Media's Green Agenda Conceded; ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos; Missile Defense "Extreme"; Abortion Ship Lionized
1) ABC's This Week with Cokie Roberts and George
Stephanopoulos? On Sunday the Clintonista served as co-host of the program
and betrayed his personal agenda in favor of the more liberal so-called
patients' bill of rights.
2) "We launder our views through quote 'objective
critics,'" conceded Newsweek's Evan Thomas as he acknowledged:
"The rank and file press is pretty green and they're going to use
the Europeans to take the Bush's to task."
3) It was the AP's Ron Fournier who at an EU press
conference pointed out to Bush: "Not a single European Union nation
has ratified the Kyoto treaty...yet you've been criticized by these same
leaders for rejecting it."
4) Highlighting how comedians portray Bush as "kind
of dumb," on CNN's Late Edition Steve Roberts recalled: "There
was one great Leno line this week about, 'well George Bush said that he
was against the Kyoto Accord; he preferred the Kyoto Camry.'" But
Jay Leno didn't tell that joke.
5) Missile defense an "extreme" idea to New York
Times foreign affairs columnist Thomas Friedman who on MSNBC's Imus in
the Morning complained about how Bush has "some really ideological
advisers with some pretty extreme ideas, I believe, on issues like missile
defense."
6) ABC and CBS celebrated the arrival in Ireland of, in
Terry Moran's words, a "pioneering" ship with the "unique
crusade" of providing abortions, but both shows suggested the
organizers were just producing "a publicity stunt," one the two
networks made a success. Bryant Gumbel lamented the lack of commitment:
"If you're not prepared to go to jail, and if you don't have a
license, and you can't perform procedures, and you can't give out pills,
why isn't this...anything more than just a publicity stunt?"
7) The Washington Post applied the
"conservative" label six times to the GOP candidate for Governor
of Virginia the day after he was picked, but after Democrats selected
their ticket the Post avoided any liberal tags and instead admired how
"Democrats crafted a racially diverse ticket that party activists
hope will project a more dynamic image than the three conservative
Republicans nominated earlier this month."
8) Letterman's "Top Ten Pieces of Fatherly Advice
from George W. Bush."
1
ABC's
This Week with Cokie Roberts and George Stephanopoulos? For the past few
years when either Cokie Roberts or Sam Donaldson has been out the other
handled the This Week hosting duty alone. But on Sunday, ABC gave
Stephanopoulos, the former Clinton enabler and dissembler, another
milestone in his journey to full-fledged reporter status at ABC News as he
co-hosted the show with Roberts.
In his first assignment be betrayed where his
sympathies lie, in an interview Republican Senator with Bill Frist and
Democratic Senator John Edwards, about the competing so-called patients
bills of rights.
His first question went to Frist: "Has
President Bush given you any indication of what kind of changes he would
need in Senator Edwards' bill to get a bill he can sign?"
After Frist replied the Kennedy-McCain bill
has three problems -- it allows employers to be sued, "lines the
pockets" of trial lawyer with unlimited economic and punitive damages
and drives up health insurance costs so people can't afford it --
Stephanopoulos prompted Edwards: "That's a triple-barreled
criticism. You better get in here."
Stephanopoulos soon urged Edwards to undercut
one of the conservative arguments: "But what about this criticism
about trial lawyers, lining the pockets of trial lawyers? You made a good
living, before you came to the Senate, as a trial lawyer. Is any of that
criticism legitimate?"
Turning to Frist, Stephanopoulos asserted:
"How about that Senator Frist? Where it's been tried, there
haven't been a lot of lawsuits so far." In fact, Frist countered,
states like Texas have damages caps and don't allow the suing of
employers.
Stephanopoulos pressed ahead from the left:
"But why shouldn't the managed care industry be subject to punitive
damages the way any other industry would? There's no punitive damages in
your bill."
2
"The
rank and file press is pretty green and they're going to use the
Europeans to take the Bush's to task," admitted Newsweek's Evan
Thomas on CNN's Reliable Sources. Newsweek colleague Eleanor Clift and
Los Angeles Times Washington Bureau Chief Doyle McManus demonstrated that
media tilt in comments about global warming on the McLaughlin Group.
