Is It Extremist To Expect Actual Reporting of Facts?

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Media
Posted on Fri Jun 08, 2007 at 09:30:00 AM EST
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Paul Krugman writes:

In Tuesday’s Republican presidential debate, Mitt Romney completely misrepresented how we ended up in Iraq. Later, Mike Huckabee mistakenly claimed that it was Ronald Reagan’s birthday. Guess which remark The Washington Post identified as the “gaffe of the night”? Folks, this is serious. If early campaign reporting is any guide, the bad media habits that helped install the worst president ever in the White House haven’t changed a bit.
. . . Asked whether we should have invaded Iraq, Mr. Romney said that war could only have been avoided if Saddam “had opened up his country to I.A.E.A. inspectors, and they’d come in and they’d found that there were no weapons of mass destruction.” He dismissed this as an “unreasonable hypothetical.” Except that Saddam did, in fact, allow inspectors in. Remember Hans Blix? . . .Mr. Romney’s remark should have been the central story in news reports about Tuesday’s debate. But it wasn’t.

I disagree with Krugman in this respect. Rudy Giuliani's false remarks about Iran should have been the central story:

Iran is a threat, a nuclear threat, not just because they can deliver a nuclear warhead with missiles. They’re a nuclear threat because they are the biggest state sponsor of terrorism and they can hand nuclear materials to terrorists. And we saw just last week in New York an attempt by Islamic terrorists to attack JFK Airport; three weeks ago, an attempt to attack Fort Dix.

The following are all lies by Rudy Giuliani:

(1) Iran is not a nuclear threat, though they MAy become one.

(2) Iran can NOT deliver a nuclear warhead with missiles as they have neither the nuclear warheads nor the missiles that could deliver them.

(3) Iran cannot hand weapons grade nuclear materials to terrorists as it does not have weapons grade nuclear materials.

(4) The Fort Dix terroists were home grown and had no ties to Iran.
I looked at the coverage of yesterday's debate and I saw none of this mentioned. And it is scary. For Rudy's logic requires the conclusion that Iran must be invaded. Frankly, if Rudy believes what he said, he should be urging President Bush to attack Iran immediately.

But Krugman's central point is dead on. Joe Klein, does that make us extremists? Does demanding journalists do their job make us extremists?

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Is It Extremist To Expect Actual Reporting of Facts? | 15 comments (15 topical)

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It's even worse than you say (5.00 / 3) (#4)
by janinsanfran on Fri Jun 08, 2007 at 09:35:09 AM EST

I'm not even sure that the notion that "Iran is the biggest state sponsor of terrorism" is factual. In most of the world the prime candidate for that label would be...the good old USA.

If I had to choose (excluding the unthinkable above) I think I probably pick Saudia Arabia. Or maybe Pakistan. But that's too reality based for the media...

janinsanfran (1.00 / 2) (#11)
by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 08:42:28 AM EST

That you use the words.... "I think...probably...maybe" indciates that you don't know, and are thus just guessing. Are you smarter than those you disagree with??? Do you have better intelligence than they do??

In short, what are you qualifications??


Thinking... for one. (5.00 / 1) (#14)
by Edger on Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 10:39:33 AM EST

And yours?


: edger (none / 0) (#15)
by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 10:42:09 PM EST

Everyone "thinks."
Even chimps.
But many people sub the words "I think" for "I believe."

Where Are Da Dems? 100s of (none / 0) (#1)
by seabos84 on Fri Jun 08, 2007 at 08:15:03 AM EST

millions of dollars are spent, and will be spent, by the DC Dems on upcoming campaigns

millions of us peee-ons will kick 20 or 200 bucks into the community pot to make that pile of dough happen, and

millions of us will volunteer to help out.

what are the jackasses doing, as ...

ya know ...

an OPPOSITION party?

to beat into people's head what a bunch of liars this current crop of fascist-in-chief wannabees are ?

only a jackass would think that silence is an appropriate 'response' to lies?

rmm.

Mitt Romney (none / 0) (#2)
by Edger on Fri Jun 08, 2007 at 08:29:23 AM EST

is either very stupid, or he's a purposeful liar.

Or maybe purposefully a liar pretending to be stupid. Doubling up might be the best way for him to attract the support of the peasants.

Romney -- too close to call really (5.00 / 1) (#5)
by aj12754 on Fri Jun 08, 2007 at 09:45:03 AM EST

I'm going with purposeful liar -- although, to be fair, stupid is also a strong option given the sheer volume of historical information he has to ignore in order to mainatin his belief in the central tenets of the Mormon religion.


Regarding his religion (1.00 / 2) (#12)
by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 08:44:22 AM EST

Would you say the same thing about Islam?

If so, let's here it.


: grrr (1.00 / 2) (#13)
by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 08:46:12 AM EST

Let's hear it here.....

Hey. It's only 7:30AM out here. (none / 0) (#6)
by Edger on Fri Jun 08, 2007 at 09:47:03 AM EST

It's rally hard to drink coffee and laugh out loud at the same time. Messy.... ;-)


he assumes (none / 0) (#7)
by Jen M on Fri Jun 08, 2007 at 10:15:43 AM EST

his supporters don't have any brains


: Assumes? (none / 0) (#8)
by Edger on Fri Jun 08, 2007 at 10:22:19 AM EST

I guess a secondary question (none / 0) (#3)
by andgarden on Fri Jun 08, 2007 at 08:45:56 AM EST

would be: who feeds this political culture? I've got an idea, let's blame Joe Klein! (Krugman's great BTW)

There is a reason (none / 0) (#9)
by Lora on Fri Jun 08, 2007 at 11:28:32 AM EST

...for this "bad reporting." I cannot believe it is the result of stupidity or accident. The "bad reporting" is generally in one direction: to support the war machine and the agenda of the right-wingers.

But Krugman's central point is dead on.

It sure as hell is. Question is, what are we going to do about it besides stand by and watch another war happen with as false justification as the current one?

Here's an interesting idea from (none / 0) (#10)
by oculus on Fri Jun 08, 2007 at 12:55:36 PM EST

today's Morning Ed. on NPR:

Tracking Candidates' Views

"Candidates who are out talking to the public all the time understand that this is an issue that the public wants to hear about," says Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters.
The group has created a special Web site, www.heatison.org, to keep track of the candidates' views on global warming and to keep the heat on the issue through November of next year.
"We want to create a competition, so that candidates in both parties are competing for who's got the best plan," Karpinski says.