1. ABC & NBC Paint Daschle as Victim of “Harsh” Intimidation
Tom Daschle, the victim of “harsh words” from Republicans who are “going after” him as part of “a pre-emptive strike, orchestrated by the White House, to try to intimidate” critics. On Monday, Daschle abandoned the norm of not delivering mean-spirited attacks on the President in a time of war which could undermine his moral authority, but instead of portraying Daschle as the one who had acted unwisely, ABC and NBC painted him as the victim of White House attacks. Only CNN's Aaron Brown portrayed Daschle as the one violating protocol.

2. ABC's McWethy Ridicules Coalition for Featuring Eritrea
ABC's John McWethy on Tuesday night ridiculed the “so-called 'coalition of the willing'” as he stressed how it is made up of “mostly small nations like Afghanistan, El Salvador and Eritrea.”

3. Jennings Decides Anti-War Vatican Offers Wise Counsel
Now that the Vatican is against the war, Peter Jennings has suddenly decided it is imparting wise counsel worthy of highlighting. Jennings noted on Tuesday's World News Tonight how the Vatican “had a very strong statement today about President Bush's intention to go to war.”

4. NBC's Avila Insists America “Divided” with “Soft” War Support
Though NBC's poll after President Bush's Monday night speech found 65 percent support military action against Iraq and 61 percent want immediate action, NBC reporter Jim Avila maintained “much of the country” is “divided” on going to war and argued that “polling experts say that support for the war is soft.” CBS's Bill Plante managed to relay similar poll numbers without trying to explain them away.

5. CNN's Flock: Anti-War Side Says Criticizing Them “Un-American”
Pro-war Americans need to apologize to those against the war, CNN's Jeff Flock told anchor Aaron Brown on Tuesday night. Flock concluded a story about public opinion on the war by recommending now that war is inevitable there needs to be some “kissing and making up” between the two sides because those against the war maintain that “to criticize them is un-American.”

6. ABC's Gibson: France Just Being a Good Friend
Charles Gibson came to France's defense on Tuesday's Good Morning America, as he argued to Bill O'Reilly that “friends” should try to prevent a friend from making a mistake. Employing an analogy to a pro-lifer trying to stop an abortion, Gibson suggested: “Let me say that the friend down the block is a woman, she's having an abortion and you really don't believe in that, you think it is wrong, you have a deep-seated belief that abortion is wrong. Don't you try to stop her?"

7. Actress Gwyneth Paltrow Question “Motives Behind” War
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow declared, from London, on Tuesday's Good Morning America: “I question this war and the motives behind it."

8. On Today, a Woman Declares 10-Month Old Baby is “Anti-War”
On Tuesday's Today Al Roker featured an “anti-war” baby, though he apparently did it inadvertently. Talking to the crowd outside the studio, a woman with a baby declared: “She's ten-months-old and she's against the war."

     >>> “2003 Dishonor Awards: Roasting the Most Outrageously Biased Liberal Reporters.” CyberAlert subscribers can get tickets for $150, $25 off the regular price, for the Thursday, March 27 event in Washington, DC. For all the info and how to buy tickets:
http://archive.mrc.org/notablequotables/dishonor/03/info.asp
     Cal Thomas will serve as Master of Ceremonies with Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham amongst those helping to present awards. 
     Rush Limbaugh was one of the judges who picked the winners, along with Lawrence Kudlow, Steve Forbes, William F. Buckley Jr., Lucianne Goldberg, Michael Reagan, Kate O’Beirne, John Fund, Robert Novak and Walter Williams. 
     Plus, the Charlie Daniels Band will sing some songs. The award titles:
Ozzy Osbourne Award (for the Wackiest Comment of the Year)
I Hate You Conservatives Award
Ashamed of the Red, White, and Blue Award
And They Called It Puppy Love Award
The I’m Not a Geopolitical Genius But I Play One on TV Award
     Come to the dinner to watch the winning quotes, see who wins and learn which conservatives will accept each award in jest. It will be a lot of media bashing fun. <<<

ABC & NBC Paint Daschle as Victim of “Harsh” Intimidation

     Tom Daschle, the victim of “harsh words” from Republicans who are “going after” him as part of “a pre-emptive strike, orchestrated by the White House, to try to intimidate” critics. On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Daschle abandoned the norm of not delivering mean-spirited attacks on the President in a time of war which could undermine his moral authority, but instead of portraying Daschle as the one who had acted unwisely, ABC and NBC painted him as the victim of White House attacks. Only CNN's Aaron Brown portrayed Daschle as the one violating protocol.

