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Rather's Specious Powell Scoop; Cheney Praised & Tagged "Ultraconservative"; "Lick Bush" 8) Letterman's "Top Ten Shocking Facts About Dick Cheney."
Instead of ignoring the discredited story CBS News had posted on its Web site and trumpeted on its hourly radio news, CBS Evening News anchor John Roberts asserted the news about the selection of Dick Cheney came "after the Bush camp made one last failed attempt to get Colin Powell on the ticket." From Austin, Dan Rather, in order to salvage some part of his scoop, then misrepresented what he had reported earlier to suggest that he had only revealed how Alma Powell no longer opposed her husband accepting the position. In an interview with Bush, Rather seemed to try to wish his scoop true as he pressed Bush: "True or untrue, that you wanted General Colin Powell, and you made a real effort to get him to run with you?" Rather was unfazed by Bush's denial. Ironically, CBS's embarrassment occurred just five days after the CBS Evening News featured a piece on the unreliability of Internet stories. As Rich Noyes, Director of the MRC's Free Market Project reminded me, on July 19 anchor Bob Schieffer warned: "The Internet is a tremendous resource. You can find information on just about everything. But unlike other media, much of the information is unedited, meaning it's not necessarily accurate, and in some cases flat-out wrong and potentially damaging. Tonight, Wyatt Andrews reports the new electronic rumor mill in Eye on America." Andrews ran through canards about how the FCC wants to ban religious broadcasts, a plan for a five-cent tax on e-mails and how a Navy missile shot down TWA 800. Let's take the day's CBS News reporting in sequence, starting with the early afternoon posting of this story which was also highlighted on the hourly CBS Radio news, complimented by comments from Dan Rather. Here's an excerpt, preceded by the headline and three subheads: Bush Woos Powell For VP Slot Is a big surprise in the works in the GOP Veepstakes? CBS News Anchor Dan Rather has learned that George W. Bush and his father, former President Bush, are in "deep negotiations" with Colin Powell, trying to convince the Gulf War hero to accept the number two spot on the Republican ticket. Powell has repeatedly said he is not interested in the job, due in part to his wife Alma's reluctance to have him run. But the sources tell Rather she has given her permission and if he wants to run she would not be opposed to it. But Powell's office has denied that have been any talks between the retired general and the Texas governor regarding the vice presidency. "There is absolutely no substance to Mr. Rather's report. Gen. Powell's position remains unchanged. There have been no conversations of the kind suggested by Mr. Rather," Powell's office said in a statement. The sources stress that while no deal with Powell still has been struck, the discussions have intensified over the past 48 hours.... END Excerpt This story was posted, but may have been pulled down by CBS: http://cbsnews.cbs.com/now/story/0,1597,218136-412,00.shtml [3] At 2:44pm ET Reuters discredited Rather's scoop in this dispatch by Alan Elsner: A wave of dizzy speculation flashed through Republican ranks on Monday that Texas Gov. George W. Bush might pick retired Gen. Colin Powell for vice president but the story quickly died after Powell shot down the rumors. CBS News anchor Dan Rather reported that Bush and his father, former President George Bush, were trying to persuade Powell to join the ticket and that Powell's wife, Alma, had dropped her long-held objections. But Powell's office issued a statement denying the report. Powell would have been the first black American to run on the presidential ticket of one of the two major parties. "There is absolutely no substance to Mr. Rather's report. General Powell's position remains unchanged. There have been no conversations of the kind suggested by Mr. Rather," said Powell spokeswoman Peggy Cifrino. END Excerpt But that didn't deter CBS. Anchor John Roberts opened the July 24 CBS Evening News by insisting the Cheney decision came only "after the Bush camp made one last failed attempt to get Colin Powell on the ticket." From in front of
the Governor's mansion in Austin, as transcribed by MRC analyst Brad
Wilmouth, Dan Rather then tried to salvage his scoop, not mentioning the
Powell camp's rejection of his report: After some
perfunctory questions ("What can you tell me about your selection of
Vice President? Anything at all?"; "Have you made up your
mind?" and "Give us an insight. When did you make your
decision?"), Rather bore in to prove Bush really did pursue Powell:
"Well, true or untrue, that you wanted General Colin Powell, and you
made a real effort to get him to run with you?" Rather
followed-up: "Governor, I have to believe if it isn't true, tell me
it isn't true, that somewhere along the line that you said to Colin Powell
one way or the other, 'You know, you and I together could change the
country.'" +++ Watch Rather press Bush about Powell. Tuesday morning the MRC's Eric Pairel and Brandon Rytting will post a RealPlayer clip of this portion of the interview. Go to: http://www.mrc.org [4] 
Amongst Brokaw's
queries to Bush: -- "Isn't it
a political reality if you chose a vice presidential candidate who is
pro-choice you would have a revolt on your hands in Philadelphia?" Following a profile piece on Cheney, Claire Shipman checked in with Gore's latest attack on Bush's Texas record. She summarized his claim about a budget shortfall and allowed the state comptroller to insist there is still a surplus. Shipman declared that there was some overspending, but it will be covered by the surplus. Then, without any
substantive retort, she launched into a recitation of charges from unnamed
sources: "And new charges tonight: NBC News has talked with a group
of current and former state officials who have asked not to be identified.
