friday

before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

I have a few additional words.

The heckler's calls were heard in the Arab world, as the hearing was broadcast live on

Al Jazeera and Al-Arabia.

As Rumsfeld faced a rising tide of anger at home, President Bush expressed his own outrage

on Arab TV over the prisoner abuse without actually taking responsibility for it.

It's also important for the people of Iraq to know that in a democracy, everything is not perfect, that mistakes are made.

Knight Ritter reporter Hannah Allum is in Baghdad and she watched last Wednesday as the president went on Arab TV.

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