     AFSCME on Monday, Daschle charged: “I'm going to the White House this afternoon and I have a pretty good understanding, a pretty good idea what I'm going to hear. And I'm saddened, saddened that this President failed so miserably at diplomacy that we're now forced to war, saddened that we have to give up one life because this President couldn't create the kind of diplomatic effort that was so critical for our country. But we will work, and we will do all that we can to get through this crisis like we've gotten through so many.”

     (On Monday night, neither ABC or NBC mentioned Daschle's outburst. NBC's Campbell Brown ridiculously asserted: “Democrats began to rally around the President in support of war.” See 
http://archive.mrc.org/cyberalerts/2003/cyb20030318.asp#1 )

     On Tuesday night, here's how ABC anchor Peter Jennings framed the story: “In Washington war has become a very hot political item. Today, Republican members of Congress were going after the Senate Minority Leader, Democrat Tom Daschle, for criticizing President Bush's war plans.”

     Over on the NBC Nightly News, Tom Brokaw intoned: “At the White House today there were lots of harsh words directed at Democrats on Capitol Hill. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in particular.”

     Brown ran a clip of Daschle and then did what she could to make Daschle seem reasonable and Republicans unreasonable: “Daschle followed that statement by saying American troops in Iraq have his full support. But still a sharp rebuke from the Speaker of the House.” Brown also treated as credible how “Democrats called the barrage of criticism a pre-emptive strike, orchestrated by the White House, to try to intimidate them from speaking out before war even starts.” Brown proceeded to adopt liberal verbiage as she helpfully relayed Democratic criticism: “Democrats also say there are plenty of questions that need to be raised now, like how the President intends to pay for war and the aftermath and a massive new tax cut.”

     CNN's Aaron Brown, in contrast, introduced a story on Tuesday's NewsNight by reminding viewers of how “rules have evolved” that say you should refrain from criticism during a time of war: “Even if politics don't really stop at the water's edge, Presidents have normally enjoyed a good deal of leeway when it comes to foreign policy, even when it come to wars that aren't especially popular. Certain rules have evolved over the years about the right and wrong time for lawmakers to speak out against a President. The unspoken rule being when a war is imminent the time for dissent is over.”

     CBS's Bill Plante conveyed the perspective of both sides without making Daschle into the victim: “Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle caused a stir yesterday when he criticized the President.”
     Daschle: “I'm saddened, saddened that this President failed so miserably at diplomacy that we're now forced to war.”
     Plante: “Republicans denounced Daschle's statement as shameful.”
     Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist: “Any remarks that their lives in some way have been compromised by the President of the United States is irresponsible.” 
     Plante: “Daschle said he stands by his remarks, but the administration's reaction reflects the sensitivity here to any suggestion that the President may have bungled the diplomatic process on the way to war.”

     Now, more detail about the March 18 ABC and CBS stories:

     -- From Capitol Hill, Linda Douglass began her World News Tonight piece: “With war now just hours away, Republicans suggested today that members of Congress who criticize President Bush are less than patriotic. To the contrary shot back Democratic leader Tom Daschle.”
     Daschle, in Capitol hallway: “Teddy Roosevelt once said that it's unpatriotic to hold one's voice in a democracy under any circumstances.”
     Douglass: “Daschle did not hold back yesterday when he accused Mr. Bush of failing miserably at diplomacy and said he was saddened.”
     Daschle on Monday: “If we have to give up one life because this President couldn't create the kind of diplomatic effort that was so critical to our country.”
     Douglass. “In a statement, House Speaker Dennis Hastert suggested Daschle's statements bordered on unpatriotic. He said, 'those comments may not undermine the President as he leads us into war, and they may not give comfort to our adversaries, but they come mighty close.'”
     Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist: “Any remarks that their lives in some way have been compromised by the President of the United Stats is irresponsible.” 
     Douglass: “On the defensive, Daschle insisted he is doing his duty.”
     Daschle: “I'm going to continue to speak out where I think I have a responsibility to do so.”
     Douglass: “Democrats are trying to appeal to the anti-war wing of their party while not appearing soft on Saddam Hussein. Presidential candidate John Kerry said in a statement, 'President Bush has clumsily and arrogantly squandered the post 9/11 support and goodwill of the entire civilized world.' Yet Kerry still supports the war.”

     Douglass concluded: “Democrats are rushing to put their criticisms on the record. Republicans say they won't let them forget that record in the days to come.”