They claimed inappropriate maneuvering last year to get George Bush's $1.7
billion tax cut through. And they say that hundreds of millions of federal
welfare dollars were shifted, against regulations, to a state program for
children in order to pay for the tax cut. Republicans insist there was no
impropriety and Bush says he welcomes the scrutiny."
-- ABC's World News Tonight, July 24. Joining Morton Dean's profile just after he reported Cheney's election to Congress from Wyoming: "From a reliably conservative state his voting record was reliably conservative. Opposed abortion and gun control, supported prayer in the schools." Dean later delivered this upbeat assessment: "Colleagues and friends say he is not only comfortable in high places, but is basically an unpretentious person." -- ABC's Good Morning America, July 24. MRC analyst Jessica Anderson caught this line from Diane Sawyer: "For 11 years, Congressman on Capitol Hill, famous for a strong conservative voting record and being king of understatement." -- CBS Evening News, July 24. Bob Schieffer with the "Real Deal" on Cheney. Schieffer began: "He may not be a household name, but I cannot think of any segment of the Republican Party that would be offended by Dick Cheney. He is an intellectual conservative and, first of all, he is a very safe choice." Schieffer wrapped-up: "Some will say that because he is so safe, so conventional and so solid he is just not very exciting." -- NBC Nightly News, July 24. Lisa Myers delivered the most glowing review of Cheney: "He's known as the quiet man from Wyoming. And today Republicans and Democrats agree the 59-year-old Cheney is one of the most competent, most respected, most liked men in his party." Myers later noted that in the House "his moderate manner softened a very conservative voting record and enabled him to work well with Democrats."
Here are two question from July 23 Face the Nation substitute host Gloria Borger. She asserted to Bush campaign manager Karl Rove: "But Bush is portraying himself as a compassionate conservative. If he's running with somebody who voted for all the Reagan budget cuts, for example, wouldn't that prove a bit of a problem?" And later to guest Bill Bennett: "He's very conservative. George W. Bush is not portraying himself as an ultraconservative. Wouldn't that be a problem?"
Former MRCer Clay Waters, now with Bridge News, alerted CyberAlert to the relevant passage in the story in the July 17 edition of the New York City weekly headlined, "The Perfect Swarm: A Hamptons Weekend." Reporters Andrew Goldman, George Gurley, Deborah Schoeneman and Rebecca Traister related their observations from their day in the resort area on July 7. Here's the key excerpt: 6:17 p.m.: Bridgehampton train station Chevy Chase, the comic actor and Maidstone Club member, stood by the pay phones as the Bridgehampton train station platform became a chaotic mass of people swinging luggage and looking for their rides. Mr. Chase, dressed in shorts, a polo shirt and sunglasses, was waiting for his own house guests. When asked if he noticed that the Hamptons seemed to be an angrier place these days, he said: "I've been coming out here since 1949. I've been angry since 1960." Mr. Chase walked through the parking lot to his BMW 735i and opened the trunk to stow his guests' luggage. "When we're at our house, nobody bothers us, we stay inside with our kids." Before he got behind the wheel, Mr. Chase called attention to his pro-Al Gore bumper sticker. "Don't mention that," he said, quite seriously. The bumper sticker read, "Lick Bush." END Excerpt To read the entire story, go to:
MRC analyst Jessica
Anderson caught Simpson's July 9 ABC News Web site-posted commentary,
which advocated in part: By that short-sighted reasoning, virtually all insurance is a rip-off. For her complete commentary, go to: Amongst the other quote headings in the July 24 Notable Quotables: "A Warning About Media Bias?"; "Quicksilver Spin of the Day"; "Clinton: Horny Man of Peace"; "Celebrating Another Entitlement"; "Criticizing Hillary: Implicitly Sexist"; "Caring vs. Conservative"; "Let's Take the Surplus and Apply It to Our Liberal Wish List"; "Fear the Soviets? Ha Ha Ha!"; "Heartwarming Democratic Unity vs. Nasty Republican Fratricide" and "See the Slums! Become a Liberal." To read the issue
as posted by the MRC's Eric Pairel, go to: For a the PDF
