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To: gov_bean_ counter
I hear you. I guess what I'm trying to say is not that the Dems are framing the debate, they often are, but that the DBM carries their water in that regard. The questions the DBM ask Republicans are the very same questions or themes the Dems themselves always bring up. I think the typical mindset of a liberal and journalist are basically the same. Republicans do need to quickly answer. My only concern is that if they do, do we even hear about it? Does the DBM cover President Bush's statements with the same breathless regard and belief they showed Clinton's, during his presidency, for example?

Clinton's statements were simply reported. Pres Bush's are usually analyzed, dissected, and then we get to hear the democratic response to show balance.
461 posted on 08/20/2006 12:48:08 PM PDT by Alas Babylon!
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To: Alas Babylon!

Here is a little example of an "interviewer" with a Republican guest, today's Gregory and McCain:


MR. GREGORY: Are you concerned that you’re effectively too close to the Bush policy on Iraq?

SEN. McCAIN: No. I’ve got to do what’s right for the country. And this is—this is really one of the most preeminent national security challenges we’ve faced in the post-Cold War era. We all know that. I’ve got to do what’s right.

MR. GREGORY: Let me show you something that you said about public support for the war back last year in November. Put it on our screen. “If we can’t retain the support of the American people, we will have lost this war as soundly as if our forces were defeated on the battlefield.” As you well know, public opinion has turned sharply against the war. Sixty percent, according to recent polls, say the war in Iraq has not been worth it. Has this government lost the people?

SEN. McCAIN: I don’t think so, in this respect. Most of the Americans, when you’re asked, “Do you want to set a date for withdrawal,” say no. Of course they’re frustrated. All of us are frustrated. I’ve expressed my frustrations to you this morning. But they are not ready to face the consequences of failure by setting a date certain for withdrawal, and I believe that, that they are largely, although frustrated, recognize the consequences of failure.

MR. GREGORY: There has certainly been a growing body of public opinion as well as conservative opinion in the media that has turned against the president in this war. This is what the editor of the conservative National Review wrote, comparing the war in Iraq to Vietnam—we’ll put it on our screen—from this week. “In Iraq, as in Vietnam, we face a vicious insurgency that has worn down the will of the American public. In Iraq, as in Vietnam, we have failed to cut off the enemy from re-supply. In Iraq, as in Vietnam, we have had ever-shifting military strategies. In Iraq, as in Vietnam, we have had trouble building effective, clean governmental institutions in the soil of an alien culture. Most importantly, in Iraq, as in Vietnam, we face the prospect of defeat.” You were in Vietnam. Is this Vietnam?

SEN. McCAIN: I don’t think so. In Vietnam there was a government that never had support of the people. It was a sort of a revolving door. There were massive re-supplies coming in from Russia and China. They had very—other significant differences.

I believe that this government still probably has—this freely-elected government probably still has the support of most of the people in Iraq. And there are areas of Iraq that are well under government control. But it’s—I—we risk failure in Iraq, but I don’t believe that we have reached nearly that point yet. I think we can still salvage it.



&&&&&

Each of McCain's answers starts with a denial of Gregory's assertion. I wonder how often that happens with a Dem guest. /rhetorical question


475 posted on 08/20/2006 1:17:17 PM PDT by maica (9/11 was not “the day everything changed”, but the day that revealed how much had already changed.)
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To: Alas Babylon!
Absolutely and that's why they shall become irrelevant before long.
476 posted on 08/20/2006 1:17:47 PM PDT by rodguy911 (Support The New media, Ticket the Drive-bys, --America-The land of the Free because of the Brave-)
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