     -- Tom Brokaw teased the NBC Nightly News by treating both sides as equally culpable: “A war or words. A nasty fight between the White House and top Democrats, charges of disloyalty on the eve of combat.”

     Brokaw set up the subsequent story: “At the White House today there were lots of harsh words directed at Democrats on Capitol Hill. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in particular.”

     Campbell Brown framed the story around an aggressive White House: “Tom, accusations today from the White House and Republicans that Democrats are being unpatriotic for criticizing the President about to take the country to war. Today a furor over these remarks from Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle.”
     Daschle on Monday at AFSCME: “I'm saddened, saddened that this President failed so miserably at diplomacy that we're now forced to war.”
     Brown pitched in to help Daschle seem reasonable: “Daschle followed that statement by saying American troops in Iraq have his full support. But still a sharp rebuke from the Speaker of the House, who accused Daschle of trying to undermine the President and give comfort to adversaries, saying in this statement, quote, 'Senator Daschle has spent more time criticizing the leadership of President Bush that he has spent criticizing the tyranny of Saddam Hussein.' And more from Republican Senators.”
     Senator Rick Santorum: “Well I think Senator Daschle clearly articulated the French position.”
     Brown devoted the remainder of her story to the Democratic spin: “Democrats called the barrage of criticism a pre-emptive strike, orchestrated by the White House, to try to intimidate them from speaking out before war even starts.”
     Congressman Barney Frank, at his desk: “The notion that the country is somehow too weak to have a vigorous debate, it's just not, let me put it this way, we've had debates during past wars.”
     Brown helpfully passed along more liberal talking points: “Democrats also say there are plenty of questions that need to be raised now, like how the President intends to pay for war and the aftermath and a massive new tax cut.”
     Ted Kennedy on the Senate floor: “Why can't we come out in the open and let the American people know exactly what this is going to mean in terms of the cost of the conflict. Why not include them in on this?”
     Brown: “Publicly, the White House insisted its criticism of Democrats was not intended to reign in free speech.”
     Press Secretary Ari Fleischer: “It's every person's right to dissent and nothing that's been suggested here, I would never say that people don't have that right.”
     Brown concluded: “Privately, though, some White House officials concede this is an opportunity to take on Democrats politically, though both sides say this battle is no way about the troops now in the field.”

     A point not raised by any of the network stories: As NPR's Mara Liasson noted during the panel discussion on FNC's Special Report with Brit Hume, Daschle's reasoning made no sense: “It was flat wrong. He said we're going to war because diplomacy has failed. No, we would be going to war with the United Nations Security Council approval if diplomacy had succeeded.”

     [Web Update: The above CyberAlert article neglected to point out, the MRC's Tim Graham reminded me, how the NBC Nightly News did not inform its viewers about Daschle's most incendiary claim, that Bush is culpable for any U.S. soldiers who die.
     ABC's Linda Douglass and CNN's Jonathan Karl included this portion of Daschle's remarks in the soundbite they chose to run: "I'm saddened we have to give up one life because this President couldn't create the kind of diplomatic effort that was so critical to our country."
     NBC's Campbell Brown decided to air only this clip from Daschle: "I'm saddened, saddened that this President failed so miserably at diplomacy that we're now forced to war."
     So Brown only found the time for 17 words from Daschle, but she saw higher news value in giving twice as many words, 36, to Senator Ted Kennedy to denounce the Bush approach: "Why can't we come out in the open and let the American people know exactly what this is going to mean in terms of the cost of the conflict. Why not include them in on this?"]

ABC's McWethy Ridicules Coalition for Featuring Eritrea

     ABC's John McWethy on Tuesday night ridiculed the “so-called 'coalition of the willing'” as he stressed how it is made up of “mostly small nations like Afghanistan, El Salvador and Eritrea.” On CBS, Bill Plante managed to convey the make up of the coalition without the snideness as he noted that another 15 nations “want to remain anonymous.”

     McWethy announced from the Pentagon at the end of a March 18 World News Tonight story: “The U.S. today named 30 countries that it says support its efforts in Iraq, a so-called 'coalition of the willing,' mostly small nations like [looking down at piece of paper] Afghanistan, El Salvador and Eritrea. The administration does not like to talk about: Only three countries are actually sending troops to fight: The U.S., Britain and Australia, a coalition of three.”

