A Free Pass To Media Bias
Like Booman (who responds to me here without actually addressing my points), many in the Left blogosphere seem oblivious to the Media bias against Democratic candidates. Bob Somerby demonstrates:
. . . According to Matt and Kevin, Russert performs a stale, stupid version of gotcha journalism. But land o’ goshen, people! He does it to everyone! Matt implies that Russert goes after both parties. Following up, Kevin seems to comes right out and say it—though we’ll admit that his language is framed in such a way that he hasn’t actually said this.. . . At this point, it’s astounding when liberals go out of their way to say that Russert treats Republicans the same way he treats Democrats. If you want to know how Dems lose elections, just gaze on the way these two fine fellows refuse to fight; refuse to observe; refuse to stand up for your side.
Does Russert treat Republicans the way he treats Dems? By now, that case would be exceptionally hard to make. [More]
In Russert’s last public outing, for example, he went after Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton for two solid hours, often with factually bogus assertions. But uh-oh! We showed you how Russert behaved in January 2000, when George Bush was cast in a similar role; there is simply no comparison in the way the tough-talker acted toward Bush (see THE DAILY HOWLER, 11/2/07). But then, we once compared the way Russert behaved towards Candidates Bush and Gore on Meet the Press during Campaign 2000. And uh-oh! As it turned out, Russert lobbed silly softballs at Bush—then behaved in a stunningly egregious fashion when he got his hour with Gore (see THE DAILY HOWLER, 7/1/03). His hectoring, badgering interview of Howard Dean in 2003 was another remarkable low point (see THE DAILY HOWLER, 6/30/03). And by the way: Before Russert’s two-hour whipping of Clinton, what was the one other time he drew criticism for his work in a debate? Of course! It was back in October 2000, when he was widely and harshly criticized for his hectoring conduct toward Hillary Clinton! (Russert has never done a general election debate.) Does Russert treat the two parties the same? It’s hard to prove a claim of this type—but it’s astounding to see liberal leaders act as though they don’t even know that such a question exists. But Matt and Kevin join Paul Waldman in this see-no-evil posture. All three have criticized Russert in recent weeks—without even seeming to know that a question of partisan animus exists. These fine, well-mannered, well-raised young men seem to have their noses buried deep in those Village suburbs.
What Bob said.
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