Kennedys: Heroic Royal Family
"It's been decades since the
label of 'Our Royal Family' was applied to the Kennedys. But now with
another generation climbing the political ladder with another unbelievable
meeting of joy and sorrow, this may be one of the rare times when a
manufactured media label may actually be close to the mark."
- Jeff Greenfield on NewsStand:CNN
& Time, July 18.
"The life of the Kennedys is one of the great American sagas. Poor
immigrants, the Kennedys and the Fitzgeralds came here in the mid-1800's
escaping the potato famine of their native Irish soil. And from that humble
arrival in Boston they built over the generations a dynasty of great wealth,
political power and cultural impact unparalleled in their time. And, they paid
a terrible price."
- NBC Nightly News anchor
Tom Brokaw, July 19.
"I would say to conservatives out there, to Republicans, to anybody
watching, whether they loved Ronald Reagan or Barry Goldwater or Franklin
Roosevelt, whatever. What this family represents is the idea of heroism in
politics."
- Newsweek's Howard
Fineman on CNBCs Hardball, July 19.
Emoting Over Kennedy Mystique
"We Americans, even those among us who have never liked the Kennedys' politics, have long been fascinated by the Kennedy mystique. Or as some call it, the Kennedy myth. The dictionary defines mystique as 'an aura of heightened meaning surrounding something to which special power or mystery is given.' A myth is 'a traditional story dealing with ancestors or heroes, a story that shapes the world view of a people or delineates the customs or ideals of a society.' By those definitions, like it or not, there is a Kennedy mystique and their history is mythic....
"What we do know is that some of
the aching grief the family feels tonight we feel because the mystique and the
myth are deep within us. That's 48 Hours for tonight, an American
Tragedy."
- Dan Rather concluding 48
Hours, July 19.
Oh, Vanishing Camelot!
"With the death of JFK Jr.,
there is now only one survivor of Camelot. That, of course, is Caroline
Kennedy, the little girl who walked her father to the Oval Office and rode a
pony on the White House lawn. And now grown up with a family of her own,
Caroline remains our only link to those golden years."
- Today co-host Katie
Couric, July 19.
Creating Another Myth in Death
"He laughed off attempts to
elevate his status but, in fact, he was as close to royalty as this country
had."
- Tom Brokaw, July 17 NBC
Nightly News.
"For many of us, this weekend evoked memories of two summers ago and
another death, Diana, Princess of Wales. She was an actual princess. JFK Jr.
was the closest thing this country had to a prince. They both died in their
mid '30s in tragic accidents on summer weekends. Diana had once suggested
that JFK Jr.'s approach to fame might be a useful model for her son."
- Today co-host Matt
Lauer, July 19.
"Blessed with a handsome face and a famous name, ample wealth and
five-star celebrity, JFK Jr. was the golden boy of his generation, a darling
of magazine covers (the sexiest man alive, cooed People) and a sort of
American royal. He was our closest equivalent to Princess Diana, a comparison
that his sudden loss will now make inescapable."
- Newsweek's Kenneth
Auchincloss, July 26 issue.
"He was more than our 'Prince Charming,' as the New York tabs called
him. We etched the past and the future on his fine face."
- Newsweek Senior Editor
Jonathan Alter, July 26 issue.
"He Was America's Prince. An Icon of Both Magic and Grief Who Flew His
Own Course to the Lost Horizon."
- Headline over eight pages of Time's
July 26 cover story.
Poor, Brutalized Hillary
"And it started. [In] the New
York Post today, a column, oh, I won't mention the woman who wrote it
but it, it's like they're going after her already on day one: she
exaggerates her accomplishments, she has a sense of grandeur, she is deluded,
she bends the rules for herself, she has a narcissistic personality disorder.
This is gonna get really, really rough."
- ABC's Good Morning
America co-host Charles Gibson to former Hillary Clinton aide Lisa Caputo,
July 7.
"But George, you can hear the questions now: How did you feel about the
President having sex with another woman in the White House while you're
First Lady. How you're gonna be sitting in the Senate one day and you might
have to judge a President about lying to the public et cetera, et cetera. The
questions are gonna be brutal."
- Gibson to George
Stephanopoulos, same show.
Hillary's Strength: Media Drivel
CNN anchor Bernard Shaw:
"Now wait a minute now, this woman brings a lot of strength."
Newsday columnist Jimmy Breslin: "What
strength?"
Shaw: "Don't you agree that she brings a lot of
strength to what she is trying to do?"
Breslin: "No, I think that the strength comes from a lot
of people on television or in newspapers that just write drivel."
