Clench-Jawed Katie Uses 9/11 Widow to Bash Bush TV Ads

There are mornings like this one when you don't have to wait for Katie Couric to open her mouth to know that she's on the warpath. In her just-completed segment, it was enough to see Couric's grim, clench-jawed, tight-eyed, black-garbed look to know that Bush presidential adviser Karen Hughes was going to be in for a bumpy ride.

Couric did let Hughes get in one statement before going on the attack. After Katie's clenched-jawed greeting, Hughes did manage to say: "these ads say a lot about the American people and the shared experiences we've had over the last three years. Sometimes when you're living history it's hard to realize it. The President has great confidence in the American people, a stark contrast with the negative tone of the Democrats."

But then Katie went on the offensive, immediately grabbing her nuclear weapon from the liberal arsenal.

Couric: "There are a number of images of Ground Zero in these ads. A 9/11 widow has said she is offended. She said that 'with 3,000 people killed on the President's watch it takes an awful lot of audacity to use these images. It is in bad taste.'"

Hughes was not intimidated. She politely but firmly took issue, stressing that it was important to remind the American people of what they have been through.

But Katie came back to the charge: "at the same time is it appropriate to use those images for campaign purposes?" she asked, grim-faced.

Remember that when John Kerry starts running ads highlighting his service in Vietnam, where 58,000 US soliders and millions of civilians died. Will Katie be questioning Kerry's decency and good taste in "exploiting" those images?

Next, Katie tried a pre-emptive strike on any possible negative advertising against Kerry.

Q. "Will there be another series specifically targeting John Kerry and when will they run?"

Hughes: "Fairly soon we'll begin talking about Kerry and his record. He has voted against defense systems we're using to win war against terrorism and against intelligence."

Of course we all remember the tough questioning that Katie gave to the various Dem candidates over the course of the primaries for the endless commercials they ran bashing President Bush. Or maybe not.

Katie: "Iraq is never mentioned in the ads. Why is that? Are his campaign advisers afraid he might be vulnerable on that issue?"

Hughes: "We've just begun. I've just come back from Afghanistan where people are grateful that we've rid the country of an oppressive dictatorship and I'm sure the people of Iraq feel the same way."

Katie: "Exit polls among Ohio voters show that by far the most important issue is the economy, with few mentioning Iraq. Since by 'conservative estimates' more than two milion jobs have been lost how do you feel the President can convince the people the economy is strong and getting stronger if it is still on the forefront of people's minds?"

Of course Katie didn't mention that the people polled in Ohio were Dem primary voters, a very partisan, Bush-hating, liberal demographic.

Hughes had an excellent response, one we can expect to be hearing much more of: "Not only have we recently had the strongest growth in the last 20 years, but unemployment, while it will always be a concern for the President, is lower than the average rate in the 70s, 80s, 90s and first Clinton first term. Continuing the President's policies of low taxes, less government regulation and intrusion will work."

You know, with all due respect, I am amazed that anyone (who's a conservative) wastes their time watching those vapid morning programs.

1. Does anyone here think tha we can ever change the Today Show for the better?

2. If all conservatives stopped watching the show, then would it really change the minds of those who want to watch the show anyway?

3. There will never BE equal time on the Today show, so what good does it do to complain about it? The people who like it will continue to like it, and never see its biased side.

Besides, all that said does anyone really think those that like the show are all that intelligent anyway? I seriously doubt those that wake up with their morning coffee and half a grapefruit, before piling the kids into the minivan and kissing hubby (or wifey) before they go to work can ever really be shown how utterly MORONIC the ABCNBCCBS morning "news" shows really are.

You have to remember, most of the country doesn't like to think too much, especially in the morning.

with all due respect, I am amazed that anyone (who's a conservative) wastes their time watching those vapid morning programs.

My posts on liberal bias at The Today Show often provoke responses along the line of yours. I understand and sympathize with the sentiment you express.

All I can say is that I watch out of a combination of masochism, the fact that Today continues to get the top guests, and the belief that it's worthwhile to keep track of what the liberal media are up to. I'm sure you're familiar, for example, with Brent Bozell and his Media Research Center which dedicate themselves full-time to the same task.

I find it refreshing that the Bush team will not allow the Democrats and the media to set the ground rules of the campaign and hopefully the same tactic will be used when they try to set the terms of the debate.

I live in Sac as well, so I know the frustration of breaking through the haze of bias at the Bee. My thinking, however, is that SOMEONE at the paper needs to read a submitted letter before it's rejected, so at least one can reach that single person.

Regarding the typos, I'm the greatest of sinners, so you'll get no complaints from me.

REMEMBER 911!

That photo of Kerry with a campaign button that says, " Remember 910 is perfect". The White House needs to show American the cowardliness of the Democratic Party. The GOP should wear as a badge of honor that it remembers 911 instead of trying to sweep it under the rug like the donkeyrats.

The reason the donkeyrats want to forget 911 is that when the WTC was attacked by Islamist Terrorist in 1993, Democrats responded with a couple of indictments. This presented a victory to our enemies and encouraged them to increase their attacks. In 2001, when the WTC was again attacked, REPUBLICANS responded by kicking the Islamists out of a land locked terrorist controlled Afghanistan and invading Dictator controlled Iraq.

If the response after 1993 had been that of the Republicans in 2001, would 2001 have ever occurred?

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