     Over on the CBS Evening News, Bill Plante conveyed how only a few countries are sending troops and how Canada and Mexico are not in the coalition, but without McWethy's mocking tone about Eritra:
     “There are more that 30 countries listed in the coalition of the willing, but only three, the U.S., Britain and Australia, are making any significant troop contribution. There are 15 other countries, including some Arab nations, who want to remain anonymous. That list presumably includes Kuwait, where thousands of U.S. troops have gathered, Bulgaria, which supported the UN resolution, and Israel, which has been asked to keep a low profile. Not in the coalition, the U.S.'s closest neighbors, Canada and Mexico.”

     For the record, these are the nations in the coalition as listed by the State Department: Afghanistan, Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan.

Jennings Decides Anti-War Vatican Offers Wise Counsel

     Now that the Vatican is against the war, Peter Jennings has suddenly decided it is imparting wise counsel worthy of highlighting. Jennings noted on Tuesday's World News Tonight:
     “The Vatican had a very strong statement today about President Bush's intention to go to war. The Vatican said anyone who believes peace is exhausted 'assumes a grave responsibility before God, his own conscience and history.'”

     One trusts that the next time the Vatican makes a pronouncement espousing a view which matches the position of conservatives, such as against partial-birth abortion, Jennings will find such a statement equally newsworthy.

NBC's Avila Insists America “Divided”
with “Soft” War Support

     Though NBC's poll conducted after President Bush's Monday night speech found 65 percent support military action against Iraq and 61 percent want immediate action, NBC reporter Jim Avila maintained “much of the country” is “divided” on going to war and argued that “polling experts say that support for the war is soft.” CBS's Bill Plante managed to relay similar poll numbers without trying to explain them away.

     In a piece aired during the second half hour of the hour-long NBC Nightly News on Tuesday night, Avila, in Chicago highlighted the concerns of one family as they watched Bush give his address: “The Grays began the evening united in their opposition to war and ended it, like much of the country, divided -- against starting the battle, but nervous about not supporting the troops.”
     Arthur Gray, quality engineer: “I feel that we do have to stand behind the President and we have to, you know, like it or not, we have to support his decision.”
     Avila: “And the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, taken last night, shows many Americans agree: 65 percent say the U.S. should take military action to remove Saddam Hussein from power and 61 percent say it should happen now. But polling experts say that support for the war is soft, they call it 'the rallying around the flag effect,' that a significant minority, 30 to 35 percent, believe the war should be stopped or delayed.”

     Avila ran a soundbite from a Northwestern University political science professor before insisting that the families of soldiers “among the conflicted” on the wiseness of the war.

     Over on the March 18 CBS Evening News, also during the second half hour of an hour-long broadcast, Bill Plante relayed similar poll numbers discovered in a CBS poll, but without undermining the findings: “In the U.S., support for the war in Iraq continues to be high. In a CBS News poll taken after the President's speech, more than two out of three American approve [69 percent to 28 percent]. And a large majority think the war will be quick and easy, but not without opposition [“quick and easy”: 57 percent, “long and costly”: 39 percent].”

     I'd put the ABC News staff in the latter camp.

CNN's Flock: Anti-War Side Says Criticizing
Them “Un-American”

     Pro-War Americans need to apologize to those against the war, CNN's Jeff Flock told anchor Aaron Brown on Tuesday night. Flock concluded a story about public opinion on the war by recommending now that war is inevitable there needs to be some “kissing and making up” between the two sides because those against the war maintain that “to criticize them is un-American.”

     Flock, in Chicago, relayed the rebuke live to Brown following a taped piece on NewsNight featuring comments from people on the street. Flock ended the taped piece: “Like it or not, most everyone agrees war is about to happen, even this Chicago woman with an 'Impeach Bush' button. We asked her what the U.S. and Iraq should do instead of fight.”
     Woman: “Kiss and make up.”
     Flock, live: “Aaron, I guess it's fair to say it's too late for that, although there may be some kissing and making up to do among Americans, particularly the ones who criticized their fellow Americans for speaking out against the war. The ones who were criticized say that, after all, is what the nation was founded on and to criticize them is un-American.”

     Brown, probably foreseeing the e-mail onslaught, tried to distance himself from Flock's characterization: “Well, uh [nervous laugh], we're in one of those times and tempers are tight.”

ABC's Gibson: France Just Being a Good Friend

     Charles Gibson came to France's defense on Tuesday's Good Morning America, as he argued to Bill O'Reilly that “friends” should try to prevent a friend from making a mistake. Employing an analogy to a pro-lifer trying to stop an abortion, Gibson suggested: “Let me say that the friend down the block is a woman, she's having an abortion and you really don't believe in that, you think it is wrong, you have a deep-seated belief that abortion is wrong. Don't you try to stop her?"

