Posted on 03/12/2008 5:30:50 AM PDT by Brilliant
The fall of ...Spitzer holds many lessons, and the press will surely be examining them in coming months. But don't expect the press corps to delve into the biggest lesson of all--its own role as his enabler.
Journalists have spent the past two days asking how a man of Mr. Spitzer's stature would allow himself to get involved in a prostitution ring. The answer...is clear. The former New York attorney general never believed normal rules applied to him, and his view was validated time and again by an adoring press. "You play hard, you play rough, and hopefully you don't get caught," said Mr. Spitzer... He never did get caught, because most reporters were his accomplices.
Journalism has many functions, but perhaps the most important is keeping tabs on public officials. That duty is even more vital concerning government positions that are subject to few other checks and balances. Chief among those is the prosecutor, who can use his awesome state power to punish, even destroy, private citizens.
Yet from the start, the press corps acted as an adjunct of Spitzer power, rather than a skeptic of it. Many journalists get into this business because they want to see wrongs righted. Mr. Spitzer portrayed himself as the moral avenger. He was the slayer of the big guy, the fat cat, the Wall Street titan -- all allegedly on behalf of the little guy. The press ate it up, and came back for more.
Time magazine bestowed upon Mr. Spitzer the title "Crusader of the Year," and likened him to Moses. Fortune dubbed him the "Enforcer." A fawning article in the Atlantic Monthly in 2004 explained he was "a rock star," and "the Democratic Party's future..." Washington Post reporter Brooke Masters compared the attorney general to ...Teddy Roosevelt...
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Hopefully so.
You might actually say "past, present, and future..."
And the very same media frauds are now telling us what a wonderful person Lt. Governor Patterson is.
Patterson, the putative next Governor, is a raving ultra-lefist lunatic.
I knew he was power-mad and unscrupulous, but I had no idea just how much so....
Maybe a Republican can regain the office in 2010....
Good point. Even this week the enabling media are not using the words “democrat” and “Spitzer” anywhere in the same articles.
NBC, ABC, etc also avoid the word “democrat” during their coverage of Spitzer. Media Research and newsbusters.org have the details.
www.mrc.org
For Second Night, ABC and NBC Refuse
to Utter Spitzer’s Party ID
Just as occurred Monday night, viewers of Tuesday’s ABC and NBC evening newscasts never heard the word “Democrat” applied to New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, nor did they even put a “(D)” on screen by his name as ABC did briefly Monday. CBS didn’t announce his party either on Tuesday night, but Katie Couric had done so Monday night. The ABC and NBC newscasts, however, did put “(R)” on screen over soundbites from Republicans and NBC’s Mike Taibbi twice referred to the reaction from “Republican” politicians.
******
Today Spends 4 Hours Ignoring the ‘D’
Next to Spitzer’s Name
With four hours of air time to fill, NBC’s Today show devoted a whopping 11 segments on Tuesday to the Eliot Spitzer scandal but not once did any of the show’s anchors, reporters, guests, talking heads or even on-screen graphics mention the fact that Spitzer is a Democrat.
*****
CBS’s Early Show Makes No Mention of
Spitzer Being a Democrat
Good!! It's what New Yorkers deserve!!!
We've heard this before, of course.
In addition, I'm still hearing the media say that a federal investigation of a prostitution ring led them to Spitzer. This is wrong. Spitzer was transferring money is questionable ways. Possibly he was stealing the money from the state. His transfers tripped some circuits, the banks tipped the IRS, the IRS followed his money, and they found that he was paying prostitutes.
It shouldn't be about the sex. It should be about the money.
I was watching a local cable news program the other night (NY1 on Time Warner). The commentator asked one of the three reporters whether anyone knew if Spitzer had a habit of frequenting prostitutes. All three said no, but one smirked while doing so. He knew and kept quiet about it. If Spitzer had a (R) after his name, they would have been shouting it out from the rooftops.
Spoken like a fine, honest, upstanding, arrow-straight citizen...
Oh, he was practically guaranteed to become president when his turn came up.
Spitzer took notice of all the crimes the Clintons did that escaped media scrutiny, and figured that he could emulate them, albeit on a somewhat smaller scale (as far as we know). No question the MSM has a double standard in the leeway it generally gives ‘Rat politicians as opposed to Republicans.
Interesting that the Dems have this list of people who would make great Presidents:
Gray Davis
Jennifer Granholm (let’s change the Constitution so she can run)
Eliot Spitzer
Who’s next? I guess they need another spectacularly incompetent crook to fill Spitzer’s shoes.
String the bastard up and run him out of town. Hopefully on a rail straight to Attica.
The press has always given the DemonRats an exemption... from JFK, RFK, Ready Teddy (also K), Barney Frank and especially Trickie Willie (and his willie)... who would have cleary been dumped had the partisan press not come to his rescue!
This will not change... as many(Carville, et. al.) have already dusted off the “only about sex” mantra!
The beauty of this is with FR and other web based “heroes” the truth is out there if ya want it... thats, if ya want it!
Ms. Strassel and all the people with negative columns about Spitzer had better be careful. They could end up in prison if he manages to survive as governor.
The man clearly is dangerous, and uses his office to threaten people and deny them their rights. Then we have to hear the nuts of the left say Bush has killed democracy in America.
The corporation bashers here (Spitzer’s allies) need to read this.
LOL, Don’t forget Walter Mondale and John “Who cares what I did 35 years ago?” F’n Kerry.
Exactly what I said on a related thread. The whole attempt to demonize his wife and ignore the fact that he knowingly committed multiple felonies SHOULD be setting off flashing lights and alarm bells in our heads.
Its one of the best illustrations I've ever seen of how dangerous and downright stupid our mainstream press has become. Everyone now is acting all shocked, shocked I tell you, as the papers finally begin to report what was known all along -- Eliot has always been a crook.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.