Jennings Cited "Root Causes"; Brokaw Chided Ted Olson Over Wife's Book; CNN's Pelton: "Respect the Cause" Espoused by John Walker?
1) ABC's Peter Jennings exhibited hints of leftist
concerns on the Late Show as he twice fretted about the difference between
"nationalism" and "patriotism," asserted that
"campaigning against terrorism" means recognizing the "root
causes for dissatisfaction around the world," maintained that global
leadership is not just "selling American culture," and bemoaned
how "Americans are pretty insular people for the most part."
2) Tom Brokaw demanded that Ted Olson defend his decision
to proceed with the publication of his late wife's anti-Clinton book.
Brokaw claimed that "some people are also saying it just opens old
wounds at a time when we're trying to have political unity in this
country" and insisted that "people who are neutral in all of
this are going to say, 'Look, this is just a continuation of a political
vendetta against that couple.'"
3) Writer Robert Pelton, who gave CNN exclusive rights to
his interview with John Walker, proclaimed, when Walker asked if he were a
Muslim, "I respect the cause and I respect the call." On CNN's
Reliable Sources, Pelton denied he was supporting the Taliban's
terrorism, telling Howard Kurtz: "One of the pillars of Islam is
jihad, or struggle, and like many religions, it is a foundation of their
belief. So, I do respect that."
4) Last week when CNN's Aaron Brown set up an interview
segment by tagging Shelby Steele as "a conservative," but simply
described Richard Cohen as "a columnist," Steele called him on
it, forcing Brown to concede that Cohen is a liberal.
1
Friday
night on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman, ABC's Peter Jennings
exhibited hints of leftist concerns as he twice fretted about the
difference between "nationalism" and "patriotism,"
pleading for people to "respect the differences that exist in the
country...especially...on the issue of patriotism," asserted that
"campaigning against terrorism around the world" is "just
too simple" since "there are a lot of root causes for
dissatisfaction around the world," maintained global leadership is
"not just American business or selling American culture around the
world," and bemoaned how "Americans are pretty insular people
for the most part."
Appearing on the December 21 show to promote
the New Year's Eve coverage planned by ABC News in prime time, Jennings
recalled:
"I spent a Saturday night in a high school
in Boulder, Colorado filming, for a new series we're doing on the
country, a high school production of Hair. Very white, suburban
neighborhood, mostly Republican kids, I thought. I was immensely struck
about their attitudes toward patriotism and their attitudes about
nationalism and they helped me listen and look for it in other places and
you do find it. You know, there are many definitions of patriotism,
there's confusion between patriotism and nationalism. So yes, I think
the country in the wake of September has looked very closely at itself,
tried hard to understand ourselves. I think some of the public leaders
have just been awesome. I know you've heard this a hundred times on his
program, I think the Mayor and the President just had the right tone for
so long."
Letterman soon wondered if it's important
for leaders to ask for sacrifice in order to provide the "notion we
are all in this together?" Jennings lectured Americans:
"I also think it's very important for us
to respect the differences that exist in the country. I think that's
especially true on the issue of patriotism. I think next year's going to
be very challenging. The Middle East is going to be a huge challenge. What
happens in the Southern Philippines in terms of terrorism. What's going
to happen between India and Pakistan. I mean, I sometimes think India and
Pakistan can hardly wait to attack each other. They both have nuclear
weapons. And it isn't just about campaigning against terrorism around
the world. That's just too simple. There are a lot of root causes for
dissatisfaction around the world and I think for the country to exercise
real global leadership, when globalization in itself is kind of
complicated, it's not just American business or selling American culture
around the world. I think it's a very big challenge for a leader to get
us all engaged in that because, you know, Americans are pretty insular
people for the most part."
But unlike Jennings, who is still a Canadian
citizen, we are Americans.
2
Tom
Brokaw concluded Friday's NBC Nightly News with what promised to be a
poignant pre-holiday weekend discussion with Solicitor General Ted Olson
about his wife, Barbara, who was killed aboard the plane which hit the
Pentagon on September 11. While Brokaw allowed Olson to fondly reminisce
about her love for "opera, Shakespeare, country and western music,
dogs and the countryside of Virginia," Brokaw chided Olson for his
decision to proceed with the publication of her anti-Clinton book, The
Final Days: A Behind the Scenes Look at the Last, Desperate Abuses of
Power by the Clinton White House.
Brokaw claimed that "some people are also
saying it just opens old wounds at a time when we're trying to have
political unity in this country" and insisted that "admirers of
the Clintons or other people who are neutral in all of this are going to
say, 'Look, this is just a continuation of a political vendetta against
that couple.'"
