Posted on 06/28/2004 1:12:10 PM PDT by ConservativeMajority
My liberal colleagues in the press don’t even bother to hide their bias any longer. The Old Media has coalesced with the left-wing 527s like MoveOn.org, the Media Fund and Americans Coming Together to form a political force allied with the Democratic National Committee. At a book party last Wednesday celebrating yet another Bush-bashing screed, the Hard Left was in full throat – and cheered by members of the supposedly impartial media.
The author being feted suggested that it was his book that may have contributed to the President’s slide in the polls, particularly one that measured credibility. But what that poll showed was more a result of a coordinated attack on Bush, begun earlier in the year with Time Magazine’s cover story that proclaimed Bush has a “credibility gap.” Democrats and the rest of the Old Media adopted the phrase as a mantra – pounding home the Left’s message of “Bush lied.”
But the Old Media has its own credibility problem. Vice President Dick Cheney took on The New York Times recently when it asserted the 9/11 Commission said that there were no ties between Iraq and al Qaeda, calling its coverage “outrageous” and “irresponsible.” Caught in its own lie, the Old Grey Lady scrambled to parse its misleading headline. It’s been in full retreat ever since, even publishing an article about some evidence of the very tie it denied existed. Lost in all of this was every Clinton administration statement of the links between Iraq and al Qaeda, most notably the one contained in the 1998 indictment against Osama bin Laden that declared Iraq provided assistance to the terror mastermind in developing poisonous VX gas.
There is rising awareness among Americans that news reporting is being colored by political bias. A recent Pew Research Center poll showed that the credibility of the Old Media has declined since 2000. Even journalists themselves have confessed their own political proclivities. A recent survey of journalists showed that 34 percent call themselves liberal and 59 percent moderates, with liberal positions on issues. Only 7 percent of journalists identified themselves as conservatives.
My foray into the belly of the beast last week went largely unnoticed, except for one of my fellow White House reporters who said I was “brave.” But I don’t fear my liberal colleagues – they fear me. More than once, the herd has been stopped in its tracks when I shifted the focus of the questioning in the Brady briefing room. An agenda can only be successful when everyone is on the same page. For some reason, I don’t get copied on the talking points.
One of the most interesting things I heard at the book party was some buyer’s remorse about the Democratic nominee. Noting that the President and his challenger were virtually even in the polls despite waves of negative news coverage, one woman rued, “We finally got Bush on the ropes, but Kerry is such a disappointment.”
Few of the celebrity hosts for the event showed up, skipping the party to attend the gala premiere of Michael Moore’s film later that evening. Both a Newsweek columnist and a CNN talk show host blew off the affair so they could walk the red carpet at the Uptown Theater. But an Old Media icon from NPR was there along with many of the second, third and fourth-tier “journalists.”
The press and politicos rallied at the special screening of “Fahrenheit 911.” Sen. Bob Graham noted how many of his party were in attendance saying, "There might be half of the Democratic Senate here."
DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe said, "I think anyone who sees this movie will come out en masse to make sure John Kerry is elected president this November."
Moore said, "It's my personal aim that Bush is removed from the White House.''
Despite their shared goals, somehow the Federal Election Commission doesn’t consider it in conflict with the “coordination” prohibition in the McCain-Feingold campaign law. But it is indisputable that the film is political propaganda in its classic form. Leni Riefenstahl would blush at Moore’s imitation of her work.
Clearly the Left is emboldened by its own “inside the beltway” wishful thinking. And their eager Old Media partners think they don’t have to pretend any more. I half expect them to unfurl their own “Mission Accomplished” banner out the window at the National Press Club.
Michael Moores is already en masse.
"Moore said, "It's my personal aim that Bush is removed from the White House.''
President Bush will leave the White House in January of 2009, and he doesn't need fatassed Moore's help.
ABC has been spinning the surprise news from Baghdad like you wouldn't believe. Right from the DNC, it seems.
Exactly how many liberal-democrats are there in an "en masse"?
Must read ping.
Imagine that!
Winning this November is going to be twice as sweet because of the pain and agony that the Leftist-Marxist wing of the media (that's most of them by the way) will be feeling. Make that three times as sweet.
I confess that I'm looking forward to watching the long faces of the moveon.org crowd when they lose. But remember: even if it's a landslide, they'll start on on November third with the protests and lawsuits. There can be literally no Bush win so definitive that the Left won't spend the next four years doing what they did with Florida. Count on it.
Woo-hoo! Ya gotta love it. The Old media meets Old Europe and are both declared....(you guessed it)...losers!!!
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