Liberal to the Last Drop: Couric's Goodbye Highlights Hardballs for GOP, Softballs for Dems
Today Show/NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein
by Mark Finkelstein May 31, 2006
You have to admire the consistency of Katie Couric and her Today show crew. In her final appearance as Today show host, we were treated to a litany of parting shots at Republicans and bouquets tossed to Democrats. In the first half-hour, the emphasis was on Katie-the-hard-nosed-reporter, asking the tough questions. But . . . surprise! the only objects of pointed inquiries were non-Democrats.
First was her famous ambush interview of Pres. George H.W. Bush when the ostensible purpose of her White House visit was a tour with Barbara Bush on the occasion of the building's 200th anniversary:
Couric to Bush: "Some Democrats say you have not leveled about your knowledge of Iran-Contra."
Next was this question/snipe for Ross Perot: "Some people are left with the impression that you're vindictive, that you're ruthless. a sore loser, and they don't feel comfortable with that."
She was seen interviewing Kofi Annan and Bill Clinton, but there were no questions, no context.
But when Bob Dole appeared, in an interview from some campaign past , Tough Katie suddenly re-appeared: "Some people think from your comments that you've made of late that you're being an apologist for the tobacco industry, that somehow they have you in their pocket."
To Dan Quayle, presumably on the eve of his VP debate with Al Gore: "Some people think Al Gore is going to eat you alive in the debate."
Note the 'some people' trope, used four times here and on countless occasions during Couric's interviewing career to put in the mouths of other, unidentified, people, what would seem to be in Couric's own heart and mind.
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Some People or a reliable but unnamed source is an old sniper tool for these ambush pseudo journalists.