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09/30/2002 "The President is quoted in the Washington Post this morning as saying that Democratic, the Democratic-controlled Senate, is 'not interested in the Security of the American people'. Not interested in the security of the American people?…That is outrageous, outrageous. The President ought to apologize to Senator Inouye and every veteran who fought in every war who is a Democrat in the United States Senate. He ought to apologize to the American people. That is wrong. We ought not politicize this war. We ought not to politicize the rhetoric about war and life and death." (For the full text of Daschle's 'speech', click here.) Senate Majority Leader Daschle's excuse for this tantrum on Wednesday, 09/25/2002, was poor reporting in the Washington Post (click here) of a campaign fundraiser address given by the President, although a pundit here and there let slip that he had attended a Democratic Party "message" meeting just prior to his ill-informed blubbering. The way the news coverage of this event was handled is interesting. The Ones That Got It Right CNN, FNC, and NBC offered basically balanced reporting; correctly pointing out that President Bush was speaking, not about war on Iraq, but about the Homeland Security Bill. FNC alerted viewers to this statement by Bush a few seconds after the quote that made Daschle so mad: "People are working hard to get it right in Washington - both Republicans and Democrats. See, this isn't a partisan issue." NBC's Lisa Myers noted, "All of this grows out of the President's demand that workers in the new Department of Homeland Security not be given civil service protection as Senate Democrats want." Tim Russert, also of NBC, suggested that Daschle was playing catch up with another 2004 presidential candidate, Al Gore, by getting his own licks in against President Bush and thus making himself more appealing to the Democratic Party's "peace wing". The Misleaders ABC's Peter Jennings began his broadcast by sensationalizing the story: "Good evening from Washington. There are several things of national interest here today. A new report on the cost of health care, the President on who is more dangerous - al Qaeda or the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein - and a nasty argument between grown men about American security and special interests - by which we mean the debate about what's to be done in Iraq" Following that untruth, Linda Douglass launched into the lead story: "A lot of anger, Peter. Few people can ever remember seeing Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle as visibly enraged as he was today. In an extraordinary speech, Senator Daschle ripped into the President for suggesting the Democrats don't care about America's security… Today the White House said Mr. Bush was talking about his battle with Democrats over the new Department of Homeland Security, not the war with Iraq. But Daschle says there was a hidden message that Democrats are soft on defense, reluctant to fight." Next a clip of Republican Senator Trent Lott reminding Daschle that Saddam Hussein is the enemy, not President Bush. Douglass continued: "As Republicans needled Daschle, some of his own party complained that Democratic leaders have been too eager to go along with the president." The example for this point - none other than ultra-liberal Senator Dianne Feinstein: "The fact that the President enjoys very high popularity makes it difficult for some people to do what they see as crossing him." Douglass' conclusion: "California's Feinstein has gotten 10,000 calls against the war, 200 in favor. She argues the U.S. should not rush into war with Iraq. Feinstein says that many of her colleagues agree with her but have been afraid to say so until today. But now that Senator Daschle has expressed such outrage toward the White House, and many Democrats agree with him, some have begun questioning the war publicly." How interesting that Feinstein appears to be more concerned with the number of calls her office gets than the facts of Saddam Hussein's evil behavior! And note that this news story ends with the assumption that President Bush really was talking about war with Iraq and not the Department of Homeland Security. Over at the CBS Evening News, Dan Rather teased the story this way: "A capital firestorm: Senate Democrats blast back at President Bush for what they see as his election year questioning of their commitment to U.S. security." His opening comments: "Iraq and Saddam Hussein, not the U.S. economy, continue to be the talk of Washington. Some analysts see this as an advantage for President Bush and Republicans in the election year battle for control of the Senate, whether he intended that to be the case or not. Against this background, some of Mr. Bush's campaign rhetoric has resulted in a fierce Democratic Party rebuttal." Reporter Bob Schieffer began his story with the basics of what happened then jumped to a new tactic. Over a picture of Senator Inouye during WWII, he said: "Democrats literally lined up behind Daschle, including Inouye of Hawaii, who lost an arm fighting the Nazis and who spoke more in sorrow than anger: Sen. Inouye: "There are those who plan war and there are those who engage in war." Schieffer: "Byrd of West Virginia all but went into orbit." Sen. Byrd: "It's insulting, it is wrong, wrong, wrong." Schieffer continued while pretending that the facts were somehow in dispute. "Republicans claim the President was just chiding the Senate for not passing the homeland security bill. The president himself denied he was politicizing the issue." Clip of President Bush at the White House: "My job is to protect the American People. It is my most important job, the most important assignment I have and I will continue to do that regardless of the season." Schieffer: "Publicly, Republicans backed the President, but privately even some of the President's friends believe he has made a tactical mistake because a large number of Democrats here were on the verge of giving the President just the authority he's been asking for to deal with Iraq. Now some of those Democrats believe the President has hit them below the belt and that's going to complicate things." Let's note here, again, emphasis on war with Iraq although it is obvious from the context of Bush's speech that he was talking about the Department of Homeland Security. Join me in letting ABC and CBS know that we know they are twisting the facts. Below is the contact information. ABC World News Tonight CBS Evening News with Dan Rather E-mail: evening@CBSnews.com Read more here: ABCNews.com: Mixing War and Politics When you feel your personal media bias tolerance gauge rising into the red zone, don't throw stuff at the TV screen! Send your suggestion to outrage@fairpress.org! Each week, one hideous example of media bias will be selected for closer examination. Hmmmmmm . . .
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