- CNN's Inside Politics,
July 8.
The GOP Protects Evil HMO's
Reporter Bob Schieffer:
"Pushed by the big insurance companies, the Republican majority stuck
together as expected and killed the Democrats HMO reform plan, plank by
plank. On near party line votes, Republicans killed the Democratic proposal to
give doctors, not insurance companies, the final say on treatment. Too costly,
Republicans said, and by the same logic killed plans to let women designate
gynecologists as their primary doctors, guarantee access to emergency rooms
and allow HMO patients access to experimental treatment. The new President of
the American Medical Association, the group that speaks for doctors, was
furious."
Dr. Thomas Reardon, President, AMA: "The Senate has now
said that insurance company profits come first and patients come last. This is
a real setback to patients."
- July 14 CBS Evening News
story which failed to mention how trial lawyers would benefit from the
Democratic bill.
"You and your HMO. What happens if something goes terribly wrong? Can you
sue? Not if the HMO is regulated by the federal government. The Republican
majority in the U.S. Senate made sure that remains the case in a heated debate
and a vote that tonight has the Democrats in full cry."
- Tom Brokaw opening the July 15
NBC Nightly News.
ABC Pushes Gore Left
"But Im curious, if you favor
registration of every handgun, why didn't you put it in the proposal? If you
want to regulate handguns, why not do that as well, as we do with every other
consumer product?"
- Good Morning America
co-host Charles Gibson pressing Al Gore from the left, July 12.
To the "Far Right" of Bush
"Somewhat north and far to the
right of George Bush, there was this presidential primary cookout put together
by a coalition of conservative groups who are feeling a little ignored."
- CNN's Candy Crowley at a New
Hampshire cookout featuring Sen. Bob Smith, July 4 The World Today.
Gore and Bradley: Centrists
"Even among Democratic
candidates, Vice President Gore and former Senator Bill Bradley, both are
toeing the centrist party line. For the first time, there's no Tom Harkin,
no Ted Kennedy, no traditional Democrat vying for the nomination."
- Reporter Campbell Brown on
MSNBC's The News with Brian Williams, July 14.
"Paul, do you miss the left these days? The center is where the action
is. As one of our correspondents pointed out here last night, there is no true
liberal to be found in this race. There's no Harkin, there's no Kennedy,
there are just two centrists that, watch them very closely, will become more
so."
- MSNBC's Brian Williams to
Paul Begala, same show, July 15.
Katie Couric, Feminist Killjoy
"And we're back with a couple of members of the U.S. women's soccer team. You know I just had to ask you all this question because I'm sort of conflicted about it, and I know you all are too. Brandi and Julie . But I know Brandi, for example, you posed. It was a beautiful photograph. I mean you have an incredible body, may I say that on national television? [shot of nude photo of her from side with vital parts hidden, in Gear magazine] But you know, I'm wondering about some of the mixed signals that little girls might be getting. I asked somebody earlier this morning. Sex sells. So in order to sell soccer, do you have to sell sex? But what about the whole concept of 'booters with hooters' and not 'soccer moms, soccer mommas!' And kind of making you all appealing on that level. Do you feel completely comfortable with that, or should you tell me to lighten up?"
"Is that how you feel, Julie? I
know you were in Sports Illustrated in a bikini running with your
husband, which is a completely innocent photo, but I'm sure some hard core
feminists are gonna say, 'Wait a second, whats going on here?'"
- Katie Couric to Brandi
Chastain and Julie Foudy of the World Cup-winning women's soccer team, July
12 Today.
Glorious Sports-Bra Symbolism
"Women's liberation in the
early 1970s: The most visible sign of defiance against male oppression was
burning your bra. Women's liberation in the late 1990s: The most visible
sign of achievement is showing your bra, well, your sports bra
anyway...Women's undergarments are still often about selling sex. Thats
Victoria's Secret. But for now on, thanks to Brandi Chastain's little
gesture, they also represent strength, success and a new comfortable place for
the women's movement, one of the great social movements of the 20th
century."
- Newsweek's Jonathan
Alter on the July 12 The News with Brian Williams on MSNBC and the July
13 Today on NBC.
Publisher: L.
Brent Bozell
Editors: Brent H. Baker, Tim Graham
Media Analysts: Jessica Anderson, Brian Boyd,
Geoffrey Dickens, Mark Drake, Paul Smith, Brad Wilmouth
Research Associate: Kristina Sewell
Circulation Manager: Michelle Kunzler
Interns: Joyce Garczynski, Ken Shepherd