WashPost Reporter Advises Dems "Connect the Dots" Against Bush --3/8/2004

1. WashPost Reporter Advises Dems "Connect the Dots" Against Bush
Martha Stewart's wrongdoing: Bush's fault. Less tan four hours after a federal jury in Manhattan convicted Martha Stewart, Washington Post reporter Ceci Connolly, appearing on FNC, advised Democrats that, "if they're smart," they will "connect the dots" amongst people "losing jobs," "high-rollers" and CEOs "getting off easy" as they "give campaign contributions to President Bush," not to mention "Cheney with Halliburton."

2. CBS Hypes How "Buffett Says the Bush Tax Cuts Favor the Wealthy"
"Warren Buffett says the Bush tax cuts favor the wealthy," exclaimed CBS News reporter Mika Brzezinski during a "CBS MarketWatch Update" aired Sunday night between the first and second segments of 60 Minutes. CBS considered Buffett's claim, made in the annual report for Berkshire Hathaway, so important that they managed to squeeze it into the 15 second update which didn't even identify Buffett.

3. Stephanopoulos Pleads to McCain for "Dream Ticket" with Kerry
On Sunday's This Week, ABC's George Stephanopoulos pleaded for John McCain to accept any potential offer to be John Kerry's running mate, asserting that for "a lot of Democrats," that would be "the dream ticked." Stephanopoulos appealed McCain's rejection of the idea: "So there's no chance you'll re-consider?" Stephanopoulos then tried to convince McCain he doesn't really share Bush's views, laying out some areas where they disagree before demanding: "Why are you supporting President Bush?" Recalling the 2000 primary campaign battle between McCain and Bush, Stephanopoulos inquired: "Does John Kerry have to worry that the Bush team will do to him what they did to you in South Carolina?"

4. CBS's Early Show Doesn't Move On, Leads Friday with Bush TV Ads
CBS's Early Show on Friday didn't move on, devoting a second morning of coverage to liberal complaints about the Bush campaign's TV ads which include a few seconds of scenes from Ground Zero. "Good morning, I'm Harry Smith," the quad-host announced at the top of the March 5 show as he touted the lead story: "President Bush's new campaign ads have triggered a firestorm over the use of images from 9/11. We'll find out what the families of the victims have to say about that." News reader Julie Chen insisted: "There are calls this morning for President Bush to pull some of his re-election campaign ads off the air."

5. Curry Gushes to Jane Goodall: "You've Given So Many People Hope"
NBC's Ann Curry has a thing for far-left environmental and peace activist Jane Goodall. On last Wednesday's Today, Curry gushed to her about how "you have done so much. You've worked against poverty, AIDS and for peace, human rights and for the environment." Curry's "question" to Goodall: "Why at the age of 70 do you travel 300 days out of the year working on behalf of this world that is in such trouble?" After Goodall answered, Curry swooned: "Wow! You've given so many people hope including those listening to you this morning."

6. LA Times Changes "Pro-Life" to "Anti-Abortion" in Opera Review
Rote revulsion toward the term "pro-life" by the journalism community led to an embarrassing gaffe a couple of weeks ago by the Los Angeles Times. As reported by the LA Observed Web site, when LA Times reviewer "Mark Swed filed a review of the opera Die Frau Ohne Schatten at the Music Center," he "wrote that the Richard Strauss epic is 'an incomparably glorious and goofy pro-life paean...' But when it ran in the paper, 'pro-life' had been changed to 'anti-abortion.'"

7. Tribute to Ted Kennedy's Liberal Spending Ideals Wins Award
Liberal reporting awarded. Last week Boston Globe reporter Charles Pierce won a National Headliner Award, in the category "newspaper magazine writing," for story titled, "Deconstructing Ted." In that January 5, 2003 piece, Pierce effused: "If she had lived, Mary Jo Kopechne would be 62 years old. Through his tireless work as a legislator, Edward Kennedy would have brought comfort to her in her old age."

8. "Top Ten Signs Hillary Clinton Wants to Be Vice President"
Letterman's "Top Ten Signs Hillary Clinton Wants to Be Vice President."