On CNN's Reliable Sources on Saturday night, Thomas, Newsweek's
Assistant Managing Editor, acknowledged that the predominant bias of
reporters makes them hostile to President Bush on the environment as they
used Europeans to express their own views:
"We launder our views through quote
'objective critics.' And certainly the press is pretty green, the
press is pretty pro-environment and I don't think there's any question
that they, as a body, feel that Bush is wrong on the environment, with
varying degrees willingness to give him credit and I'm excluding the
conservative press -- the Weekly Standard and so forth. But generally the
rank and file press is pretty green and they're going to use the
Europeans to take the Bushies to task."
A look back at CyberAlerts from the past ten
days documenting the distortion by the networks of the National Academy of
Sciences report on global warming would confirm Thomas's concession.
Over the weekend on the McLaughlin Group his
Newsweek colleague Eleanor Clift reflected the media mindset on global
warming as she declared: "Frankly, this notion that there isn't
enough science, I mean that's right up there with does smoking cause
lung cancer? You know, conundrum of our time."
Doyle McManus of the Los Angles Times
emphasized that "the positive side" of the global warming debate
is how President Bush has acknowledged the basic liberal tenets:
"What most people have missed is what Bush said this week on the
positive side of this issue. He said there is such a thing as global
warming, he believes that report says the atmosphere is getting warmer,
that human activity plays an important part. It may not be the only part,
that is where the argument is. And he said, as you saw in that clip, that
he wants to do something about it. So he has in effect ended most of the
debate over whether there is any problem here."
But there never was any debate in the news
media.
3
The
credit goes to the AP's Ron Fournier. After seeing him pose question at
Saturday's press conference in Slovenia, I identified him as the
reporter who during last Thursday's European Union (EU) press conference
raised the issue of how no EU nation had yet ratified the Kyoto treaty on
global warming.
During the June 14 event, Fournier queried
Bush and the head of the EU: "Not a single European Union nation has
ratified the Kyoto treaty which was signed when many of your counterparts
were in office, yet you've been criticized by these same leaders for
rejecting it. Why do you suppose their actions have not been as forceful
as their rhetoric? And President Prodi, why haven't any EU nations
ratified the treaty?"
As outlined in the June 15 CyberAlert, on
Thursday night only FNC reported the question and Prodi's weak defense:
"There is no, no one single country who has declared not to ratify
it." NBC gave a clause to noting how no European nation had ratified
Kyoto, but zilch appeared on ABC, CBS or CNN. For details: http://www.mrc.org/news/cyberalert/2001/cyb20010615.asp#1
4
Memo to
Steve Roberts: When making fun of how George Bush is seen as "kind of
dumb," get your basic facts straight.
On Sunday's Late Edition on CNN, former New
York Times reporter Steve Roberts, now with U.S. News & World Report,
announced during the roundtable segment: "This country and the world
is littered with people who've underestimated George Bush. But I've
noticed that the late night comedians have really started ratcheting up
the criticism of him and this notion of him being kind of dumb and unready
is taking hold. There was one great Leno line this week about, 'well
George Bush said that he was against the Kyoto Accord; he preferred the
Kyoto Camry.'"
The panel laughed. But that wasn't a Leno
joke. It was told by David Letterman, which suggests Roberts mis-remembered
a Hotline item and really isn't watching the late night shows to know if
any such notion "is taking hold."
No big deal, just a minor error. But Late
Edition host Wolf Blitzer proceeded to make a big deal about two minor
Bush errors, playing video of Bush referring to Africa as "a
nation" and arguing he's for a "Europe" with "more
countries" when he meant the "European Union."
5
Missile
defense is an "extreme" idea to New York Times foreign affairs
columnist Thomas Friedman, formerly a reporter for the newspaper. On
MSNBC's Imus in the Morning last Thursday, MRC analyst Ken Shepherd
observed, Friedman lamented President Bush's lack of interest or
experience in foreign affairs because that means "there's no
personal counterweight that he brings to the discussion and I find that
very troubling, especially when you have some really ideological advisers
with some pretty extreme ideas, I believe, on issues like missile
defense."
The complete exchange on the June 14 edition
of the radio show simulcast on MSNBC:
Don Imus: "Senator John Kerry, if we can
dismiss the politics probably, or at least factor in the politics and then
ask the question, he yesterday, Senator Kerry questioned President
Bush's knowledge of foreign affairs. Factoring in what I just said, does
he have any point there?"
