Bush & the L-Word

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2004/032904.html

Consortium News, 3/29/04

Over the past four years, one of the most powerful U.S. media taboos has been against calling George W. Bush’s pattern of false statements lies. Among Washington journalists, the l-word is casually applied to people who have gotten in the way of the Bush Dynasty – from Bill Clinton and Al Gore to more recently John Kerry and now Richard Clarke – but almost never to Bush

Sen. Kerry’s credibility took a thrashing when he remarked that many world leaders say they hope Bush will be defeated. Now, top Republicans are calling former counter-terrorism czar Clarke a liar for his comments about Bush’s handling of the war on terror. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist used the l-word repeatedly in attacking Clarke from the Senate floor, even suggesting that Clarke should be charged with perjury.

In these cases, the major newspapers and the TV networks have added to the impact by giving credence to the liar-liar charges. When Clarke appeared for a full hour on NBC's "Meet the Press" on March 28, host Tim Russert spent nearly the entire time buffeting Clarke with the Republican attacks, demanding responses to each charge, even flashing on the screen a "liar" accusation from conservative pundit Charles Krauthammer. But opposite rules apply to Bush. Calling him a liar remains out of bounds in the mainstream press.

Indeed, when Kerry made another off-hand remark about the Bush team as “the most crooked, you know, lying group I've ever seen,” his comments were reported as a bizarre slander and the media puzzled over why Kerry would say such a ridiculous thing, even acting as if Kerry was talking about all Republicans, not just Bush's inner circle.

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makes you wanna puke, doesn't? the notion that the media doesn't prop up this misadmin at every turn.

:puke:

getting (Al) Gored! Just like in the 2000 election the media would pick up on a Bush attack against Gore claiming he was a loar. The media would run with it without ever checking the facts and then never call Bush out on his honesty. Bush knows he can get away with alot. He knows he can pretty much lie at free will and when a politician has this authority from the media, the sky is the limit. The so-called "liberal" media will never call Bush a liar. They would kill their first born before they would do that. It just will not happen.

It was disgusting to watch yesterday Meet the Media Whores....ummmm..I mean Meet the Press. Russert put Clarke on the defensive the entire show by simply using republican spin as if it was fact. When he had on Bush and Gulianni things were very different. NO INTERRUPTIONS AND A LOVE FEST!

"Central to Bush's success in his new war against his ex-assistants will be whether the major news media will continue its obsequious behaviour. Bush's strategy can only work if he and his surrogates are allowed to throw around the l-word without fear that it might finally be tossed back at them."

We are as ill-served by Corporate Pravda as the Russian Citizenry was ill-served by the Original Pravda.

Amerika simply cannot remain free without a Free Press.