WashPost Reporter Advises Dems "Connect
the Dots" Against Bush

Martha Stewart's wrongdoing: Bush's fault. Less tan four hours after a federal jury in Manhattan convicted Martha Stewart, Washington Post reporter Ceci Connolly, appearing on FNC, advised Democrats that, "if they're smart," they will "connect the dots" amongst people "losing jobs," "high-rollers" and CEOs "getting off easy" as they "give campaign contributions to President Bush," not to mention "Cheney with Halliburton."

During a discussion about Stewart in the panel portion of the March 5 Special Report with Brit Hume, but anchored by Jim Angle, after panelist, Charles Krauthammer suggested that Bush can use the conviction to show he's tough on corporate crime, Connolly, who moved her hand around in a circle, point by point, to illustrate "connecting the dots," countered:
"Some voters already are connecting certain dots and I think Democrats, if they're smart, will attempt to really connect dots which go something like this: What we talked about in the first segment, people are unemployed, losing jobs; wealthy, high-rollers, CEOs etcetera getting off easy, making a lot of money; give campaign contributions to President Bush; Cheney with Halliburton. I think it's possible for Democrats to exploit those sort of emotional connections that people make out there."

CBS Hypes How "Buffett Says the Bush
Tax Cuts Favor the Wealthy"

"Warren Buffett says the Bush tax cuts favor the wealthy," exclaimed CBS News reporter Mika Brzezinski during a "CBS MarketWatch Update" aired Sunday night between the first and second segments of 60 Minutes. CBS considered Buffett's claim, made in the annual report for Berkshire Hathaway, so important that they managed to squeeze it into the 15 second update which didn't even identify Buffett.

The complete text of the March 7 "CBS MarketWatch Update" about 20 minutes into 60 Minutes:
"Good evening. The board of Martha Stewart Omnimedia meets tomorrow in the wake of her conviction. Warren Buffett says the Bush tax cuts favor the wealthy. Earning reports this week from Echostar, Oracle and Krispy Kreme donuts. And the Dow opens at 10,595. I'm Mika Brzezinski, CBS News."

Brzezinski earlier anchored the CBS Evening News, which did not mention the Buffett charge.

For the AP story on Buffett's comments, an article which recounts only his comments about corporate tax payments: story.news.yahoo.com

For a picture and bio for Brzezinski: www.cbsnews.com

Stephanopoulos Pleads to McCain for "Dream
Ticket" with Kerry

On Sunday's This Week, ABC's George Stephanopoulos pleaded for John McCain to accept any potential offer to be John Kerry's running mate, asserting that for "a lot of Democrats," that would be "the dream ticked." Stephanopoulos appealed McCain's rejection of the idea: "So there's no chance you'll re-consider?" Stephanopoulos then tried to convince McCain he doesn't really share Bush's views, laying out some areas where they disagree before demanding: "Why are you supporting President Bush?" Recalling the 2000 primary campaign battle between McCain and Bush, Stephanopoulos inquired: "Does John Kerry have to worry that the Bush team will do to him what they did to you in South Carolina?"

During the March 7 appearance in studio by McCain, Stephanopoulos played a clip from his November 28, 2002 show in which he asked McCain about being Kerry's running mate. He rejected the idea then and did so again: "I do not intend to leave the Republican Party."
Stephanopoulos pleaded: "But a lot of Democrats think this is the dream ticked. So there's no chance you'll re-consider?"
McCain: "I cannot envision the scenario, George, as I say it's flattering but no [mumble], leave the Republican Party."
Stephanopoulos: "Okay, I think that's, you're not quite being General Sherman, but I think you're clear on it. Let me switch over to the campaign. When I look through your record, you disagree with President Bush on tax cuts, you disagreed with him on the prescription drug coverage, you disagree with him on the energy bill, you disagree with him on global warming, many other issues. Why are you supporting President Bush?"

McCain explained that he agrees with Bush on many issues and that Bush "led with moral clarity and strength" after 9/11.

Stephanopoulos moved on to the media-created controversy over the Bush TV ads, asking McCain if it was "appropriate" to use images from Ground Zero in the ad.

Next, Stephanopoulos painted Kerry as the next possible victim of the Bush attack machine: "It was a tough campaign. Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina said it was the nastiest campaign he had ever seen. You refused to say that President Bush ran an honorable campaign and called it 'savagery." Does John Kerry have to worry that the Bush team will do to him what they did to you in South Carolina?"
McCain noted that he and Bush now have a cordial relationship, and while it will be a nasty campaign, that's "not contained to either side."

As recounted in the March 4 CyberAlert, on the March 3 Good Morning America's ABC's Claire Shipman gushed that the idea of McCain running with Kerry represents "everybody's wishful thinking that he might switch parties and join his Vietnam buddy." See: www.mediaresearch.org

CBS's Early Show Doesn't Move On, Leads
Friday with Bush TV Ads

CBS's Early Show on Friday didn't move on, devoting a second morning of coverage to liberal complaints about the Bush campaign's TV ads which include a few seconds of scenes from Ground Zero. "Good morning, I'm Harry Smith," the quad-host announced at the top of the March 5 show as he touted the lead story: "President Bush's new campaign ads have triggered a firestorm over the use of images from 9/11. We'll find out what the families of the victims have to say about that." News reader Julie Chen insisted: "There are calls this morning for President Bush to pull some of his re-election campaign ads off the air."

CBS, the MRC's Brian Boyd noticed, proceeded to run a story followed by an interview segment featuring two 9/11 victim family members, one opposed to the ad and one who saw nothing wrong with it.

Julie Chen introduced the story: "There are calls this morning for President Bush to pull some of his re-election campaign ads off the air. At issue: scenes from 9/11 which some say are being exploited for political gain. CBS News correspondent Joie Chen is at the White House with the latest on this story. Good morning, Joie."

Joie Chen explained: "Good morning, Julie. The White House certainly aimed to re-grab the focus of attention as the presidential campaign season reaches high gear but Mr. Bush's first round of re-election commercials came in for some sharp critique. At the heart of it, a handful of pictures in the midst of two 30 second commercials."
Commercial voice: "And some were like no others."
Chen: "Brief and fleeting images, but to families of some September 11th victims enough to bring back haunting memories."
Lorie Van Auken, 9/11 widow: "This was a horrible day and to rip the scab off that wound is just cruel."
Harold Schaitberger: "It's disgraceful."
Chen: "Howard [actual name is Harold] Schaitberger head of the fire fighters union which has endorsed John Kerry accused the President of exploiting the sacrifice of first responders."
Schaitberger: "I recall the President early on saying that he would never utilize the terrible tragedy of 9/11 for political purposes."
Karen Hughes: "This image is a very, very tasteful image."
Chen: "But in an appearance on The Early Show, a key Bush advisor insisted that Mr. Bush's leadership in a time of crisis is a valid campaign theme."
Hughes, the day before: "September 11th was not just a distant tragedy, it's a defining event for the future of our country."
Chen: "And at a campaign stop Thursday, Mr. Bush himself reminded voters how his presidency was shaped by the events of September 11th."
President Bush: "I stood in the ruins of the twin towers. I'll never forget that day. I remember the workers and the hard-hats who were shouting 'whatever it takes.' As we all did that day these men and women searching through the rubble took it personally. I took it personally."
Chen concluded: "Now, as you noted, some critics have asked the President to take those spots of the air. They're set to air in 17 key states. Others have issued an early warning to the President not to even think about bringing his campaign to Ground Zero when his party meets for its nominating convention in New York City this summer."

Hannah Storm soon interviewed Patty Casazza, who "lost her husband, John, in the World Trade Center on September 11th" and Deena Burnett, whose "husband, Thomas, died on United Airlines flight 93 that day."

The March 5 CyberAlert detailed Thursday coverage of the Bush ads: The Bush campaign may have $100 million to spend, but the Kerry team has the news media as part of its base, a reality demonstrated on Thursday, a day John Kerry took off and didn't even campaign. Based on a single news story in the New York Daily News quoting a single firefighter and a few members of families with 9-11 victims, the morning and evening shows on ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC, as well as CNBC and MSNBC in prime time, picked up the charge that new Bush campaign TV ads, which very briefly show images from 9-11, somehow improperly exploit that day for political gain. In the morning, Karen Hughes was quizzed about it and in the evening the supposed "controversy" led or was the number two story on every evening newscast. ABC's Diane Sawyer, CBS's Harry Smith and CNN's Soledad O'Brien and Paula Zahn highlighted how the "firefighters union" protested the ad, but failed to point out how that union long ago endorsed John Kerry. www.mediaresearch.org

Curry Gushes to Jane Goodall: "You've
Given So Many People Hope"

NBC's Ann Curry has a thing for far-left environmental and peace activist Jane Goodall. On last Wednesday's Today, Curry gushed to her about how "you have done so much. You've worked against poverty, AIDS and for peace, human rights and for the environment."

