CyberAlert -- 12/02/1998 -- GOP Scrooges Ruining the Holiday Mood
GOP Scrooges Ruining the Holiday Mood; CNN Would Have Hired Lewinsky? >>> Latest Notable Quotables now on line. The November 30 edition of Notable Quotables, the MRC's bi-weekly compilation of the latest outrageous, sometimes humorous, quotes in the liberal media, is now up on the MRC home page thanks to Webmaster Sean Henry and research associate Kristina Sewell. Topic headings include: "Ken Starr, Evil Puppeteer?", "That Poor Hush-Money Millionaire," "Tripp Sends Them to the Shower" and "Starr Should Have Been McCarthy." Go to: http://www.mediaresearch.org or http://www.mrc.org or jump directly to the latest issue of Notable Quotables. <<< ABC led Tuesday night with layoffs at Boeing while CBS and NBC went first with the big Exxon-Mobil merger. CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather stressed the job cuts: "Good evening. Corporate mergers are about to cost thousands of Americans their jobs. Boeing has just announced another huge cutback. More about that in a moment, but first today's high-octane merger that's being talked about around the world...." The expansion of the Judiciary Committee probe by subpoenaing memos from FBI Director Freeh and Justice investigator Charles LaBella on possible criminal acts in fundraising by Bill Clinton, topped the CNN and FNC evening shows. Every network played at least one clip from the two women who testified who had been convicted of perjury, but CBS reporter Bob Schieffer failed to explain the similarity to Clinton's case as he never told viewers both were convicted of lying about sex in a federal civil suit. NBC's Pete Williams showed a clip of Alan Dershowitz yelling at the committee, but not Hyde's retort. In a second story, Gwen Ifill painted the Republicans as a bunch of Scrooges: "Washington, like the rest of the country, is in a cheery, holiday mood. But not inside the Capitol where Republicans are digging in their heels, forging ahead with and even expanding hearings and investigations to impeach the President..." Here are some highlights of how the Tuesday, December 1 evening shows approached the House hearing: -- ABC's World
News Tonight. "In Washington today it was sex, lies and
fundraising," Peter Jennings intoned as he introduced a piece by
Linda Douglass. She explained the new subpoenas and ran a clip of Barbara
Battalino, the VA psychiatrist under house arrest for lying about sex with
a patient in a VA hospital. Douglass concluded with the White House
complaint that the Republicans are out of control: From the White House, Sam Donaldson got a few seconds to say that the staff is pushing for an impeachment alternative of censure but must "convince the hardliners on Capitol Hill" and the Clintons to go along.
After an evenly split Schieffer story in which both sides got two soundbites, Rather illustrated the White House's strategic advantage as their side got another chance to blast Republicans. Rather eagerly relayed: "As for the reaction in the President's camp tonight, CBS News White House correspondent Scott Pelley reports that the President's legal team is furious about what it calls this quote, 'unfairness,' saying that the expansion of the impeachment investigation makes it impossible to mount a defense for the President because it is quote 'a fishing expedition' and in their view there's no telling what the charges will be now."
Pierre Thomas provided a story on the on memos from Freeh and LaBella and Jonathan Karl reviewed the testimony of the two women with "something in common" with Clinton: they lied about sex in a civil case. Jim Angle then uniquely highlighted how those inside the Justice Department, upset with Reno's lack of action and how Clinton's wrongdoing was concealed from Congress, were responsible for leaking the information to the committee.
Williams, concluding his story: "That prompted committee Chairman Hyde to say he isn't out to get anyone and that he has no idea how all the Republicans might vote on impeachment."
Tom Brokaw moved on to explain his bewilderment about why the Republicans
keep pressing: "Then there is the question of why the Judiciary
Committee is looking beyond the Starr report, looking for other possible
misbehavior by the President when the public is saying move on. The answer
may be as simple as politics and safe House seats."
For more on the Dateline piece, go to: http://www.mediaresearch.org/news/cyberalert/1998/cyb19981116.html#3 Geraldo Rivera returned on Monday from a week off, but he hasn't lost any of his disgust with Ken Starr. On the November 30 Upfront Tonight on CNBC he slipped in a hit at Starr: "In any case, late today Hyde condemned the President for his quote, 'selective ability to recall information,' which kind of reminded me of Ken Starr's testimony before the committee." And showing that
Rivera's liberalness goes beyond the Clinton scandals, MRC news analyst
Geoffrey Dickens also caught this liberal advocacy announced later in the
same show: At least Rivera's consistent: neither Clinton nor the gun-using criminal is responsible for where he shoots. (Sorry, too good an opportunity to pass up.) ABC's Lisa McRee was exasperated by the Republican decision to look at Clinton's answers in the campaign fundraising probe. On Tuesday's Good Morning America, MRC news analyst Jessica Anderson noticed, she pounded away at Republican Representative Lindsey Graham: --
"Congressman, why? Why expand the inquiry now?" Old media line: impeaching a President for lying about sex is illegitimate. New media line: Don't look at anything else that might have to be considered more substantial. McRee then asked
ABC legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin: "And in terms of Janet Reno's
decision not to appoint an independent investigator to look into Vice
President Gore or into Harold Ickes at this time, which she still of
course could, is that a mistake?" Monica Lewinsky almost employed by CNN? As Rush Limbaugh noted on his show last Tuesday, November 24, John Fund of the Wall Street Journal's editorial page passed along to him a nugget he came across on page 4,293 of Linda Tripp's grand jury testimony. Here's the
relevant excerpt: A: Yes. The President suggested when he wanted a list of -- a wish list of where she wanted to go -- and she had vague ideas, but nothing specific enough to allow him to have a specific clear idea, they talked about networks. And he instantly said that someone who would do anything he asked was someone named -- I think his first name is Richard, but Kaplan at CNN, who had recently I believe gone from ABC to CNN who he said was a very, very close friend and was heading up CNN in Atlanta. He could make that happen with a snap of his fingers. END Excerpt If you ever see any bias from Wolf Blitzer or John King, remember that it could have been worse, they could have been produced, edited or even replaced by like, you know, Monica Lewinsky. For more on
Kaplan's close relationship with Clinton, check out the January 14
CyberAlert which featured excepts from a Vanity Fair profile of the CNN
President. Amongst the items detailed: To read this CyberAlert, go to: http://www.mediaresearch.org/news/cyberalert/1998/cyb19980114.html
What's Eleanor Clift thankful for? Answering that question on the
McLaughlin Group aired this past weekend the Newsweek veteran replied: I bet Monica Lewinsky would be a more balanced reporter than Eleanor Clift. At least Lewinsky was able to acknowledge she was in love with Bill Clinton. -- Brent Baker
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