CyberAlert -- 01/02/2002 -- NY Times Flip on Rehnquist Rebuke
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NY Times Flip on Rehnquist Rebuke; Washington Post's Euro-Envy; Another Complaint about "Patriotism" from Jennings; 3rd Runners-Up 1
In both cases, Rehnquist's comments came in his annual year-end report, on the state of the judiciary, issued every December 31. Four years ago, when 82 federal judgeships stood unfilled, Rehnquist asserted: "The Senate is surely under no obligation to confirm any particular nominee, but after the necessary time for inquiry, it should vote him up or vote him down." On December 31, 2001, with 94 judgeships vacant, Rehnquist employed similar language as he implored: "On behalf of the judiciary, I ask Congress to raise the salaries of federal judges, and I ask the Senate to schedule up or down votes on judicial nominees within a reasonable time after receiving the nomination....The Senate is not, of course, obliged to confirm any particular nominee....but I urge prompt attention to the challenge of bringing the federal judicial branch closer to full staffing." Rehnquist has remained consistent in chiding the Senate, no matter which party is in control, but not the New York Times. Under the front page headline, "Senate Imperils Judicial System, Rehnquist Says," reporter John H. Cushman Jr. wrote the January 1, 1998 story. An excerpt: In an unusual rebuke, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist today criticized the Senate for failing to move more quickly on judicial appointments, saying that the "vacancies cannot remain at such high levels indefinitely without eroding the quality of justice." The Chief Justice made the statement in his annual year-end report of the state of the judiciary -- a 19-page document in which he also praised Congress for responding to other judicial concerns, like increasing judges' salaries and providing more money for operations of the courts. But he said that the major problem facing the judiciary was "too few judges and too much work" and that continuing inaction on nominees was imperiling the court system. Chief Justice Rehnquist said delays by President Clinton in sending nominations to the Senate had contributed to the problem, but his main criticism fell on the Senate itself, which is responsible for approving or rejecting nominees to the Federal judiciary. "The Senate is surely under no obligation to confirm any particular nominee, but after the necessary time for inquiry, it should vote him up or vote him down," the Chief Justice said. Chief Justice Rehnquist and other judges have complained before about the problem of vacancies, but the Chief Justice's remarks today were especially pointed.... Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said he hoped the Chief Justice's report would "help shame the Senate into clearing the backlog." Mr. Leahy said more than 40 judicial nominees were kept on hold in 1997, some of them in limbo since 1995.... END of Excerpt But with Leahy now the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the New York Times avoided criticism of him and focused its story on another aspect of Rehnquist's latest annual report. An excerpt from the January 1, 2002 story by Linda Greenhouse, headlined "Rehnquist Says Courts Risk Losing Private-Sector Nominees." The first four paragraphs followed by the tenth and eleventh ones: Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist warned today that a combination of relatively low salaries and a tortuous confirmation process was making the federal judiciary increasingly unappealing as a career move for lawyers in private practice. The result, he said in his annual year-end report, is that federal judges are increasingly being recruited from among lawyers already in public service, working as public prosecutors or defenders, federal magistrate or bankruptcy judges, or serving on state courts. "For them the pay is a modest improvement and the confirmation process at least does not damage their current income," the chief justice said. He said the risk was that the judiciary would lose the perspective of lawyers who had spent their careers in the private sector, and would come to resemble European systems in which young lawyers choose to become judges in what is in effect a civil service system.... On the pace of confirmation for judicial nominees, Chief Justice Rehnquist noted that in past years, he had criticized a Republican-controlled Senate for delays in considering President Bill Clinton's nominees. "Now the political situation is exactly the reverse, but the same situation obtains," he said, noting that the Senate confirmed 28 judges during 2001 and adjourned without acting on 37 nominations. "The Senate is not, of course, obliged to confirm any particular nominee," he said. "But it ought to act on each nominee and to do so within a reasonable time."... END of Excerpt For the entire article, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/01/national/01SCOT.html
"Common Currency Builds on Common Culture" proclaimed the jubilant front page headline. The subhead: "For Many Europeans, Euro's Arrival Strengthens Ties That Bind Continent." Inside, on page A8, the Post offered another celebratory headline: "Europe Welcomes New Year, New Money." The triumphant subhead: "Music, Fireworks and a Little Wistfulness Mark Changeover to Unified Currency." The Washington Times, however, noted in a December 30 story: "A recent Wall Street Journal Europe survey showed that 52 percent of respondents would rather stick with local currency. The French were most reluctant (62 percent), followed by the Germans (57 percent) and the Spanish (53 percent)." But that wasn't the theme pursued by the
Washington Post on Tuesday. Its front page story by T.R. Reid, datelined
Koivu, Finland, opened: END of Excerpt For the entire article, go to: In the story inside Tuesday's paper, T.R.