Curry's "question" to Goodall: "Why at the age of 70 do you travel 300 days out of the year working on behalf of this world that is in such trouble?" After Goodall answered, Curry swooned: "Wow! You've given so many people hope including those listening to you this morning."

Curry also gushed over Goodall when she appeared on Today back in October of 2002. The October 22, 2002 CyberAlert reported: Jane Goodall's Web site features as the lead item on its home page a link to its "Roots and Shoots Global Peace Initiative" which promotes the "teaching of tolerance" in the wake of 9-11 with a link titled, "Beyond Blame: Reacting to the Terrorist Attack." But on Monday's Today Ann Curry didn't ask Goodall about any of that. Instead, Curry trumpeted Goodall's agenda: "What is the greatest lesson you've learned?...What gives you hope Jane?...What sustains you?...You also travel with the forest within you, you say?" See: www.mediaresearch.org

Goodall came aboard Today again on March 3 to plug an Animal Planet cable channel special, "40 Years in Gombe," to air tonight, March 8: media.animal.discovery.com

MRC analyst Geoff Dickens caught Curry's fawning approach to Goodall on the March 5 Today.

Curry: "But you have done so much. You've worked against poverty, AIDS and for peace, human rights and for the environment. You're not giving up even though you just said to me a few moments ago before this interview started, that, that there is a feeling that things are being lost. That there's no doubt that we're all spiraling, as you say, rapidly downwards. Why at the age of 70 do you travel 300 days out of the year working on behalf of this world that is in such trouble?"
Goodall: "Because I have grandchildren and great nephews and I look at them and I think what we've spoiled since I was their age and I just have this absolute conviction if we could only get more hopeful, more working for, for peace when it comes, to save the environment. We have to give people hope because without hope people become apathetic. So that when I'm giving a talk in a place like Hungary where people like me don't go very often all the students cry and say, 'You're the only person who's given us hope. Now we feel that we can tackle future.'"
Curry: "Wow. You've given so many people hope including those listening to you this morning. Thank you so much for all the work you've done, Dr. Goodall."

LA Times Changes "Pro-Life" to "Anti-Abortion"
in Opera Review

Rote revulsion toward the term "pro-life" by the journalism community led to an embarrassing gaffe a couple of weeks ago by the Los Angeles Times. As reported by the LA Observed Web site, when LA Times theater reviewer "Mark Swed filed a review of the opera Die Frau Ohne Schatten at the Music Center," he "wrote that the Richard Strauss epic is 'an incomparably glorious and goofy pro-life paean...' But when it ran in the paper, 'pro-life' had been changed to 'anti-abortion.'"

(On Thursday night last week Dan Rather also illustrated well how the media frame the abortion issue to put those in favor of it in the best light by making them the ones for "rights" and those on the other side against "rights." On the March 4 CBS Evening News, Rather teased a story about the release of the late Justice Harry Blackmun's papers: "U.S. Supreme Court secrets revealed. The inside story of how close the court came to taking away abortion rights and a woman's right to choose.")

Romenesko ( www.poynter.org ) last week highlighted the posting by LA Observed about how the obsession by the LA Times with never allowing the term "pro-life" to see print led to the embarrassing alteration of the reviewer's submission.

This latest instance occurred less than a year after John Carroll, the Editor of the Los Angeles Times, rebuked his staff for its biased approach on the abortion issue. As recounted in the May 29, 2003 CyberAlert, Carroll sent to his staff a memo about a story he thought demonstrated the "occasional reality" that the LA Times is a "liberal, 'politically correct' newspaper." Carroll chastised: "The apparent bias of the writer and/or the desk reveals itself in the third paragraph, which characterizes such bills in Texas and elsewhere as requiring 'so-called counseling of patients.' I don't think people on the anti-abortion side would consider it 'so-called,' a phrase that is loaded with derision." Carroll insisted: "We are not going to push a liberal agenda in the news pages of the Times." See: www.mediaresearch.org

It looks like it's an up hill battle for Carroll.