Brokaw set up the last story on the December
21 NBC Nightly News: "It's a bittersweet Christmas for the husband of
another well-known television personality: Ted Olson, married to Barbara
Olson, the commentator who was on board the plane that crashed into the
Pentagon. Her book on the final days of the Clinton presidency was
published after her death, and it's a best-seller. Ted Olson, of course,
represented George Bush during the Florida election controversy. He's now
solicitor general."
Olson: "The idea that her voice would be
stilled by terrorists or that the book that she had worked so hard on all
summer would be put in a box somewhere would just have been intolerable to
Barbara."
Brokaw to Olson as the two sat on a set with
images of Barbara Olson and her book's cover in the background:
"But as you know, some people are also saying it just opens old
wounds at a time when we're trying to have political unity in this
country. Was that part of your consideration?"
Olson: "Well, I thought about that a little
bit. But Barbara believed in this country, the first amendment, comments
on political figures, how political people who hold office conduct
themselves in office."
Barbara Olson in old footage: "It's not the
way to do a presidential election."
Ted Olson: "The idea that that goes away
because of what terrorists tried to do to this country-"
Brokaw again suggested her book was
inappropriate: "You've lived in the political culture long enough to
know that admirers of the Clintons or other people who are neutral in all
of this are going to say, 'Look, this is just a continuation of a
political vendetta against that couple.'
Olson: "The book is full of facts. And we
do, in this country, when you do take political office and you conduct
yourself in the public limelight, when you accept the public trust, you
accept the criticism when people feel that you may have abused that trust.
Brokaw: "Would she be troubled by the
bipartisan spirit that exists here now, saying, 'Wait a minute, we're
going too far with this' as some people are, both on the left and the
right?"
Olson disagreed: "I don't think she was ever
troubled by bipartisan spirit. But she never minded the disagreements that
took place."
Brokaw moved on to pleasant memories:
"Everyone knew Barbara as a very outspoken advocate for what she
believed in, in the public arena, on television. But you had a whole other
life as well."
Olson fondly recalled: "Opera, Shakespeare,
country and western music, dogs, the countryside of Virginia, great
restaurants, good wine, all of those things."
Brokaw: "Do you go to the opera without her
now?"
Olson: "I haven't yet."
Brokaw: "Too hard to do?"
Olson: "I think I'll get there. I think it's
important to do those things. I think it was important. Barbara loved
Christmas, as she loved everything else. But she particularly loved
Christmas. And I made sure that the people helping with these things went
out the day after Thanksgiving and lit our house up like Barbara would
have wanted it lit up."
Brokaw wrapped up: "Ted Olson,
Solicitor General of the United States."
For more about Barbara Olson's book, The
Final Days: A Behind the Scenes Look at the Last, Desperate Abuses of
Power by the Clinton White House, go to:
http://www.regnery.com/regnery/010817_finaldays.html
3
During a
portion of his December 2 interview with the then-disheveled and
just-captured John Walker shown for the first time late last week, CNN
contributor Robert Pelton, when asked if he were a Muslim, told Walker,
"I respect the cause and I respect the call." The New York
Post's Adam Buckman caught the exchange and reported it in a Friday
story.
On Saturday's Reliable Sources on CNN,
Pelton denied he was expressing support for the Taliban's terrorism,
telling Howard Kurtz: "One of the pillars of Islam is jihad, or
struggle, and like many religions, it is a foundation of their belief. So,
I do respect that."
So, he does "respect" the
anti-Western crusade, in which Walker enlisted, to kill all non-believers?
An excerpt from Buckman's December 21 story:
I couldn't believe my ears.
I'm watching this CNN interview with the shaggy-haired traitor John
Walker yesterday when suddenly I hear the interviewer -- identified as a
CNN correspondent -- tell Walker how much he "respects" the
cause to which Walker has pledged his allegiance.
I was so stunned that I went searching for the interview transcript on
CNN's Web site to see if I'd heard it right and there it was for anyone to
read: the correspondent -- author and self-styled adventurer Robert Young
Pelton -- was expressing an unseemly and, to say the least, unjournalistic
sympathy for a sworn enemy of the United States in wartime.
Doesn't anyone at CNN even listen to this stuff before putting it on
TV?
"Yourself a Muslim?" asked Walker hopefully at one point in
the interview, which was aired for the first time during Aaron Brown's
show on Wednesday night and then aired throughout the day yesterday on CNN
(though it was taped back on Dec. 2).
"No, unfortunately, I'm not," answered Pelton to the religion
question. "But," he was quick to add, "I respect the cause
and I respect the call."
Respect the cause? As I understand it, the "cause" for which
the American-born Walker was willing to kill Americans is the
fundamentalist Islamic philosophy of the repressive Taliban, which the
United States has aided Afghan nationalists in driving from power.
