Falling Down

NRO ^ | 3/20/04 | Robert Moran

[swilhelm73]

It was September 19, 1996. I woke early, hurriedly dressed for a long day at the office during campaign season, walked out the front door of our townhouse, opened the Washington Post and beheld a vast, above-the-fold, picture of Bob Dole falling off a stage at a campaign rally in a Little League field in Chico, California. It was so patently wrong, so unfair, so mean-spirited, so petty that anger, pity and sadness all fought inside me for equal time. I was not alone.

Washington Post executive Leonard Downie Jr. received more than 150 irate calls that day. His response at the time was that if Bill Clinton had fallen off a stage somewhere, there was "no doubt" the Post would have run the picture.

Chris Matthews was, inexplicably, as irate as any of the 150 callers to the Washington Post. "What's the point of that picture? I ask any editor at the Post, why'd you put that picture in the paper on the front page?", he asked on air.

And the Washington Post was not alone in running with a picture of Dole's fall. Other newspapers printing the picture were:

New York Times B-10 L.A. Times A-2 New York Daily News Page 2 Long Island Newsday Page 7 San Francisco Chronicle A-3 Houston Chronicle A-8 Miami Herald Section A Rocky Mountain News A-2 Boston Herald Page 2.

Fast forward to this campaign season.

It is now March 20, 2004. It is one day after John F. Kerry had a spill on the ski slopes and cussed out one of the secret-service agents duty-bound to protect him.

I woke early, walked out the front door of our home, opened the Washington Post and was greeted with a full color, above-the-fold, picture of children injured in the fighting against terrorists in Pakistan. But, I was not greeted with a picture of a falling John Kerry. I was greeted by a ridiculous non-story about a Bush-Cheney 2004 sweatshirt made in Burma. But, I was not greeted with a picture of a falling John Kerry. I was greeted by a full color "gallery of soldiers who died in Iraq" on pages A14-15. But, there was no picture of Kerry's spill.

In 1996, the Los Angeles Times wrote that Dole's fall was a "visual metaphor for a presidential bid that has stumbled." Given Kerry's week, couldn't the same thing be said of Kerry's campaign?

Let me be blunt. If the Washington Post thinks it is newsworthy to run a picture of a conservative falling off a stage at a campaign rally, why wouldn't it run a picture of a liberal falling down and cursing a security agent there to protect him?

[T'wit]

I would be the one to fall over if the Washington POST ever offered fair, factual, unbiased reports.

[annyokie]

Can you imagine the fallout if Dubya said "That SOB knocked me down!"?

[Wild Irish Rogue]

" "That SOB knocked me down!"?

I don't believe that Kerry just said SOB. I think it was "F'ing " SOB. The only eyewitnesses were a camera crew, the media, Kerry and the SS. I doubt the SS leaked what was said.
I think the media cleaned up Kerry's language as best they could, trying to make the expletitive seem less than it was.
Kerry has a teeny fuse like Clinton and while Kerry may only be capable of a gray faced rage, I'd bet money, especially given Kerry's verbal history, that the F word was in there, at a minimum.

[annyokie]

I kind of figured it was "that f***ing assh*le knocked me down!"

But, hey, maybe that's just me.

[K1avg]

The day the press becomes unbiased is the day the Democratic Party ceases to exist, and the day liberal ideology is abandoned wholesale...

[Doe Eyes]

Would someone please post the picture the Liberal Press refuses to run. I would like to see it.

[expatpat]

Expecting fairness and objectivity from the Compost is usually called "pi55ing into the wind". It is, after all, the house organ of the Demorat Party.

[binger]

Question: How does a man go skiing, fall down, cuss someone then go down the slopes, fall down several more times without getting his hair messed up??

[broken_clock]

Because it's not really hair. It's actually a wiry confederation of foriegn endorsements that have tapped deeply into his mind.

That or a hell of a lot of hair spray...

[K1avg]

Actually, if you look at it closely, it appears to be a toupee, permanently attached, probably donkey hair.

[Not now, Not ever!]

You mean like major league clymer?

[annyokie]

Big time. ; )

[WFTR]

Did he learn to blame others for his mistakes while commanding a Swift boat in Vietnam? John Kerry certainly doesn't show any great leadership potential here.

Ready for a Repeat
Bill

[lainde]

bttt

[CyberAnt]

An ABC camera crew - the same people who are hiding the video of the "intern" interview.

[Wild Irish Rogue]

Perhaps I've been away from my computer too much this week. Did Kerry's jockstrap buying adventure, with his daughter and the media in tow-get much coverage ??
Did anyone in talk radio mention it?
There was a thread on FR,but,it only got 63 hits.
I found the article in the Palm Beach Post via the LAT, Saturday March 13- " Kerry's 'day off' with daughter replete with Secret Service. "
Howard Kurtz also mentioned it way down in his column,March 19 in the WP, but,just barely.
This sicko takes a 7 car motorcade-2 police cars, 3 SUVs loaded with SS agents, 2 minivans of reporters and his 27 year old daughter to buy a jockstrap and it's not front page news in every paper ?
This has to be the creepiest thing since Clinton bought Chelsea a thong.
Kerry is one sick dude.

[CzarNicky]

was the jockstrap for him or his daughter?

[NYCVirago]

Let me be blunt. If the Washington Post thinks it is newsworthy to run a picture of a conservative falling off a stage at a campaign rally, why wouldn't it run a picture of a liberal falling down and cursing a security agent there to protect him?

Not to mention that Kerry fell down at least six times the following day, and they didn't run pix of that either. And no major media outlet besides the New York Times has even mentioned Kerry cursing at a Secret Service agent, and his claim, "I don't fall down." No bias there, right?

[Brimack34]

When it comes down to debates between Pres. Bush and John F-ing Kerry. How soon before he pulls a Dean. And how many times will the FCC fine him??