version which matches the layout of the hard copy edition, go to: For a link to Adobe's download page for a free copy of Adobe's Acrobat Reader so you can view PDF files through your browser, go to: http://www.mrc.org/notablequotables/2000/archive.asp [9]
In a July 24 New
York Post story pegged to Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes telling the
Television Critics Association that Fox broadcast stations will carry Fox
News coverage on election night, reporter David Li noted the presence of
Washington Managing Editor Brit Hume to promote FNC. Li relayed: The MRC and
CyberAlert provided plenty of examples. For the three most on Hume's point
about portraying life as great in Cuba, check out the transcripts and
RealPlayer video for these three examples: -- April 19 CyberAlert: NBC marveled at how the house where Castro will put Elian is "a mansion by Cuban standards" while CNN marveled at how "even by American standards" it's "luxurious." Both portrayed the placement as benign. Only FNC raised the issue of communist re-education. Go to: http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2000/cyb20000419.asp#1 [11] -- April 5
CyberAlert: The "Cuban good life" awaits Elian, promised NBC's
Jim Avila who predicted his family would get "perks like five free
gallons" of gas and a monthly bag full of beans, shampoo and
deodorant. Go to: -- Plus, for a
compete overview of media coverage of the Elian case, check out the MRC's
Special Report by Tim Graham, "Back to the 'Peaceable' Paradise:
Media Soldiers for the Seizure of Elian." Go to:
10. To make himself more appealing to Bush,
executed 47 people in Wyoming Okay, a somewhat lame list, as it probably must be to be understood by most in the audience who have no idea who Cheney even is, but certainly topical. -- Brent Baker [14]
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Dan Rather and CBS News refused to concede Monday night that their
afternoon story, on how George W. Bush and his father were in "deep
negotiations" to make Colin Powell the running mate, had been proven
false.
NBC's Tom Brokaw lamented the political infeasibility for Bush to pick a
"pro-choice" VP. Before George W. Bush sat down with Dan Rather
in Austin he spent some time with Brokaw at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.
Brokaw praised Tom Ridge, "a guy with a great record," but who
was rejected "immediately [by] the Catholic Church and Jesse
Helms." Soon after Brokaw's interview aired on the NBC Nightly News,
the show featured a piece by Claire Shipman on how sources told NBC that
Bush used "inappropriate maneuvering" to pass his tax cut and to
pay for it "hundreds of millions of federal welfare dollars were
shifted, against regulations, to a state program."
Likely Bush VP pick Dick Cheney earned approval on Monday from the
networks as all delivered positive profile pieces. Each made sure viewers
realized Cheney's conservative record. ABC referred to him as
"reliably conservative" and a "strong conservative,"
CBS tagged him an "intellectual conservative" while NBC labeled
him "very conservative." Nothing necessarily wrong with these
labels as long as the networks are equally vigilant next month during
speculation over Gore's VP and regularly describe candidates like John
Kerry as a "strong liberal" and "very liberal."
Reaganism and compassion in conflict? Dick Cheney an
"ultraconservative"? Two more examples from over the weekend, to
add to those cited above and in the July 24 CyberAlert, of network
reporters and analysts describing potential Bush VP pick Dick Cheney as
too conservative.
"Lick Bush." Letting it all hang out in the Hamptons, the swank
summer retreat on Long Island for the celebrity crowd. The New York
Observer last week spotted the risque anti-Bush bumper sticker on the back
of Chevy Chase's car, a sticker the liberal comedian/actor commanded the
reporter not mention.
A world without missile defense but with even more taxpayer money spent on
new entitlements and other liberal pet projects in urban areas. That's the
dream of Carole Simpson, anchor of ABC's World News Tonight/Sunday, and is
one of the quotes featured in the just-posted latest edition of Notable
Quotables, the MRC's bi-weekly compilation of the latest outrageous,
sometimes humorous, quotes in the liberal media.
Coverage of Elian demonstrated liberal media bias, FNC's Brit Hume told
television critics during last week's summer press tour in Pasadena,
California.
From the July 24 Late Show with David Letterman, the "Top Ten
Shocking Facts About Dick Cheney." Copyright 2000 by Worldwide Pants,
Inc.