Ocotillo
01-14-2005, 03:44 PM
The conservatively biased media strikes yet again.
http://www.dailyhowler.com/ (Bush Lies)
THE PETER PRINCIPLE: President Bush is an ambitious man. He wasn’t content to lie in the face of that young farmer at Tuesday’s big forum (see THE DAILY HOWLER, 1/13/05). The following day, he actually went to a local high school and lied to the students there too! Yes, this really is what the strange man said to a roomful of trusting teen-agers:
BUSH (1/12/05): It’s hard for me to come to a high school class and look at our youngsters and say the Social Security system is in good shape when I understand it's not. To the seniors of America, nothing's going to change when it comes to your Social Security check. But if this Congress doesn't join this administration in working to reform and strengthen Social Security, we will not be able to look at the high school seniors of today and say we have done our duty in protecting Social Security for you; for after all, the system will be bankrupt by the year 2040.
And now is the time for the United States Congress to join with the administration to save and strengthen Social Security for generations to come. (Applause.)
Incredible! Social Security “will be bankrupt by the year 2040?” In fact, according to the CBO, the system will pay full promised benefits through the year 2052—and even after that year, the CBO says, the system will continue paying benefits that are larger than those being paid today! But those high school students didn’t know that—and their principal didn’t complain when their president vastly misled them. And so they applauded the strange, disturbed man who seems to take his greatest joy from misleading those who most trust him.
And how did your “press corps” respond to all this? We think you know what your “press corps” did—they ran to hide behind their desks, pretending that they hadn’t noticed Bush’s wild misstatements! On Tuesday’s NBC Nightly News, David Gregory played tape of Bush at his forum saying that SS would be going “flat bust”—but the pandering fellow (pet name: Stretch) never told viewers that Bush’s statements contradicted all budget projections. It’s a simple matter of objective fact: In fact, there is no projection in which SS goes “flat bust” at any point, let alone in the year 2040. Gregory should have reported those facts. Instead, he played tape of one of Bush’s misstatements, then pretended he didn’t know how bizarre the statement was. But so it goes as Pandering Pundits help spread their king’s disinformation.
Indeed, none of the networks challenged Bush’s wild misstatements at Tuesday’s forum; none of the networks told their viewers what their strange leader had done. As we’ve seen, NBC played tape of Bush, then offered no comment about his wild statements. But at ABC, Peter Jennings found a smoother way to cover for dissembling Bush. When he reported on Tuesday’s forum, here’s what Jennings said:
JENNINGS (1/11/05): We're going to take “A Closer Look” tonight at the president's plans for changing the Social Security system. In fact, you can expect it fairly often on this broadcast. At the White House today, Mr. Bush warned that Social Security would go bankrupt unless Congress steps in. There is, of course, some argument about that. But there's no question that baby boomers will place great strain on Social Security as they retire. And by 2042, by some measures, the system may not have enough cash to pay full benefits. The president, as you may have heard, wants to let Americans divert some of their Social Security taxes into private investment accounts. And that might cost $2 trillion over ten years, and certainly force some tough choices in Washington. For a take on this, here's ABC's Robert Krulwich.
Jennings even said some things that were accurate; specifically, he gave an accurate (if highly truncated) account of what the SS trustees have said. “By 2042, by some measures, the system may not have enough cash to pay full benefits,” he correctly told ABC viewers. But at that day’s forum, the president had made wild misstatements about this very matter—statements which were vastly misleading. The great president had made a string of misstatements. All of Bush’s wild misstatements needed to be addressed.
So what did Peter Jennings do? Unlike Gregory, he didn’t play tape of Bush’s wild statements. Instead, he politely “cleaned up” what Bush had said, offering a blander, vaguer version of Bush’s wild misstatements. “At the White House today, Mr. Bush warned that Social Security would go bankrupt unless Congress steps in,” Jennings politely said. Of course, even that statement would be misleading; SS is never going “broke” or “bankrupt” (let alone “flat bust”), as Bush and Jennings know full well. But Jennings’ account of what Bush said was vaguer and milder than Bush’s wild statements. Jennings avoided the need to challenge Bush by tamping down what had been said.
