The News & Observer‘s editorial this morning on Barack Obama’s “anger” over the AIG bonuses is a bit behind the curve.

First of all, it’s hard to believe a respected mainstream daily newspaper would fall for the ruse that Obama is outraged, outraged, I tell you, about the bonuses. Where’s a little healthy skepticism when readers really need it?

How could they have missed the news (it was in The New York Times, and on some big lefty blogs, for criminy sakes, the bible for most MSM dailies) that these bonuses are not news, that they were announced more than a year ago, that the administration negotiators even worked with House and Senate members to protect them.

But now the White House claims they didn’t know anything about the bonuses until just recently, spin that sort of reinforces all those concerns about incompetency.

Anyway, none of this was communicated in the N&O’s editorial, only Obama’s possibly feigned anger:

It was clear the president was fed up, and for good reason. …

Still, it’s valuable when the president shares with the people a degree of exasperation that indicates he’s ready to stir the tar and pluck the feathers.

What’s valuable is when an editorial in a major daily newspaper puts everything in correct context and includes all relevant information.