May 22, 2005
OBLIGATORY REYNOLDSISM OF THE DAY
NEWSWEEK DISSEMBLED, MUSLIMS DISMEMBERED! (Ann Coulter, 5/18/05)
When ace reporter Michael Isikoff had the scoop of the decade, a thoroughly sourced story about the president of the United States having an affair with an intern and then pressuring her to lie about it under oath, Newsweek decided not to run the story. Matt Drudge scooped Newsweek, followed by The Washington Post.Not antiwar, just anti-American. Posted by David Cohen at May 22, 2005 2:44 PMWhen Isikoff had a detailed account of Kathleen Willey's nasty sexual encounter with the president in the Oval Office, backed up with eyewitness and documentary evidence, Newsweek decided not to run it. Again, Matt Drudge got the story.
When Isikoff was the first with detailed reporting on Paula Jones' accusations against a sitting president, Isikoff's then-employer The Washington Post — which owns Newsweek — decided not to run it. The American Spectator got the story, followed by the Los Angeles Times.
So apparently it's possible for Michael Isikoff to have a story that actually is true, but for his editors not to run it.
Due to visiting in-laws I watched the McLaughlin Group today. Bill Press, Eleanor Clift, and McLaughlin all took the "fake but accurate" approach and blamed Bush for everything. Pat Buchanan ignored the question and basically called for censorship of the press during war. Only Tony Blankley hit the right issue (this is a false story like Rathergate) but was shouted down.
Reminded me why I don't watch this show anymore.
Posted by: AWW at May 22, 2005 3:29 PMEleanor Clift is the most ignorant lefty on TV today.
They can't find an educated lefty to replace her ?
I thought that the left was all for maximizing human potential.
Ms Clift is the antitheses of that concept.
I used to watch McLaughlin every week.
Stopped in the run-up to the Iraq war. McL himself went insane at that time. As far as I can tell he's never recovered.
Don't know why Blankley bothers anymore.
As for Clift, I'm willing to give a lot of lefty journalists the benefit of the doubt -- the odious Frank Rich excepted -- and accept that they honestly think through the issues. Clift on the other hand simply reprints the latest DNC talking points. Literally. There's nothing else there.
Posted by: Jim in Chicago at May 22, 2005 4:26 PMOJ - I could see Pat's point that the press needed to keep national security issues in mind when it publishes. But he presented it in a way that gave ML, Eleanor, and Bill Press the opportunity to say that Bush and the GOP want to jail the press because he (Bush) is after all the Sith Lord. And my point was that Pat's argument was off topic and didn't address Newsweek and the liberal's "fake but accurate" mindset.
oj - This war isn't tough enough to warrant press censorship.
Posted by: pj at May 23, 2005 9:10 AM