Again, a note from Earth to the Washington press corps: When a president stages a major forum, then makes wild misstatements about major policy, that will almost always be the biggest news event of the day. When a president baldly misstates basic facts, that is a major news story! But on Tuesday evening, none of the three big networks told their viewers what Bush had done. At NBC, Gregory played tape of one wild statement, then pretended he just didn’t notice. But Jennings established a great Peter Principle: Deftly, he sanitized the things Bush had said, pretending the wilder misstatements hadn’t happened. And with that action, he joined our list of Pandering Poobahs for Bush:
http://www.dailyhowler.com/ (Bush Lies)
THE PETER PRINCIPLE: President Bush is an ambitious man. He wasn’t content to lie in the face of that young farmer at Tuesday’s big forum (see THE DAILY HOWLER, 1/13/05). The following day, he actually went to a local high school and lied to the students there too! Yes, this really is what the strange man said to a roomful of trusting teen-agers:
BUSH (1/12/05): It’s hard for me to come to a high school class and look at our youngsters and say the Social Security system is in good shape when I understand it's not. To the seniors of America, nothing's going to change when it comes to your Social Security check. But if this Congress doesn't join this administration in working to reform and strengthen Social Security, we will not be able to look at the high school seniors of today and say we have done our duty in protecting Social Security for you; for after all, the system will be bankrupt by the year 2040.
And now is the time for the United States Congress to join with the administration to save and strengthen Social Security for generations to come. (Applause.)
Incredible! Social Security “will be bankrupt by the year 2040?” In fact, according to the CBO, the system will pay full promised benefits through the year 2052—and even after that year, the CBO says, the system will continue paying benefits that are larger than those being paid today! But those high school students didn’t know that—and their principal didn’t complain when their president vastly misled them. And so they applauded the strange, disturbed man who seems to take his greatest joy from misleading those who most trust him.
And how did your “press corps” respond to all this? We think you know what your “press corps” did—they ran to hide behind their desks, pretending that they hadn’t noticed Bush’s wild misstatements! On Tuesday’s NBC Nightly News, David Gregory played tape of Bush at his forum saying that SS would be going “flat bust”—but the pandering fellow (pet name: Stretch) never told viewers that Bush’s statements contradicted all budget projections. It’s a simple matter of objective fact: In fact, there is no projection in which SS goes “flat bust” at any point, let alone in the year 2040. Gregory should have reported those facts. Instead, he played tape of one of Bush’s misstatements, then pretended he didn’t know how bizarre the statement was. But so it goes as Pandering Pundits help spread their king’s disinformation.
Indeed, none of the networks challenged Bush’s wild misstatements at Tuesday’s forum; none of the networks told their viewers what their strange leader had done. As we’ve seen, NBC played tape of Bush, then offered no comment about his wild statements. But at ABC, Peter Jennings found a smoother way to cover for dissembling Bush. When he reported on Tuesday’s forum, here’s what Jennings said:
JENNINGS (1/11/05): We're going to take “A Closer Look” tonight at the president's plans for changing the Social Security system. In fact, you can expect it fairly often on this broadcast. At the White House today, Mr. Bush warned that Social Security would go bankrupt unless Congress steps in. There is, of course, some argument about that. But there's no question that baby boomers will place great strain on Social Security as they retire. And by 2042, by some measures, the system may not have enough cash to pay full benefits. The president, as you may have heard, wants to let Americans divert some of their Social Security taxes into private investment accounts. And that might cost $2 trillion over ten years, and certainly force some tough choices in Washington. For a take on this, here's ABC's Robert Krulwich.
Jennings even said some things that were accurate; specifically, he gave an accurate (if highly truncated) account of what the SS trustees have said. “By 2042, by some measures, the system may not have enough cash to pay full benefits,” he correctly told ABC viewers. But at that day’s forum, the president had made wild misstatements about this very matter—statements which were vastly misleading. The great president had made a string of misstatements. All of Bush’s wild misstatements needed to be addressed.
So what did Peter Jennings do? Unlike Gregory, he didn’t play tape of Bush’s wild statements. Instead, he politely “cleaned up” what Bush had said, offering a blander, vaguer version of Bush’s wild misstatements. “At the White House today, Mr. Bush warned that Social Security would go bankrupt unless Congress steps in,” Jennings politely said. Of course, even that statement would be misleading; SS is never going “broke” or “bankrupt” (let alone “flat bust”), as Bush and Jennings know full well. But Jennings’ account of what Bush said was vaguer and milder than Bush’s wild statements. Jennings avoided the need to challenge Bush by tamping down what had been said.
Again, a note from Earth to the Washington press corps: When a president stages a major forum, then makes wild misstatements about major policy, that will almost always be the biggest news event of the day. When a president baldly misstates basic facts, that is a major news story! But on Tuesday evening, none of the three big networks told their viewers what Bush had done. At NBC, Gregory played tape of one wild statement, then pretended he just didn’t notice. But Jennings established a great Peter Principle: Deftly, he sanitized the things Bush had said, pretending the wilder misstatements hadn’t happened. And with that action, he joined our list of Pandering Poobahs for Bush: