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"Dishonor" Winners Announced; Quote of the Year Picked by Audience; David Limbaugh Reported Rush's Hearing at "80 Percent" 2) The names of the judges and how their votes were tabulated. >>> C-SPAN Update: On Thursday night a C-SPAN crew was at the MRC's "Dishonor Awards: Roasting the Most Outrageously Biased Liberal Reporters of 2001." However, C-SPAN has not yet shown it and it is not on the C-SPAN or C-SPAN2 schedule through early Friday afternoon. As soon as I do see it scheduled, I'll send an e-mail alert. <<<
I'm sure anyone who attended will agree that it was a humorous evening as we all relished mocking the media's anti-conservative agenda. Following the awards presentation, attendees saw a moving tribute to patriotic coverage by the networks in the days after September 11. Winners were picked by a distinguished panel of 14 leading media observers who served as judges -- including Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Robert Novak, Michael Reagan and Ben Stein -- all of whom selected first and second place choices from five quotes in six award categories. For a list of judges, see item #2 below. Cal Thomas served as Master of Ceremonies. Serving as presenters of video clips of the three highest vote-earning quotes in each category: John Fund, Kate O'Beirne and David Limbaugh. In place of the journalist who won each award, a conservative accepted it in jest. Those standing in for the winners: Steve Forbes, Lucianne Goldberg, Robert Dornan, William F. Buckley Jr. and Katherine Harris. Those attending the roast saw the three quotes in each category played in random order followed by the announcement of the winner. Cal Thomas, the presenters and the acceptors entertained the audience with one-liners and light-hearted comments about the nominated quotes and whoever won each award. To see that, you'll need to watch the not-yet-scheduled C-SPAN replay of the event. Below are the top runners-up in each award category as picked by the judges, followed by the winner and the name of the conservative who accepted the award in jest. > We're All Going to Die and It's Bush's Fault Award (for Doomsday Environmental Reporting) Presented by John Fund Runners-up: "This is another bouquet to the right.
Arsenic in the water. Starting up the Cold War. Make as much carbon
dioxide as you like. Laugh about it. Bush has set himself up as a huge
target. And the arsenic is going to be the equivalent of what your boss
[Newt Gingrich] did with cutting school lunches." "The Sierra Club calls President Bush's
latest moves on the environment 'March Madness.' In the last two
weeks, the administration has signaled that it may allow logging in
pristine forests that had been declared off limits, has put off a decision
to reduce arsenic in drinking water, has suspended a rule to protect the
environment from damage caused by mining, has reversed a decision to limit
carbon dioxide emissions, and the President also suggested drilling for
oil in national parks and is pushing oil exploration in the Arctic
Wildlife Refuge. Some in the President's own party are becoming
alarmed." And the winner is... "Remember when Ronald Reagan tried to
save a few pennies on the school lunch program by classifying ketchup as a
vegetable? Last week the Bush administration went further, axing a
regulation that forced the meat industry to test hamburgers served in
school for salmonella. Imagine, Mad Cow Disease among children, K through
12. The day it hit the papers the proposal was quickly withdrawn. [If] the
Bush administration keeps trying to kill health and safety regulations at
this pace, soon we won't be able to eat, drink or breathe." Accepting for Margaret Carlson....Steve Forbes > Bring Back Bubba Award (for the Best Journalistic Lewinsky) Presented by John Fund Runners-up: "Elvis, the first rock star. Clinton, the
first rock star President....Clinton had a talent for convincing anyone
listening to him that he was speaking only to them, just as Elvis
convinced someone in the 100th row that he was singing only to them.
Presley drew on black culture for inspiration. Clinton draws on black
culture for solace." "Now, the return of the Prodigal Son.
The, you know, the man who left office disgraced, burdened down by at
least three major scandals that I can think of, got a hero's welcome
today, and I couldn't be happier.... And the winner is... "Throughout the eight years that he was
in office, President Clinton warned us that the next great menace was
international terrorism.... Accepting for Helen Thomas....Lucianne Goldberg > Gilligan Award (for the Flakiest Comment of the Year) Presented by Kate O'Beirne Runners-up: "[Senator Jim Jeffords] sings country
music with Trent Lott and other conservatives, but voted against
impeachment and for Hillary Clinton's health care plan. It's a record
perfectly suited for Vermont -- the first state to outlaw slavery, elect a
socialist to Congress, produce politically correct ice cream, and legalize
same-sex unions. Vermonters say they're not liberal or conservative,
just socially conscious." "After pepperoni pizza and banana
milkshakes once, I dreamed about Bill Clinton." Diane Sawyer: "Watching you and watching
you cover the news over the past year, you are so much about passion for
politics, and it doesn't matter to you, I mean -- I really mean
this." And the winner is... Bill O'Reilly: "I want to ask you flat
out, do you think President Clinton's an honest man?" Accepting for Dan Rather...."Dan Rather" Roast attendees heard an interview between Kate O'Beirne and Dan Rather made possible by the editing of audio clips of actual past Rather comments: O'Beirne: "Good afternoon, Mr. Rather,
and thank you for making time for us. Let me ask you first, straight out:
Is there or isn't there a liberal bias in the media, and where exactly
do you fall in the equation?" > Peter Arnett Award (for Hopelessly Foolish Wartime Reporting) Presented by Kate O'Beirne Runners-up: "We have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise
missiles from 2,000 miles away, that's cowardly. Staying in the airplane
when it hits the building, say what you want about it, not cowardly." "We all know that one man's terrorist
is another man's freedom fighter and that Reuters upholds the principle
that we do not use the word terrorist....To be frank, it adds little to
call the attack on the World Trade Center a terrorist attack." And the winner is... "The Pentagon as a legitimate target? I
actually don't have an opinion on that and it's important I not have
an opinion on that as I sit here in my capacity right now....I can say the
Pentagon got hit, I can say this is what their position is, this is what
our position is, but for me to take a position this was right or wrong, I
mean, that's perhaps for me in my private life, perhaps it's for me
dealing with my loved ones, perhaps it's for my minister at church. But
as a journalist I feel strongly that's something that I should not be
taking a position on. I'm supposed to figure out what is and what is
not, not what ought to be." Accepting for David Westin....Robert Dornan > Damn Every Conservative We Can Think of to Hell Award Presented by David Limbaugh Runners-up: "And we can't let Justice Thomas pass
on this. There's no opinion of his in here, he doesn't ask questions
in court. Does he do anything besides vote and rubber stamp Scalia?" Bill Maher, host of ABC's Politically
Incorrect: "I do think, if it turns out that this beautiful young
girl [Chandra Levy] is gone, I think, and he [Condit] is responsible in
some way, you have to look to Ken Starr for a little bit of guilt." And the winner is... "Can you deny that he distorted Mr.