Reid and Peter Finn enthused: "At an elaborate sound-and-light show
here in Brussels, the administrative capital of the EU, the narrator told
a cheering crowd that the arrival of the euro is 'the most important
event of mankind's monetary history.' The Post did not provide any of the lyrics for the "jaunty number." For the rest of the Post story, go to: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46699-2001Dec31.html
During a segment at about 8:45pm EST during the live 6:30 to 10pm EST December 31 broadcast, Jennings talked with Atlanta Constitution editorial page editor Cynthia Tucker, U.S. News columnist John Leo and ABC News reporter George Stephanopoulos. Leo suggested: "Mayor Giuliani's incredible speech, his farewell speech, was entirely conducted in the language of national purpose of America's civil religion, and that is patriotism. And there are signs that goes rather deeper than the flag waving and jingoism." That prompted Jennings to assert: "Some
people, John, think that patriotism and nationalism sometimes get mixed
up. It's not just that I love the place, but the place has got to be
number one too, sometimes to other people's detriment." A bit later, saying he disagreed with Leo, Stephanopoulos contended we need to hear more about why we're hated: "One of the things that's been lacking here in the States is a real open debate about the effect of our policies in the world, about why some people in the world do hate us and the effect of our policies on them. I think we need a little bit more of that in the coming year." (As documented in the December 26 CyberAlert,
Jennings exhibited hints of leftist concerns on the December 21 Late Show
as he twice fretted about the difference between "nationalism"
and "patriotism," asserted that "campaigning against
terrorism" means recognizing the "root causes for
dissatisfaction around the world," maintained that global leadership
is not just "selling American culture," and bemoaned how
"Americans are pretty insular people for the most part." Go to:
The December 27 CyberAlert featured the winning quotes, the December 28 edition listed the first runners-up and the December 31 issue carried the second runners-up. To view all of the award winners and the top runners-up, as well as RealPlayer video clips for many of the broadcast quotes, go to: http://secure.mediaresearch.org/news/nq/2001/best2001/bestofnq2001.html To view the special year-end 8-page issue as
snail mail recipients saw it, access the Adobe Acrobat PDF version: To determine this year's winners, a panel of 41 radio talk show hosts, magazine editors, columnists, editorial writers and media observers each selected their choices for the first, second and third best quote from a slate of six to nine quotes in each category. First place selections were awarded three points, second place choices two points, with one point for the third place selections. Point totals are listed in the brackets at the end of the attribution for each quote. A list of the judges appeared in the December 27 and December 31 CyberAlerts. Or, go to: http://secure.mediaresearch.org/news/nq/2001/best2001/bestofnq2001f.html Now, the third runners-up quotes in 14 award categories as presented in the December 24 edition of Notable Quotables: Swiss Press Corps Award for Remaining Neutral in War Coverage Reporter Dan Harris: "According to al-Jazeera, U.S. attacks on a
village near Kandahar killed 93 civilians on Tuesday, including 18 members
of one family. There has been no independent confirmation. Across the
border in the Pakistani town of Quetta, five people arrived today at a
hospital with injuries they say they suffered in another U.S.
attack....This boy is one of the injured. His uncle says he had heard
American radio broadcasts promising civilians wouldn't be targeted, but
he says his village was nowhere near any Taliban positions. Abdul Jabar is
the doctor in charge." Media Hero Award "Today is the day the Senate may pass that patients' bill of
rights, which would guarantee your right to sue your HMO. When that
happens, one big winner out of Washington will be one of the bill's key
Democratic backers, North Carolina's newcomer John Edwards. He is said
to have the combined political skills -- are you ready for this? -- of
Clinton and Kennedy, Kennedy and Clinton together, and also to have a very
good shot at the White House." Pushing Bush to the Left Award (a tie for third runner-up) "The Bush White House packaged in its first week an image of the
President as a uniter. But Mr. Bush's message has often been at odds
with the mission: The Ashcroft nomination, new restrictions on abortion
counseling, plans for school vouchers, an in-your-face attitude that has
Democrats reluctant to let down their guard." "George W. Bush's rhetoric is very inclusive. He means to be
inclusive, and he's used very soft rhetoric in trying to reach out to
minorities. But the fact is he's proposed no federal programs for
minorities. He hasn't talked about using the federal government to
broaden the safety net." Poisoning the Planet Award for Portraying Bush as Destroyer of the Earth "President Bush insisted today that he was not caving in to big
money contributors, big-time lobbyists, and overall industry pressure when
he broke a campaign promise to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from
power plants. But the air was thick today with accusations from people who
believe that's exactly what happened." Picking the Lockbox Award for Denouncing Bush's Tax Cut "President Bush tonight outlines his
cut-federal-programs-to-get-a-tax-cut plan to Congress and the nation.
Democrats will then deliver their televised response, which basically says
Mr. Bush's ideas are risky business, endangering among other things,
Social Security and Medicare." Carve Clinton Into Mount Rushmore Award "In every family there are people and situations you would just as
soon keep from others. So, when you express shock and outrage at Bill and
Hillary's brothers' involvement in the pardon controversy, consider
what your own relatives might do if you possessed the power of the
presidency." Good Morning Morons Award "You and I are fortunate enough to be basically laughing about
this right now, about pennies right now, but isn't it somewhat elitist
to claim pennies have out-lived their usefulness when so many are
struggling to make ends meet and we argue about pennies on the minimum
wage?" Damn Those Conservatives Award "The squeamishness of much of the press in characterizing Helms
for what he is suggests an unwillingness to confront the reality of race
in our national life....What is unique about Helms -- and from my
viewpoint, unforgivable -- is his willingness to pick at the scab of the
great wound of American history, the legacy of slavery and segregation,
and to inflame racial resentment against African Americans." Selected Not Elected Award for Claiming Bush Is an Illegitimate President "As everyone knows, George Bush was ahead by only a few hundred
votes. At the request of Al Gore, some counties were launching hand
recounts which were gaining votes for him. So what did she do? Well, from
Day One she seemed completely inflexible, insisting on the narrow letter
of the law. She enforced strict deadlines even when one county asked for
just two hours more, and she tried to block the hand recount of those
punched but disputed ballots. The Bush team was thrilled, the Gore team
was outraged." Department of Injustice Award for Denigrating John Ashcroft "Good evening on this Martin Luther King holiday, a prelude to
what begins tomorrow in Washington: The confirmation hearings for John
Ashcroft, the former Missouri Senator who is George W. Bush's choice to
be Attorney General. Race will be a major issue in the contentious
hearings, especially since Ashcroft defended the Confederate agenda of
Robert E. Lee in an interview with the Southern Partisan, a
magazine promoting the culture of the Old South." Politics of Meaninglessness Award for the Silliest Analysis "People send me e-mails full of dopey attacks -- 'I bet you've
never written anything positive about a Republican in your whole life'
-- obviously never having read any of the columns I wrote praising John
McCain during the campaign." Euro-Envy Award for Advocating More Government Spending "More trouble at the nation's amusement parks, two dozen people
injured. Why won't Congress let the government regulate those
parks?" Nobody Here But Us Apolitical Observers Award for Denying Liberal Bias "I think there is a mainstream media. CNN is mainstream media, and
the main, ABC, CBS, NBC are mainstream media. And I think it's just
essentially to make the point that we are largely in the center without
particular axes to grind, without ideologies which are represented in our
daily coverage, at least certainly not on purpose." Blame America First Award "I do not believe the memory of the 7,000 plus people who were
killed in these most horrendous acts of terrorism are honored by going out
and killing other civilians. We went alone, we went alone when we bombed
Tripoli at night, a crowded city where old people and children were
sleeping. 1986, Reagan. We killed Qaddafi's kid, and lots of other
children. One person said, well, several people, 'well, he's
adopted' they said of the kid. And we got Pan Am 103, Lockerbie. Tell
those loved ones, it was December 21, my birthday." END Reprint of the third runners-up quotes in the MRC's awards for the year's worst reporting.