So who is Robert Young Pelton? He is the author of a handful of
free-wheeling and best-selling travel books, including "The World's
Most Dangerous Places," "Come Back Alive" and "The
Adventurist."
He's an unusual personality who, depending on which bio you're reading,
has ventured through 60 or 80 countries in search of off-the-beaten-path
adventures.
Delve further and you come across some wild statements uttered by
Pelton, such as an on-line Q&A he conducted with the Terrorism
Research Center in which he likened the New York City police to terrorists
("the New York City police seem to do just fine terrorizing
immigrants with toilet plungers") and then later stated, "There
is no such thing as terrorism."...
END of Excerpt
While CNN's transcripts do identify Pelton
as a "CNN correspondent," the on-screen graphics during
interviews with him aired around all of his reports listed him as a
"CNN contributor."
Clips from Pelton's December 2 interview
with a very scruffy Walker, as he laid in a bed while doctors attended to
him, began to air on NewsNight with Aaron Brown on Wednesday night and
continued throughout Thursday on CNN. The portion Buckman caught, however,
did not run on NewsNight and was not part of the repeating rotation and
from what I could determine, by fast-forwarding through tapes, may have
aired just once: During the 10am EST half hour on Thursday, December 20.
During that 10am half hour CNN showed this
exchange, which I am quoting in full context and for which I checked the
CNN transcript against the actual CNN broadcast. "Inaudible"
means someone else's voice was drowning out Walker or Pelton:
Pelton: "Is this what you thought it
would be? Was this the right cause or the right place?"
Walker: "It is exactly what I thought it
would be."
Pelton: "Have you thought of fighting Jihad
in places like Chechnya or (inaudible)?"
Walker: "Any Muslim that's concerned for the
affairs of Muslims (inaudible) has considered this, I think."
Pelton: But you chose Afghanistan, and one thing
that I always wondered was, you have Muslims fighting Muslims here."
Walker: "That's a question that's actually
addressed in the Koran itself, that, if there is an Islamic state -- I
mean there are certain situations in which Muslims, by necessity, are
fought. For example, if a group of Muslims were renegades against the
Islamic state, it calls for (inaudible) There are other situations also,
in which a Muslim can be killed, for example, under the law inaudible)
Islamic law (inaudible) something which the media twists."
Pelton: "I'm an author of a book called, The
World's Most Dangerous Places, and I traveled with you Jihad groups
through various places, and-"
Walker: "Yourself a Muslim?"
Pelton: "No, unfortunately, I'm not. But I
respect the cause and I respect the call, but I'm just interested to find
an American, because when I met the other prisoners, who were in very bad
shape, they seem to be from a number of very poor countries. You know,
there were people from Yemen. There looked liked one -- have you met
Chechnyans at all?
Walker: "I've known a few Chechnyans."
Pelton: "Are the Chechnyans from -- like
Chechnya, or are they (inaudible)?"
Walker: "I've known people from-"
Pelton: "I've always wondered, because I've
been searching Chechnyans. I've always wondered why a Chachnyan would
fight here?"
Walker: "Here, in Afghanistan, I haven't
seen any Chechnyans. Only some -- I don't know, there are several small
republics within..."
For a full transcript of what CNN played
during the 10am EST half hour:
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0112/20/se.01.html
CNN featured Pelton on the December 22
Reliable Sources. Host Howard Kurtz first asked about his journalistic
status: "You were described in this interview, despite your
relatively brief association with CNN, as a CNN contributor. Do you
consider yourself a journalist?"
Pelton denied he's any kind of journalist:
"No, I'm an author. I've never had aspirations to be a journalist
because it's a tough job, pays very little, and basically I travel around
the world, meet interesting people, and try to find out more about what
makes people tick."
Kurtz then played a clip of Pelton telling
Walker, "I respect the cause and I respect the call." Kurtz
wanted to know: "What did you mean, Robert Pelton, when you said 'I
respect the cause' of Islamic jihad?"
Pelton explained: "Well, I didn't say
Islamic jihad. I said I respect the cause. One of the pillars of Islam is
jihad, or struggle, and like many religions, it is a foundation of their
belief. So, I do respect that. Secondly, the call, which is a newer form,
which is sort of part of the caravan [may be wrong word, this is from the
CNN transcript and not checked against he tape], which is people going to
help other people in need."
Kurtz soon pressed Pelton on what he did not
ask about: "Why did you not ask John Walker what he thought of the
September 11 attacks, or whether he felt that he'd betrayed his
country?"
Pelton: "Well, first of all, you don't get a
lot of news coverage when you're out in the front lines in a place like
Takhar province. Secondly, I wasn't there to politicize or ask his
opinions about politics. I wanted to know, first of all, how he was doing
physically, because he was in very bad shape when I first met him. And
secondly, I was just asking him questions that I personally was interested
in."
