CBS's Dodgy Draft Story; Abe Lincoln vs. King Henry V - Tell the Truth! 2004 - The Weekly Worst -- Media Research Center

The Weekly Worst

CBS's Dodgy Draft Story;
Abe Lincoln vs. King Henry V

Tuesday, October 5, 2004

The so-called mainstream media never admit their liberal tilt, so the news analysts at the Media Research Center tirelessly document the media's bias and expose their left-wing agenda. The "awards" for last week's lowlights:

» CBS's Dodgy Draft Story. On September 28, Dan Rather's CBS Evening News stooped to legitimize bogus Internet claims that Bush would impose a military draft if re-elected. Reporter Richard Schlesinger profiled a mother, Beverly Cocco, who "is petrified about a military draft, and she's not alone. Mass e-mails are circulating among worried parents." Schlesinger asked Cocco, who he claimed was a Bush supporter, "Would you vote for a Democrat?" She replied: "Absolutely. I would vote for Howdy Doody if I thought it would keep my boys home and safe."

CBS presented fears about a new military draft as realistic and hid Beverly Cocco's activism.

Schlesinger never told viewers that his "petrified" mother is actually an activist with "People Against the Draft," although he briefly showed the anti-war group's Web site on-screen. CBS also never disclosed that the military opposes a draft and the only legislation for a draft was submitted by anti-war Democrats and will not pass. But CBS producer Linda Karas told the blog site INDCJournal.org that the falsity of the Internet claims was beside the point: "The truth of the e-mails were absolutely irrelevant to the piece, because all the story said was that people were worried." And she's supposed to be in the "news" business?

• For more, see the September 29, September 30 and October 1 CyberAlerts.

» Abe Lincoln vs. King Henry V. Going into last Thursday's debate, Newsweek's Jon Meacham, a member of MSNBC's perpetual pundit roundtable, likened John Kerry to Abraham Lincoln: "The greatest flip-flop in American history is Lincoln, [who] in his first Inaugural was not for emancipation and then two years later he was. Is that statesmanship, or is that a flip-flop?" After the debate, Meacham suggested President Bush looked "a little worried and a little tired of being questioned." Meacham argued: "This was a man who was almost monarchical in his tone....He became Henry V and...there was almost an element of self-pity there."

• For more, see the October 1 CyberAlerts.