Posted on 07/09/2006 10:18:50 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
by Mark Finkelstein
July 9, 2006
That didn't take long! Just yesterday I suggested readers keep in mind the MSM's bashing of Pres. Bush on his birthday the next time a liberal accused conservatives of being 'mean-spirited.' Groucho fans will know what I mean when I say: bring down the duck! On last evening's Journal Editorial Report , liberal newsie Marvin Kalb said the magic 'm-s' word in condemning the Wall Street Journal for its criticism of the New York Times.
The Journal had run an editorial, Fit and Unfit to Print [subscription required] that both explained why it had run a story on the anti-terror financial tracking program, and criticized the New York Times for doing so. For the record, the editorial explained that in contrast with the Times article, the Journal only published declassified information that had been provided them by the Treasury Department.
That's when Kalb qualified for Groucho's $50 prize, saying:
"I think the editorial you ran was dead wrong. I think you declared war on another American newspaper without cause. It is mean-spirited."
For the record, here's an excerpt from the Journal editorial. You be the judge as to how mean-spirited - or right on target - it was:
"How important are the national security concerns? And how do those concerns balance against the public's right to know?
"The problem with the Times is that millions of Americans no longer believe that its editors would make those calculations in anything close to good faith. We certainly don't. On issue after issue, it has become clear that the Times believes the U.S. is not really at war, and in any case the Bush Administration lacks the legitimacy to wage it.
"So, for example, it promulgates a double standard on 'leaks,' deploring them in the case of Valerie Plame and demanding a special counsel when the leaker was presumably someone in the White House and the journalist a conservative columnist. But then it hails as heroic and public-spirited the leak to the Times itself that revealed the National Security Agency's al Qaeda wiretaps."
Sounds about right to me.
http://newsbusters.org/node/6321
FNC-Journal Editorial Report/NewsBusters bring-down-the-duck ping to Today show list.
Heaven forbid Kalb's favorite, American commie-rag being accused of seditious behavior. Hey Marvin... don't sweat the small stuff... you still got Pravda!
Sounds about right to me too and I do know what "bring-down-the-duck meant.
Laugh out loud funny and a great analogy.
The magic word is TRAITOR!
Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters
Marvin Kalb... Marvin Kalb... I think I've heard that name before... Didn't he used to be somebody one time on the small screen?
Groucho:Well, George, what's the secret word?
George Fenneman:Groucho, the secret word is "mean-spirited." Should a contestant say the secret word, the duck will drop down and the contestant will win an extra jackpot!
Isn't it amazing how when the press criticizes (abuses) everybody else, it is a "high and noble calling."
But when anybody else criticizes the press, it is the "vilest, mean-spirited dastardly deed."
Not too long ago, we used to actually take these people seriously when they pronounced themselves "the voice of the next God," and living legends.
How the mighty have fallen, and been revealed.
You bet your life.
(Yeah, I saw most of them in reruns in the '60s and '70s.)
Nicely done!
Now, for a special bonus, can anyone recall Groucho's famous reply when a contestant explained that he had nine children because he loved his wife?
He said "I love my cigar, but I take it out of my mouth once in awhile."
Having grown up watching Kalb and others of his ilk on TV who held themselves out at serious, professional journalists, I now know I was being betrayed by them at the same time I was watching them. They were and continue to be a vulgar lot.
LOL...it would be great to have a duck come down with the m.s. phrase whenever one of the lib liars spout it on TV. The prize could be a block of cheese to go with their whine.
You beat me to it.
A classic.
Outrageous. Made me laugh hysterically while typing it in.
The things they got past the censors!
DING! DING! DING! DING!
We have a winner!
They ought to strip these people naked and lock them all in a room together, and let them throw up on each other -- as their just desserts.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.