The December 31 CyberAlert noted editorials and columns in the New York Post, Daily Oklahoman, Denver Rocky Mountain News and World magazine, plus a mention on FNC's Fox Newswatch, about the MRC's "Best Notable Quotables of 2001: The Fourteenth Annual Awards for the Year's Worst Reporting." Three more editorials: -- "Media Liberalism Proved Again," an editorial in the December 29 Chattanooga Times Free Press. Go to: http://www.timesfreepress.com/2001/dec/29dec01/fpedit1.html (Link requires registration) -- "Awards With Teeth: Media Watchdog
Sinks into 'Year's Worst,'" an editorial in the December 31 Columbus
(Ohio) Dispatch: -- "Under God, for Revival," an
editorial in the December 31 Daily Oklahoman focusing on the quotes in the
"Glimpses of Patriotism" category. Patrick McGuigan, an awards
issue judge, is the Editor of the Daily Oklahoman's editorial page. Go
to: -- And a correction to a link listed in the
December 31 CyberAlert which noted how Marvin Olasky, an awards issue
judge who is Editor of World magazine, was first out of the box with a
back page essay about the quotes in the December 22 edition of his
magazine. In fact, his "Closing Thoughts" essay appeared even
earlier, in the December 8 edition. The correct link: > If you see or hear any other citations of the MRC's "Best Notable Quotables of 2001: The Fourteenth Annual Awards for the Year's Worst Reporting," please let me know by e-mailing: mediaresearchcenter@compuserve.com -- Brent Baker >>>
Support the MRC, an educational foundation dependent upon contributions
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A
pretty flagrant New Year's Day double standard at the New York Times.
Four years ago when Chief Justice William Rehnquist chastised the
Republican-controlled Senate for holding up judicial nominees, the New
York Times showcased the complaint on its front page under the scolding
headline: "Senate Imperils Judicial System, Rehnquist Says." But
this year, when he issued the same complaint about the
Democratic-controlled Senate, the Times put the story inside and gave
Rehnquist's complaint just two paragraphs -- the tenth and eleventh
ones. The headline: "Rehnquist Says Courts Risk Losing Private-Sector
Nominees."
Euro-envy?
Though most Europeans oppose replacing their currency with the Euro, the
Washington Post on Tuesday seemed positively enthralled with the idea. The
January 1 paper featured not one, but two stories celebrating how, as of
New Year's Day, the Euro became the currency in 12 of the European
Union's 15 nations. (Britain, Denmark and Sweden are abstaining.)
Repeating
a concern he expressed a week-and-a-half earlier on CBS's Late Show, on
Monday's ABC 2002 special Peter Jennings worried "that patriotism
and nationalism sometimes get mixed up," that "it's not just
that I love the place, but the place has got to be number one too,
sometimes to other people's detriment." George Stephanopoulos
regretted how "one of the things that's been lacking" is a
debate "about why some people in the world do hate us and the effect
of our policies on them."
The
third runners-up quotes in the MRC's "Best Notable Quotables of
2001: The Fourteenth Annual Awards for the Year's Worst Reporting,"
a compilation of the most outrageous and/or humorous news media quotes
from 2001 -- actually December 2000 through November 2001.
Best of
NQ in the news: Chattanooga Times Free Press, Columbus Dispatch and a
second appearance in the Daily Oklahoman.