Now, an excerpt from the LA observed posting from last week:

Here's why reporters want newspaper corrections to make clear that an editor is at fault for an error introduced to their copy. Last week, the L.A. Times' Mark Swed filed a review of the opera "Die Frau Ohne Schatten" at the Music Center. He wrote that the Richard Strauss epic is "an incomparably glorious and goofy pro-life paean..." But when it ran in the paper, pro-life had been changed to anti-abortion.

Swed was reportedly mortified, since the opera is not remotely about abortion. On Feb. 25, the Times ran this correction:

"Opera review -- A review of Los Angeles Opera's Die Frau Ohne Schatten in Tuesday's Calendar section incorrectly characterized the work as 'anti-abortion.' In fact, there is no issue of abortion in the opera, which extols procreation."

Swed was again not amused, since his name was on the piece -- he had been made to look stupid to his readers and to the opera community. If they thought he had misread the work, it might affect how opera fans, players and producers regard him in the future. He apparently demanded a second correction, which ran the following day:

"Opera review -- A correction in Wednesday's paper about the review of Los Angeles Opera's Die Frau Ohne Schatten incorrectly implied that it was the reviewer who characterized the work as 'anti-abortion' in Tuesday's Calendar. As the correction should have made clear, the lead paragraph submitted by the reviewer was incorrectly changed to include the term 'anti-abortion.' There is no issue of abortion in the opera, which extols procreation." ....

END of Excerpt

For the LA Observed item in full: www.laobserved.com

Tribute to Ted Kennedy's Liberal Spending
Ideals Wins Award

Liberal reporting awarded. Last week Boston Globe reporter Charles Pierce won a National Headliner Award, in the category "newspaper magazine writing," for story titled, "Deconstructing Ted." In that January 5, 2003 piece, Pierce effused: "If she had lived, Mary Jo Kopechne would be 62 years old. Through his tireless work as a legislator, Edward Kennedy would have brought comfort to her in her old age."

Kopechne drowned while trapped in Kennedy's submerged car off Chappaquiddick Island in July 1969, an accident Kennedy did not report for several hours.

Pierce's tribute to Kennedy's liberalism and big government solutions to problems won the "Quote of the Year" in the MRC's "Best Notable Quotables of 2003: The Sixteenth Annual Awards for the Year's Worst Reporting." See: www.mediaresearch.org

The paragraph in full in which the macabre observation appeared: "And that's the key. That's how you survive what he's survived. That's how you move forward, one step after another, even though your name is Edward Moore Kennedy. You work, always, as though your name were Edward Moore. If she had lived, Mary Jo Kopechne would be 62 years old. Through his tireless work as a legislator, Edward Kennedy would have brought comfort to her in her old age."

The MRC's Tim Graham alerted me to the honor bestowed upon Pierce by the Press Club of Atlantic City. Its Web site explains: "The National Headliner Awards program is one of the oldest and largest annual contests recognizing journalistic merit in the communications industry." The "Headliner Awards in all categories will be presented at an awards program on May 15, 2004 in Atlantic City, New Jersey."

So what did Pierce win? A free hotel room in Atlantic City: "Hotel rooms are provided, at Headliner Club expense, for first place winners."

For a list of the winners in all categories: www.nationalheadlinerawards.com

For a March 2 AP story on the awards: story.news.yahoo.com

For a picture of Pierce: www.charlespierce.net

"Top Ten Signs Hillary Clinton Wants
to Be Vice President"

From the March 5 Late Show with David Letterman, the "Top Ten Signs Hillary Clinton Wants to Be Vice President." Late Show home page: www.cbs.com

10. The Washington, D.C. TJ Maxx has sold out of pantsuits.

9. She's practicing sitting around doing nothing.

8. Instead of pretending to be from New York, she's pretending to be from key battleground states Ohio, Florida and Michigan.

7. Bragged to reporters the next "Hillary-Gate" is going to be off the hizzook.

6. Says she wants to be the first female Vice President since Gore.

5. Just purchased a large amount of Halliburton stock.

4. Called Century 21 to ask about listings for undisclosed locations.

3. Well, there's the "Kerry/Clinton" tattoo.

2. Firing up the ol' paper shredder.

1. If it would help she'd have sex with Bill.

# Dan Rather is back in Baghdad for the CBS Evening News this week.

-- Brent Baker