Media gave Senate Democrats a free pass for closed session

Townhall ^ | Nov 5, 2005 | Mark Tapscott

[AliVeritas]

Closed meetings of official bodies normally are - and should be - anathema to journalists the public must depend upon to know what government officials are doing with the people’s business.

So why the free pass from the media earlier this week for Senate Democrats who banished reporters and spectators, dimmed the lights and closed the doors of the U.S. Senate?

This question is especially intriguing because Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, and his Democrat colleagues demanded the closed doors to discuss senior government officials leaking information to journalists during the run-up to the War in Iraq.

Reid and company think it’s just fine that former vice presidential chief of staff Lewis Libby is being prosecuted for talking to journalists about the Bush administration’s justification for invading Iraq. In fact, Reid and colleagues want more indictments of Bush officials who talked to journalists, especially Karl Rove.

Wait a minute, don’t reporters need people in government to tell them what’s really going on behind the closed doors of the White House, the bureaucracy and the rest of the government?

[AliVeritas]

The lack of outrage of the media on the closed session in print, yet outraged when questioned on it by Tapscott.

[cripplecreek]

It's interesting that the democrats claimed they're demanding answers for the American people. Then they invoke a rule that locks the people out and prevents anyone from talking about what was said inside.

[hflynn]

Your problem is you think the Media and Democrats are 2 separate entities.

[Loud Mime]

Reid is catering to his lunatic left, which requires him to have these psychotic episodes and claim he's the victom of some right-wing demon that subjects all of humanity to the worst evils of government.

Sadly, Reid, and his party, is that demon. His only principle is party promotion. In that effort truth is relative. In that respect, Reid is a true brother of Clinton.

[kjo]

The MSM simply has got to wake up to the fact that they need to hire a few conservatives. Why do ALL or NEARLY ALL of its reporters have to be liberals?

They are so big on diversity - they hire people with antecedents from all over the world to report US and international news - as long as their political orientation is liberal. This is diversity?

[wny]

The media give the Senate Democrats a pass on everything.

[BluH2o]

The only reason the 'Rats remain viable at all ... they have the liberal MSM firmly in their camp. They can get away with stunts like declaring a closed door session and not be roundly castigated, like the Pubbies would, by the liberal media. There are two standards ... a very lax one for the 'Rats and unflinching scrutiny of the Republicans.
How else can you explain Clinton becoming President?
Had this piece of crap, with all his skeletons, been a Republican ... he would have been vetted long before the nomination process began. Instead he got a complete pass ... and the rest is history.

[soltice]

Why should the media have courage when not even the so-called conservatives who supposedly run the senate have no cojones either? A bunch of 'rainbow girlies' in DC!