     MRC analyst Jessica Anderson caught Gibson's reasoning during the March 18 GMA interview with FNC host O'Reilly and took down the exchange:
     O'Reilly: "I mean, Cheney I can understand them not liking. Powell bent over backwards to help the French; they stabbed him in the back -- you know that, I know that, Powell knows that. I mean, why are these people even on our radar screen anymore?"
     Gibson: "Colin Powell went to the wall to get a second resolution brought in front of the Security Council -- the French wanted that, he did that for the French -- and then the French turned around and said they would oppose it, but-"
     O'Reilly: "But you're leaving one thing out."
     Gibson: "Yes?"
     O'Reilly: "He said to the French, 'I'm not gonna do this for you unless you support the resolution with force when he doesn't live up to it,' and they agreed."
     Gibson: "Alright, but Bill, Jacques Chirac says the French are our friends -- you say he's a phony. But if you have a personal friend -- let's put it in personal terms -- you have a personal friend, lives down the block from you, and you feel he is making a gigantic mistake, a gigantic mistake, don't you do everything you can to stop him?"
     O'Reilly: "I try to convince him and persuade him, but I give him the benefit of the doubt. Here's the bottom line on this for every American and everybody in the world: nobody knows for sure, alright? We don't know what he has. We think he has 8500 liters of anthrax, but let's see. But there's a doubt on both sides, and I said on my program if the Americans go in an overthrow Saddam Hussein and it's clean, he has nothing, I will apologize to the nation and I will not trust the Bush administration again, alright? But I'm giving my government the benefit of the doubt and France, after all we've done for them, owes us that, and not only that, they sent emissaries to Africa to bribe those countries, to bribe them to vote against us."
     Gibson: "Let me ratchet up this analogy about the friend down the block. Let me say that the friend down the block is a woman, she's having an abortion and you really don't believe in that, you think it is wrong, you have a deep-seated belief that abortion is wrong. Don't you try to stop her?"
     O'Reilly: "No. I don't intrude on that kind of a personal decision, and the French situation is so pernicious because, and I don't know whether people understand this or not, Jacques Chirac is actually protecting his own country at the expense of Americans, because what terrorist would attack France now? He's the biggest friend to the terrorists and the terrorist-enablers. Any terrorist attacking France would be crazy, and that puts more pressure on us, so he's sold us out every which way."
     Gibson: "Why just the French? The Russians said they would veto; the Chinese might well have vetoed; the Germans -- longtime allies -- said they opposed us; Canada, Mexico said they opposed the war."
     O'Reilly: "Okay, their, those countries did not go out of their way to undermine us, that's the difference...”

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow Question “Motives Behind” War

     Actress Gwyneth Paltrow declared, from London, on Tuesday's Good Morning America: “I question this war and the motives behind it."

     MRC analyst Jessica Anderson caught Paltrow's blast during a taped interview in London, where she is now living, to promote her latest movie. Asked by ABC's Richard Gizbert about anti-Americanism in London, Paltrow confirmed it and then espoused a view shared by those who express it:
     "It's pretty amazing how high the anti-American sentiment is in a lot of ways throughout Europe. I think people around the world seem pretty disappointed with the way that it's being handled and I think people here in England are disappointed in the fact that Tony Blair -- I mean, they call Tony Blair the Vice President. I love America and I completely stand behind America, but at the same time I am a free-thinking person and I question motives, too, and I question this war and the motives behind it."

     For a picture of Paltrow and a rundown of her movie roles, see her Internet Movie Database page: http://us.imdb.com/Name?Paltrow,+Gwyneth

     The plot for her new movie, View from the Top: “A small-town woman tries to achieve her goal of becoming a flight attendant.” See: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0264150

On Today, a Woman Declares 10-Month
Old Baby is “Anti-War”

     On Tuesday's Today Al Roker featured a ten-month-old “anti-war” baby, though he apparently did it inadvertently.

     During the 8:30am weather update, MRC analyst Geoffrey Dickens noticed, Roker, as usual, approached the crowd to exchange a few words with those outside the Today studios. Roker prompted a woman: "And we got a couple of babies out here. First of all who's this?"
     The woman, holding a baby with a “No War” sign being held up behind her, asserted: "This is Lana and she's an anti-war baby."
     Roker: "Oh how old is she?"
     Woman: "She's ten-months-old and she's against the war."
     Roker quickly moved on down the barricade to someone else: "Okay, thank you very much."

     That's quite the sophisticated baby.

     Looks like no media venue is safe, and no one is too young, to escape exploitation by anti-war zealots. -- Brent Baker