Totenberg "Surprised How Very, Very Conservative [Roberts] Was"

Media Research Center ^ | August 1, 2005 | Brent H. Baker

[kennedy]

A parody of herself? NPR's Nina Totenberg, who has tagged Supreme Court nominee John Roberts as "very conservative," "very, very conservative" and "very, very, very conservative," as well as "a really conservative guy," "a hardline conservative" and "a clear conservative," to say nothing of being "a conservative Catholic," on Inside Washington over the weekend relayed that after she "spent five hours reviewing all of his documents from when he worked in the Justice Department," she "was actually quite surprised at how, how very, very conservative he was." Apparently, she didn't listen to herself.

Inside Washington is a weekend show carried Saturday nights at 7pm local time by NewsChannel 8, a Washington, DC area all-news channel owned by the ABC affiliate, and Sunday mornings at 10am, right after This Week, by that affiliate, WJLA-TV.

On the edition aired over this past weekend, Totenberg asserted: "I've known John Roberts for years. I think it's a very sensible pick in all serious ways. But I must say that when I was, spent five hours reviewing all of his documents from when he worked in the Justice Department, I was actually quite surprised at how, how very, very conservative he was. He fought with people much more senior than he was, who we would all consider very conservative like Ted Olson and Rex Lee, who was Solicitor General. They weren't conservative enough for him. And even William Bradford Reynolds, the head of the civil rights division, on a couple of occasions, there was Roberts saying to the Attorney General you shouldn't authorize this employment discrimination lawsuit, Reynolds is wrong about it."

Previous CyberAlert items on Totenberg's labeling of Roberts, both with pictures of her:

# July 21 CyberAlert: There's no doubt in NPR reporter Nina Totenberg's mind that Judge John Roberts is "very conservative," it's just a matter of how "very." On NPR's All Things Considered on Tuesday night, she prefaced "conservative" with three verys, describing him as "a very, very, very conservative man." But in a taped soundbite on the next day's Good Morning America on ABC, she cut back to two modifiers, dubbing him merely "a very, very conservative man." For the quotes in full: www.mrc.org

# July 25 CyberAlert: NPR's Nina Totenberg, who last week tagged Supreme Court nominee John Roberts as "very, very conservative" and "very, very, very conservative," on Inside Washington over the weekend described him as merely "very conservative." But she couldn't resist adding a modifier every time she applied the conservative label, also dubbing him "a really conservative guy," "a hardline conservative" and "a clear conservative." Plus, she emphasized how he's "a conservative Catholic." See: www.mrc.org

[Sgt_Schultze]

I think everybody has missed Nina's obvious lie...

"I've known John Roberts for years. I think it's a very sensible pick in all serious ways. But I must say that when I was, spent five hours reviewing all of his documents from when he worked in the Justice Department, I was actually quite surprised at how, how very, very conservative he was...

It has been widely reported that the Bush administration released some 75,000 pages of documents. Calculating Nina's rate of review allows her some 15,000 documents per hour - or 250 documents per minute - or 4 documents per second!

Nina is a whiz kid - she has such an unbelievable ability to read, analyze and criticize official documents.

[Lazamataz]

You know, I'm not concerned if John Bolton is He's very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very conservative.

But suppose he's very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very conservative?

[kennedy]

So if Nina Totenberg and Ann Coulter were to accidently bump into each other would be have a matter/anti-matter event?

Nina Totenberg

Ann Coulter

Yet another reason why it is better to be a conservative than a liberal.

[palmer]

Totenberg herself was never investigated for recieving and disseminating classified material.

must be some sort of double standard.

[coloradan]

That's a excellent question, but unfortunately it's too long to print. The finer shades of truth unfortunately can't be explored in the opinion section of the newspaper.

[kennedy]

That's not how I read the opinion. I think he simply understands the distinction between "wrong" and "unconstitutional." That is a distinction that too many Supreme Court Justices seem unable or unwilling to make.

[TC Rider]

I figured Nina would be out trolling for old girl friends, female co-workers, etc of Roberts.

[kennedy]

Ahh, but you forget. Liberals don't have to actually read documents. They can divine their meaning merely from from the emanations of their penumbra.

[kennedy]

Ahh, but you forget. Liberals don't have to actually read documents. They can divine their meaning merely from the emanations of their penumbra.

[Atlas Sneezed]

I will never forget Nina's dishonest description of the Clinton videotaped testimony. The issue was whether Clinton heard this lawyers claim "no way, shape or form of sexual activity", and let the lie stand.

The tape showed Clinton's head and shoulders, and eyes open simply looking slightly downward, with no visible activity or reaction.

Nina told her radio listeners that the tape showed him "looking distracted" during his lawyers incorrect assertions (quote from my recall.)

[tom paine 2]

Nina Totenberg is very, very, very disturbed

[avital2]

couldn't agree more about the whole Hill/Thomas travesty. i really felt it was a lynching and it was my first view of how absolutely unethical the Left could be. altho' i remembered the Borking and felt it was unfair, i felt that the Hill charge was ridiculous and since it was leaked and Thomas was smeared before he had much of a chance to respond, it made me furious. i haven't calmed down since. as a "reasonable" feminist in the business world i must say i found her story totally unbelievable. i also moved squarely into the "convservative" column after that debacle.

[Ann Archy]

OMG! He's CATHOLIC???? Get a rope!!! How will we survive with one more Catholic on the SC more than the Jewish contingency! Oh NINA dear, It's getting on my last nerve to hear Jewish people dissing Catholics and Christians.

[George W. Bush]

Actually, given Nina's ringleader role in the Anita Hill affair trying to keep Thomas off the Court, maybe Nina is signalling her future intentions. She's probably searching Capitol Hill for Coke cans and pubic hairs, recalling the Dim escapades at the time.

[My2Cents]

"..really, really, really, really, like, really conservative..."

[inquest]

Like I said, the only thing he felt was wrong (as opposed to unconstitutional) was the particular exercise of the power in question. He didn't necessarily think it was wrong (I mean in his personal opinion) for the police to have that power in the first place.

[Doc Savage]

NPR's two listeners must be very interested!

[Doc Savage]

Nice hairdo Nina! Every girl in my high school yearbook had a similar one,......................IN 1959 you bimbo!

[hershey]

"Conservative" is now an official, Liberal four letter word.

[SauronOfMordor]

I consider Rush Limbaugh a moderate.