White's record and basically engaged in what some would kindly call
character assassination?" "If he's [Ashcroft] so much of an
extremist liability, as you claim, what's his nomination say about
George W. Bush and his claims of compassionate conservatism?" "What do you think Senator Ashcroft's
distortion of your record and tarnishing of your good name says about his
character?" Accepting for Bryant Gumbel....William F. Buckley, Jr. > The Sore Losers Award for Refusing to Concede Bush's Victory in Florida Presented by David Limbaugh Runners-up: CNN anchor Paula Zahn: "If Al Gore had
gotten what he wanted, which was a statewide manual recount or a recount
of those four specific counties, George Bush still would have won. So I
wonder, and I'm going to put up on the screen now a paragraph from your
book where you once said, 'The wrong man was inaugurated on January
20th, 2001 and this is no small thing in our nation's history.' Do you
still agree with what you wrote?" "Should five of our nation's nine
Supreme Court Justices be in prison? That's the opinion of famed former
prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi. He says the justices who supported George W.
Bush in the election dispute are almost treasonous white-collar criminals.
He'll explain why. Because all that is right now on Rivera Live." "It is a scathing indictment of the high
court of the United States, at least these five conservative justices. And
I really, really, I urge law students especially, but anyone who's
interested in the machinations of the Court, to check this out. Vince
Bugliosi's The Betrayal of America." And the winner is... "Nineteen days after the presidential
election, Florida's Republican Secretary of State is about to announce
the winner -- as she sees it and she decrees it.... Accepting for Dan Rather....Katherine Harris
L. Brent Bozell III, President of the Media Research Center
Then, as a picture of each nominee was displayed, audience members were asked by Cal Thomas to hoot, holler and applaud to indicate their preference. It wasn't close at all. After huddling with the presenters (John Fund, Kate O'Beirne and David Limbaugh), Thomas announced the clear winner: Dan Rather saying he considers Bill Clinton to be "an honest man" and that "I think you can be an honest person and lie about any number of things." For the quote in full, scroll up to the "Gilligan Award (for the Flakiest Comment of the Year)" in item #1 above.
David related how he had called Marta, Rush's wife, to learn the results. He couldn't reach her and so left a message. A bit later Thursday afternoon, he told the MRC audience, while in the lobby of the Willard Inter-Continental Hotel before the start of the MRC's roast, his cell phone rang. To his pleasant surprise, the voice on the other end belonged to Rush and he was able to have a conversion with him inhibited only by Rush's request that David speak slowly. Rush soon passed the phone to Marta, David recalled. She informed David that she estimated Rush's hearing ability at about "80 percent," though that was only her personal judgment, not a medical assessment. That's great news and I'm sure we all wish Rush the best hearing possible. -- Brent Baker [2] >>>
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On
Thursday night, January 17, before an audience of more than 800 at the
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.,
the Media Research Center presented the "Dishonor Awards: Roasting
the Most Outrageously Biased Liberal Reporters of 2001."
The
Judges: To select the quotes, a distinguished panel of 14 leading
observers of the liberal media in action generously gave of their time to
serve as our judges. They reviewed five quotes in each of six award
categories. For each set of quotes the judges picked first, second and
third place choices. First place selections earned three points, second
choices were allocated two points with one point for third place picks.
The
Quote of the Year. Following the presentation of the awards, attendees saw
replays of four of the six winning quotes: Margaret Carlson on George Bush
making it so "we won't be able to eat, drink or breathe,"
Helen Thomas on missing Bill Clinton, Dan Rather on Bill Clinton as
"honest" and Bryant Gumbel on John Ashcroft.
Rush
Limbaugh's hearing "at 80 percent." When David Limbaugh came
up on the stage Thursday night he first informed the audience about a cell
phone conversation he had a few hours earlier with his brother. Rush
Limbaugh had his cochlear implant activated on Thursday.