MSM Allegations of Bush "Cronyism"
By way of introduction, a Nexis search with the parameters "clinton AND confidant OR crony OR cronies AND cabinet" in November, 1996, when Clinton was putting together his second-term Cabinet, yield no hits in any English-language newspaper in the world. Not one.
By comparison, the same search results for Bush in this year yielded 283 hits, including mentions of Bush cronism in his Cabinet selections in the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, NPR, CNN and the Associated Press. Granted, I didn't do a content analysis of these hits, but I believe the numbers speak for themselves, and show that the MSM wants you to believe that Clinton surrounded himself with the best and the brightest, while Bush surrounds himself with yes-men.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury in the case People of the United States vs. Media Bias, the prosecution presents as evidence today's LA Times' page one profile of Alberto Gonzales, the President's nominee for Attorney General. (here)
First, the damning sentences: But Gonzales illustrates how Bush is turning to friends, cronies and associates in stocking his second-term Cabinet, and the relationship with Gonzales may be the closest of them all.
The article actually makes the point that Gonzales is a business-oriented near-moderate, not a crazy right-winger, but even so, the prejudice with which MSM are executing this story is evident. Reporter Richard B. Schmitt let it slip with this paragraph:
Now, with his presumed ascent to the top of the Justice Department, people are starting to wonder which Gonzales will show up for work: the relative moderate who emphasizes a low-key, fact-based approach to the law, or the ardent advocate who follows the marching orders of his president and friend and his expansive view of presidential power.
Schmitt starts with the assumption that the President is not a moderate, and is never low-key, fact-based, or concerned about what is lawful and what is not. And, to accomplish his Orwellian work, Bush needs people who follow his marching orders.
This is, of course, outrageous because the media have four years of Bush record to truth-check their wild allegations against. They will point to Abu Ghraib (and attempt to, with this sentence: Some suspect the [Guantanamo] opinion may have helped set the stage for the mistreatment of prisoners there and at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and plan to ask Gonzales about his level of involvement.), the Patriot Act and Halliburton, but what the record shows is a president who follows due process to implement as much of his agenda that the people's representatives in Congress will allow him to.
Geneva Convention "Quaint" and "Obsolete"
Of course the Times article resurrects this famous Gonzales quote from a memo on the Geneva Convention. Let's dispose of this once and (oh, how I wish!) for all. The Geneva Convention is exactly what Gonzales said it is. It was drafted at a time when countries raised uniformed armies and fought each other primarily through conventional warfare. It strived to to maintain that conventionality.
But war today is different. The injured terrorist/insurgent in the Falloujah mosque was not wearing the uniform of an enemy combatant, for example. So the rules are obsolete. The MSM never bother to point this out, prefering to let readers suppose that Gonzales wants to throw out the Convention, the baby and the bathwater.
By comparison, the same search results for Bush in this year yielded 283 hits, including mentions of Bush cronism in his Cabinet selections in the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, NPR, CNN and the Associated Press. Granted, I didn't do a content analysis of these hits, but I believe the numbers speak for themselves, and show that the MSM wants you to believe that Clinton surrounded himself with the best and the brightest, while Bush surrounds himself with yes-men.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury in the case People of the United States vs. Media Bias, the prosecution presents as evidence today's LA Times' page one profile of Alberto Gonzales, the President's nominee for Attorney General. (here)
First, the damning sentences: But Gonzales illustrates how Bush is turning to friends, cronies and associates in stocking his second-term Cabinet, and the relationship with Gonzales may be the closest of them all.
The article actually makes the point that Gonzales is a business-oriented near-moderate, not a crazy right-winger, but even so, the prejudice with which MSM are executing this story is evident. Reporter Richard B. Schmitt let it slip with this paragraph:
Now, with his presumed ascent to the top of the Justice Department, people are starting to wonder which Gonzales will show up for work: the relative moderate who emphasizes a low-key, fact-based approach to the law, or the ardent advocate who follows the marching orders of his president and friend and his expansive view of presidential power.
Schmitt starts with the assumption that the President is not a moderate, and is never low-key, fact-based, or concerned about what is lawful and what is not. And, to accomplish his Orwellian work, Bush needs people who follow his marching orders.
This is, of course, outrageous because the media have four years of Bush record to truth-check their wild allegations against. They will point to Abu Ghraib (and attempt to, with this sentence: Some suspect the [Guantanamo] opinion may have helped set the stage for the mistreatment of prisoners there and at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and plan to ask Gonzales about his level of involvement.), the Patriot Act and Halliburton, but what the record shows is a president who follows due process to implement as much of his agenda that the people's representatives in Congress will allow him to.
Geneva Convention "Quaint" and "Obsolete"
Of course the Times article resurrects this famous Gonzales quote from a memo on the Geneva Convention. Let's dispose of this once and (oh, how I wish!) for all. The Geneva Convention is exactly what Gonzales said it is. It was drafted at a time when countries raised uniformed armies and fought each other primarily through conventional warfare. It strived to to maintain that conventionality.
But war today is different. The injured terrorist/insurgent in the Falloujah mosque was not wearing the uniform of an enemy combatant, for example. So the rules are obsolete. The MSM never bother to point this out, prefering to let readers suppose that Gonzales wants to throw out the Convention, the baby and the bathwater.
posted by Laer at 11:14 AM
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