Kurtz: "But you say you don't want to
politicize the interview, but isn't that the question that every American
would want to know the answer to: How does somebody who grew up in Marin
County, California end up fighting for the Taliban and whether he feels
like some kind of traitor to America? It's not a political question, it's
a factual question."
Pelton: "No, I think the conversation we had
is pretty straightforward. Here's a man in the hospital receiving medical
care while I'm talking to him. Toward the end of the interview, obviously,
he was under the influence of morphine. But the bottom-line is, I had a
conservation with him. I wasn't trying to muck-rake or set him up in any
way."
Kurtz raised another discovery made by the New
York Post's Buckman: "The New York Post reported the other day that
during an online discussion recently, you said that you didn't think there
was any such thing as terrorism. Can you explain a little bit about your
views on that?"
Pelton: "Well, terrorism is a label used by
a variety of groups, whether they be American or Palestinian or Chechnyan
or whatever, to simply demonize the actions of other people. I think you
have to look past that statement and you have to look at the acts as being
either criminal, political, religious, or otherwise."
Kurtz wondered: "So, flying planes into the
World Trade Center is not terrorism in your view? Terrorism is not an
appropriate label for killing thousands of innocent civilians?"
Pelton: "Well, I think you're putting words
in my mouth. I didn't say that. I think flying airplanes into the World
Trade Center is the ultimate act of criminality and that strikes terror
into the hearts of many people."
The next time CNN gets hot video from someone
who isn't a journalist maybe they should consider muting the sound
whenever he or she speaks.
To learn about Pelton's latest book, go to:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062737384/qid=1009066816/
sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_11_1/104-5136415-9698328
4
Confronting
liberal bias as it occurs. Last week when CNN's Aaron Brown set up an
interview segment by tagging Shelby Steele as "a conservative,"
but simply describing Richard Cohen as "a columnist," Steele
called him on it, forcing Brown to concede that Cohen is a liberal.
MRC analyst Ken Shepherd caught the incident
which occurred on the December 18 NewsNight. Brown set up the segment on
the 10pm EST show: "There was that remarkable meeting a few weeks
back in the prison in Mazar-e Sharif of two young men -- and to some, two
different cultures. Two different American cultures. CIA officer Mike
Spann, a former Marine, a child of small-town Alabama, whose family said
he always wanted to serve his country. And in that prison, before he was
killed, he met John Walker, a 20-year-old from Marin County, California,
fighting with the Taliban, whose parents sent him to an alternative
school, supported his conversion to Islam, and allowed him to travel
across the world to pursue his new religion. Some conservatives jumped on
Walker, saying he is a product of cultural liberalism -- the California
kind -- helping to turn an impressionable kid against his own country.
"Joining us from Salinas, California, one of
those conservatives, Shelby Steele of the Hoover Institution. Mr. Steele
wrote a provocative article the other day in the Wall Street Journal -- a
column in the Journal. And here in New York, a columnist who thinks Mr.
Steele is making an awfully broad generalization: Richard Cohen of the
Washington Post. It's nice to have both of you here. Mr. Steele."
Steele protested: "First of all, let me
interrupt you just a minute."
Brown: "Okay."
Steele queried: "Is Richard Cohen a
liberal?"
Brown: "Yeah, Richard Cohen's a liberal. I
think he would say that, wouldn't he?"
Steele: "Just wanted to make sure we were
both-"
Cohen reluctantly admitted: "On this
issue."
Brown: "On this issue. Okay. Everyone is now
branded, I guess."
Steele reasonably suggested: "Okay, great.
If I'm going to be, everybody's going to be."
Brown proceeded to recall an earlier assessment
by a conservative which many reporters did not appreciate: "Let me
try and get, let me try and get a little control back. A few years back,
Newt Gingrich blamed liberalism for Susan Smith's decision to kill her own
children in South Carolina. And I think when some people hear the argument
you're making they're thinking about that and that seemed a bit of a
stretch then. Are they, are these different issues or is this the same
thing?"
Steele has provided an excellent model for the
new year for how conservative guests on TV shows can correct liberal bias
on the fly. -- trapped with unlabeled liberals in Taxachusetts.
-- Brent Baker
Sign up for
CyberAlerts:
Keep track of the latest instances of media bias and alerts to stories the major media are ignoring. Sign up to receive
CyberAlerts via e-mail.
questions and comments about
CyberAlert
subscription
You can also learn what has been posted each day on the MRC's Web site by subscribing to the "MRC Web Site News" distributed every weekday afternoon. To subscribe, go to:
http://www.mrc.org/newsletters
|
Home | News Division
| Bozell Columns | CyberAlerts
Media Reality Check | Notable Quotables | Contact
the MRC | Subscribe
|