Thursday, June 08, 2006

Predictable

You know, I really hate to wallow in the daily anti-meida whine that is the InstaPundit, but in his post rounding-up reaction to the Zarqawi death, the Professor from Tennessee quotes always reliable Tim Graham of the rightist Media Research Center thus:

ANOTHER UPDATE: Tim Graham:

It's sad that within minutes of announcing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death, the network morning shows were already carrying criticism of the Bush administration. Not only did NBC invite Sen. Joe Biden so he could attack Bush incompetence (funny day for that!), ABC's Bill Weir reminded the audience that Zarqawi beheaded American Nicholas Berg, and then replayed Berg's left-wing dad saying at the time that he had no desire for his son's killers to be killed. Weir then reported that he spoke to Berg's father this morning, and he condemned the Zarqawi killing as part of an endless cycle of retribution.

It's transparent stuff like this, of course, that gets them accused of spinning war news to make things look worse than they are, and to hurt Bush. Because, you know, that's what they do, every day. It's just more noticeable at times like this.


Sick. On the Berg matter, don't you think it would be of interest what the father of a man beheaded by Zarqawi had to say? Do you think Reynolds and Graham would be attacking the media for their Bush-hatred and their rampant anti-Americanism if Mr. Berg had said he was happy at the news of Zarqawi's death? Of course not. On the Biden matter, we are offered no evidence of the "attack", save for Mr. Graham's say-so. And yet how does the Bush-friendly "Note" from ABC describe Sen. Biden's appearance?

For now, morning comments from President Bush and Sen. Biden sounded remarkably similar. Praise for the troops and the significant victory and caution the
American people that there is much more work ahead.


Hm. That doesn't sound like much of an "attack" on Bush's "incompetence." But wait, there's more!

Sen. Joe Biden's (D-DE) — the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a likely 2008 presidential candidate — reaction to Zarqawi death on NBC's "Today":

"Great good news, there is a special place in hell reserved for Zarqawi and this is a significant hit." Biden went on to caution that "there is still a war in Iraq, a significant war. . . "

When asked if Rumsfeld deserves some credit for this, Biden replied, "Sure."

"There is still a guy named Sadr out there who has his own militia. . . There is still an insurgency made up of people not part of the Zarqawi network. . . We have a lot of work to do," Biden added. "But I don't want anything to take away from this event."

The Senator from Delaware also said that he hopes the event improves President Bush's approval ratings. "We get one president at a time. This election in November is not for President of the United States. . . I hope it does improve his standing and emboldens him to take bolder moves in terms of his policy in Iraq. . . His low ratings and his inability to rally support is a difficult position for the United States internationally."


So he hopes that the death of Zarqawi actually bolsters the Bush presidency? But to the warped ears of people like Graham and Reynolds, this is unconscianable (and possibly treasonous?) criticism.

And not to be missed, Prof. Reynolds's crocodile-teared rant over what he no doubt sees as the media's objectively pro-terrorist coverage. Read it all and be amazed.

And it's too bad that I have to spend so much of a post on a Zarqawi's death talking about the misconduct of the American press. But terrorism is an information war for the most part, and the press is, in various ways, empowering the terrorists.

No facts to back up this argument. No evidence. No links. Just invective. Well, I've got some of that for you, sir. Go to hell, Prof. Reynolds, you little, pathetic man.

UPDATE: I want to make this abundantly clear. Let’s say that Biden really did go on "Today" and denounced the president. Let’s say he said some really boneheaded things. By the Reynolds and Graham calculus, it would be the media’s fault for reporting Biden’s comments. It would be the media who was rooting for our failure. Indeed, Graham and Reynolds seem to think that it is an act of treason to even have a hawkish Democrat on the TV talking about Zarqawi in the first place. And in the case of Berg, it is the media’s fault for reporting his sad and demented comments about Zarqawi (apparently, this extends to the notorious anti-American traitors at Fox News, who also interviewed Berg).

In their weird world, it is the media’s fault for reporting what important and newsworthy people have to say. That’s all you need to know about these nuts.

LATER: Greg Sargent has similar thoughts.

Permalink posted by Jonathan : 11:34 AM



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