Friedman: "I think so, I mean I guess I
think that what still concerns me about Bush is two things, you know, that
John Kerry is raising. And one is that, the man evinced so little
curiosity about the world when you consider where he grew up, the family
he was in, the fact that he basically has never traveled anywhere, you
know, I find that unnerving. And why is that important? It's important
because you know, he's surrounded by all these advisers with very strong
opinions you know, on foreign policy and what not, and they have some
ideas that I find very extreme, to be frank. But what concerns me is he
has no experience with the real world to measure it off, to balance it
against, you know. It's not like he can go into a meeting and say you
know, I remember Europe at this time, I've been to London, I've been
to France, I've been to Russia. There's no personal counterweight that
he brings to the discussion and I find that very troubling, especially
when you have some really ideological advisers with some pretty extreme
ideas, I believe, on issues like missile defense."
An "extreme" idea which a March CBS
News/New York Times poll determined 75 percent of the American public
favors developing.
6
Friday
morning ABC and CBS celebrated the arrival in Ireland of a ship to provide
abortions, but both shows soon suggested the ship's sponsors were just
producing "a publicity stunt," a publicity stunt the two
networks ensured succeeded.
Fill-in Good Morning America co-host Terry
Moran announced: "A unique ship is docked in Ireland on the first
stop on a pioneering and bitterly controversial worldwide crusade to bring
birth control and counseling and abortion to women in countries where it's
illegal or hard to come by. We'll speak to the woman who's behind that
unique crusade."
CBS's Bryant Gumbel bemoaned the group's
lack of commitment, wrapping up his interview with a Women on Waves
member: "But if you're not prepared to go to jail, and if you don't
have a license, and you can't perform procedures, and you can't give out
pills, why isn't this any more, anything more than just a publicity
stunt?"
> ABC's Good Morning America, June 15.
After the above-quoted introduction from Terry Moran, Diane Sawyer
sympathetically set up a story: "There are about 20 million abortions
performed every year around the world and about 70,000 women die, often
due to unsafe or illegal procedures. But Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, who's a
Dutch gynecologist, has decided to try to do something about it. She has
just arrived outside Dublin, Ireland, aboard a boat, a ship called the
'Sea of Change.' It is the world's first floating abortion clinic. The
idea, she says, is to let Irish women come 12 miles out into international
waters where they can have an abortion with the abortion pill, RU-486.
Needless to say, a lot of people in Ireland are up in arms over it."
Following a report from ABC's Bob Woodruff,
whose piece also aired the night before on World News Tonight, Sawyer
interviewed Gomperts after she admired the popularity of the ship:
"And you should know, just this morning,
when we went live to the scene, the boat was so overwhelmed by women
seeking services that the floating clinic had to put its plans on hold for
the moment and figure out what to do. And just minutes ago, I talked with
Dr. Gomperts about the stir she's created."
MRC analyst Jessica Anderson noticed that
Sawyer posed a few challenging questions before suggesting it's all a
publicity stunt:
-- "Dr. Gomperts, as you know, some
members of the Irish government have said, basically, 'How dare you, how
dare you come 12 miles off our shore and challenge the laws of this
country.'"
-- "Now, you can't do surgical abortions on
board the ship -- you don't do them. You administer RU-486, but it also
can have complications. There are people who say that your ship also is
dangerous."
-- "But the Dutch government has said that
you face four years in prison because you don't have a permit."
-- "I know you've talked now about going to
Poland, Malta, Africa, South America, and there are people who say this is
just a cheap publicity stunt, as we heard."
-- "There is talk that one pro-life group is
considering sending out its own ship and having priests and counselors on
board....Do you welcome them?"
> CBS's The Early Show. Up front reporter
Kimberly Dozier suggested the publicity stunt angle as she was fulfilling
the plan. She told Bryant Gumbel:
"The Women on Waves intend to spend the next
two weeks in this largely Roman Catholic country campaigning for a woman's
right to choose abortion. Abortion is illegal here, as you mentioned, the
question is whether they are actually going to perform the procedure or
whether this is, as the critics are calling it, a massive publicity stunt.
This refurbished fishing boat has as surgical theatre set up in a shipping
container on deck, it also has security systems and bullet proof vests to
protect patients and crew. But under Irish law the two doctors on board
can not perform abortions while docked here and they can't perform them in
international waters until they get the proper license from the Dutch
government...."
Dozier added: "The idea is eventually to
sail to developing countries and offer women safe abortions, they say, 12
miles offshore in international waters. What this is doing is raising the
profile of this issue here. And there is intended to be a referendum on
the abortion issue in Ireland later this year. That's why opponents say
they are staying away, they don't won't to give this any more
publicity."
