Wednesday, August 11, 2004
If President Bush went around claiming that he had been on a secret mission 30 years ago, and even carried around a black briefcase that had an old hat in it as a reminder of that secret mission, when it is clear that none of it ever happened, just what do you think David Letterman, Jay Leno, all the network anchors and news shows, the New York Times, the Washington Post, etc... would say? Just what would they all do if he would whip out that old hat and put in on and tell grampa-stories about those old, false, secret missions?
John Kerry told those stories, even as recently as May of 2003 to the Washington Post. And what are all those listed above doing, what are they saying?
Nothing. Even though Kerry was never in Cambodia, even though he never had a super secret CIA man to drop off in Cambodia, even though he has now decided to say he has misremembered what was seared -- seared -- into his memory. They are saying nothing. So John Kerry, though he has told this false story for decades for his own political gain, is getting a pass.
And you know what President Bush would get, because he got it already at the Unity Journalist event:
Helen Ubinas, another attendee, wrote in The Hartford (Conn.) Courant that she was "in the minority, as it were" who acted like "a professional, not a partisan" in responding to Kerry. There was snickering during Bush's address and the crowd rose at the end, "but not for much longer than it took to head to the door."
Akilah Johnson, a reporter at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Delray Beach, Fla., told USA Today, "It was a little awkward for me. I guess a lot of people were acting like citizens, not reporters."
Seattle Times reporter Florangelea Davila told her paper, "It was so offensive and awful, and I hated it. It was clearly inappropriate. It was ridiculous."
Houston Chronicle Suburban Editor Pete McConnell said he was "embarrassed" by the crowd reactions to Bush and Kerry: "As a group we should have kept ourselves in check."
Bob Steele, ethics expert at the Poynter Institute, called public outbursts favoring one candidate "unprofessional and unethical."
So there you have it. Bush comes to speak to a bunch of journalists and gets snickers while Kerry gets standing ovations. Who here thinks that those same journalists will ever take note of John Kerry, skulking around in his own lie of a hat.
John Kerry told those stories, even as recently as May of 2003 to the Washington Post. And what are all those listed above doing, what are they saying?
Nothing. Even though Kerry was never in Cambodia, even though he never had a super secret CIA man to drop off in Cambodia, even though he has now decided to say he has misremembered what was seared -- seared -- into his memory. They are saying nothing. So John Kerry, though he has told this false story for decades for his own political gain, is getting a pass.
And you know what President Bush would get, because he got it already at the Unity Journalist event:
Helen Ubinas, another attendee, wrote in The Hartford (Conn.) Courant that she was "in the minority, as it were" who acted like "a professional, not a partisan" in responding to Kerry. There was snickering during Bush's address and the crowd rose at the end, "but not for much longer than it took to head to the door."
Akilah Johnson, a reporter at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Delray Beach, Fla., told USA Today, "It was a little awkward for me. I guess a lot of people were acting like citizens, not reporters."
Seattle Times reporter Florangelea Davila told her paper, "It was so offensive and awful, and I hated it. It was clearly inappropriate. It was ridiculous."
Houston Chronicle Suburban Editor Pete McConnell said he was "embarrassed" by the crowd reactions to Bush and Kerry: "As a group we should have kept ourselves in check."
Bob Steele, ethics expert at the Poynter Institute, called public outbursts favoring one candidate "unprofessional and unethical."
So there you have it. Bush comes to speak to a bunch of journalists and gets snickers while Kerry gets standing ovations. Who here thinks that those same journalists will ever take note of John Kerry, skulking around in his own lie of a hat.
