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Why
is the Media Still Bashing Al Gore?
October
24, 2001
by Mike
Hersh
Notice the media is still bashing Al Gore? This is no change
for the "liberal" NY Times which led the charge against Clinton
and Gore -- Whitewater, Monica, Gore as a liar.
This relentless bashing let AWOL Bush keep the election close
enough to steal. The media hammered Gore and elevated Bush,
especially during the Election aftermath. The media echoed
Bush cousin John Ellis' FAUX News call that Bush won, and
cast Gore as the "Sore Loser."
Have you read the latest articles by Howard Fineman and others
that claim Gore supporters are glad their man "lost?" Most
of these absurd articles don't bother to name or even quote
these "Gore supporters." When they do, they claim the comments
"seem" to show Gore's most ardent and loyal supporters prefer
Bush. I am not making this up, they actually use the word
"seem!"
In fact, there is no such suggestion in any actual quote
from any named Gore supporter. Not one quote saying they prefer
having Bush in office. Little beyond but acceptance that Bush
is in the job now, and we have to make the most of it. So
why all the lies in the media? Why is the media still bashing
Al Gore?
The consortium results for the actual voting in Florida are
ready, or nearly so. Why all of these vicious, gratuitous
Gore slams, instead of stories about the real results in Florida?
We all know.
Same reason this went on nonstop for two years. The millionaire
media wanted their tax cuts. Their corporate bosses ordered
stilted, biased coverage to help Bush. For the past few years,
the media has defended AWOL Bush, and lied about Al Gore.
The NY Times, the Boston Globe, the Washington Post and many
other so called "liberal" papers slatherered affection on
AWOL Bush, and abused Al Gore. TV was worse than print, if
anything. Why expect them to change now?
It's hard to even remember how unfair, dishonest, and nasty
the media was to Al Gore! Remember debate "moderator" Jim
Lehrer abusing his position, hammering Gore at the end of
the 2nd debate and the start of the 3rd debate? The latter
in a surreal backhanded "apology" for lying about Gore in
the previous debate!
It's stunning how my own recollection of the vicious, nearly
unanimous Gore bashing in the media has faded. You can do
as I did, and check the archives at www.DailyHowler.com to
see the pundits, writers, and columnists calling Gore a pathological
liar, selfish, ruthless, and worse.
Most Americans assume the media is fair, if not biased in
favor of the Democrats and liberals. This is taken for granted,
and allows right wing politicians to hypocritically cite the
same sources that they slam when it fits their agenda.
Most Americans have no idea how beholden the mass media is
to the right wing, and how dirty the media and the Republicans
really are. I see and deplore the constant media assault on
Democrats and their hypocritical protection of Republicans.
A vicious cycle starts with RNC attack faxes filled with lies.
These picked up and amplified on right wing radio in print
tirades that turn vicious character assassination into "the
conventional wisdom."
I hope the planned documentary based on the excellent book
by Joe Conason and Gene Lyons, Hunting the President,
reaches a wide audience. In the book, these reporters prove
beyond any doubt that the "liberal" media used dishonest and
sloppy reporting to poison our politics and attack our democracy.
Often working closely with right wing activists including
infamous lunatics like Ann Coulter, and Ken Starr's officious
witch hunters, media giants like Newsweek, the NY Times, the
Washington Post, and others dumped outright lies into the
mainstream public discourse.
Respected papers like NY Times and Washington Post joined
the more obvious right wing attack rags like the Moonie Washington
Times media conglomerate which includes the UPI, the Murdoch
and Scaife empires. Media double standards, venal and often
personal agenda against Democrats, misled the public and helped
the right wing.
This is hardly new. Over the past few decades, we've seen
the media systematically butcher reputations and distort the
records of good people like Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale,
Mike Dukakis, Gary Hart, Bill Clinton, and Al Gore. Even their
friends, spouses and children were targets for attack, innuendo
and abuse. This same "liberal" media white washed hundreds
of crooked Republicans, protecting them from even slight scrutiny.
Only by knowing the details can we recognize and expose this
for what it is. A well devised, heavily financed, seamless
but utterly ruthless, Machiavellian media machine. It runs
nonstop, spewing Republican propaganda to manufacture consent
for increasingly extreme, short sighted, unfair, and failed
right wing policies.
Accept anything from the corrupt right wing media at face
value. We have to protest this. We have to demand accountability
from the media, and get the real news out as best we can.
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