CBS News wasn't so reluctant.
Gumbel then interviewed Women on Waves
spokeswoman Yoka Van Kampe. His questions reflected his seeming
disappointment with the obstacles facing the abortionists and his
dissatisfaction with their level of commitment to breaking the law:
-- "As you see it, exactly what are you
trying to do there in Ireland?"
-- "Will you be conducting abortions or
willing to conduct abortions onboard the ship?"
-- "But the Dutch government says your ship
is not licensed and so you are not allowed to practice any procedures
onboard the ship, that you would be in violation of the law."
-- "So in the absence of a license you
really can't do anything?"
-- "Is it realistic to think that any Irish
woman in need of your services would brave the protesters and the press in
order to get to you?"
-- "But will you even be allowed to hand out
any pills of any kind, wouldn't that too be a violation of the law?"
-- "Are you and your people willing to go to
jail to hand out literature, to hand out pills, to perform procedures, if
that's what it takes?"
-- "But if you're not prepared to go to
jail, and if you don't have a license, and you can't perform procedures,
and you can't give out pills, why isn't this any more, anything more than
just a publicity stunt?"
It worked -- at least in the United States.
7
The
morning after Virginia Republicans at a convention selected their
gubernatorial candidate the Washington Post applied the
"conservative" label six times, including a reference to
"the GOP ticket's conservative tang." But the morning after
Virginia Democrats in a primary chose Attorney General and Lieutenant
Governor candidates, one of whom was endorsed by Handgun Control Inc. and
both of whom want a moratorium on the death penalty, the Post avoided any
liberal tag.
Instead, reporter R. H. Melton admired how
"Democrats crafted a racially diverse ticket that party activists
hope will project a more dynamic image than the three conservative
Republicans nominated earlier this month."
For a rundown of Post reporter Melton's
liberal use of the "conservative" label back on June 3, go to: http://www.mrc.org/news/cyberalert/2001/cyb20010607.asp#5
Now to the Democrats last week. The June 13
front page story was headlined: "Va. Democrats Complete Diverse
Ticket." The subhead: "First Black Candidate for Attorney
General Joins Warner in Race." Melton opened his news story:
"Virginia Democrats nominated two
Richmonders yesterday to round out the Nov. 6 ticket headed by Mark R.
Warner, selecting Mayor Timothy M. Kaine for lieutenant governor and Del.
A. Donald McEachin as the party's first African American candidate for
attorney general.
"In choosing Kaine, 43, and McEachin, 39, to
join gubernatorial hopeful Warner, 46, Democrats crafted a racially
diverse ticket that party activists hope will project a more dynamic image
than the three conservative Republicans nominated earlier this month at
the GOP's statewide convention.
"Mark L. Earley, 46, who recently stepped
down as attorney general, will face Warner, while state Del. Jay Katzen,
64, of Fauquier County, will run against Kaine for the lieutenant
governorship. Jerry W. Kilgore, 39, a former state secretary of public
safety whose roots are in Southwest Virginia, is running for attorney
general against McEachin...."
To read the entire story, in which the word
"liberal" never appears, go to: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58049-2001Jun12.html
No wonder a June 17 Washington Post story, by
a different Post reporter, carried the headline: "Republicans Eager
to Pin Liberal Label on Warner."
The Post certainly won't do it for them on
its own.
8
From the
June 15 Late Show, the "Top Ten Pieces of Fatherly Advice from George
W. Bush." Copyright 2001 by Worldwide Pants, Inc.
10. "You're coming to me for advice? Okay, that's mistake number
one"
9. "Do as I saying, not as I doing did"
8. "At school, sit next to one of Dick Cheney's kids and copy off
them"
7. "You can't go through life getting arrested and making as ass out
of yourself...just kidding"
6. "Watch what you eat or you'll bloat up like Al Gore"
5. "If you ever get in a jam, call my dad -- it's always worked for
me"
4. "Your mother is tired of your idiotic behavior and says you're a
disgrace to this family...no, wait, that's what she said about me"
3. "Remember the motto of my predecessor: it's only a crime if you
get caught"
2. "Never use a fake ID to buy hooch -- that's what Secret Service
guys are for"
1. "Keep up the good work, girls -- at this rate you'll be President
some day"
-- Brent Baker
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