Gibson (Faux) Baselessly Attacks Stephanopoulos For Not Defending Bush’s Prosecutor Purge

[babylonsister]

It's "still" all about the Clenis.:eyes:

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/29/gibson-stephanopoulos/

Gibson Baselessly Attacks Stephanopoulos For Not Defending Bush’s Prosecutor Purge

On Fox’s “The Big Story,” John Gibson recycled the well-worn strategy that the right-wing has turned to often whenever they’re in trouble — blame Clinton. To focus attention away from Kyle Sampson’s testimony today, Gibson turned his sights on former White House communications director and current ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos.

“As partisans and pundits circle the White House like vultures,” Gibson said, “there’s one man keeping his mouth shut — that is George Stephanopoulos.” Gibson claimed the ABC newsman is “not talking about his own personal experience as President Bill Clinton’s White House communications director back when Clinton ordered Janet Reno to fire every single U.S. attorney.” He decried “silent Stephanopoulos” for “sitting back now and letting the public beat up on Bush for doing the same thing Clinton did.” Watch it:

Gibson is grossly misleading his viewers about both the Stephanopoulos record and the Clinton record. Two important points need to be made in response:

1) Unlike pundits at Fox News, it’s not Stephanopoulos’ job to defend President Bush. As an objective journalist, Stephanopoulos hasn’t stayed “silent” on the attorney scandal. He has covered the issue for ABC, even acknowledging on his Sunday show (3/18) that he testified under oath before Congress with a transcript when he worked in the White House.

2) Bush’s purge is unprecedented; not the same thing as what Clinton did. Mass firings are common when a president takes office. Reagan and Clinton fired 89 prosecutors early in their administrations, and Bush fired 88. But as current and former administration officials have confirmed, Bush’s purge of well-qualified prosecutors for partisan reasons is unprecedented.

Transcript:

GIBSON: But as reporters, partisans and pundits circle the White House like vultures, there’s one man raising suspicions, keeping his mouth shut — that is George Stephanopoulos. He is now ABC’s chief Washington correspondent, host of the prestigious ABC Sunday political show. And he’s covering the story. But what he’s not talking about is his own personal experience as President Bill Clinton’s White House communications director back when Clinton ordered Janet Reno to fire every single U.S. attorney — all 93 of them. There was no fuss over the issue then, so why is silent Stephanopoulos sitting back now and letting the public beat up on Bush for doing the same thing Clinton did?

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Gibson has become...

Quite divorced from any objective reality.

[TerdlowSmedley]

2. Something I don't understand about Gibson . . .

Notwithstanding that he's a nutty, shrill, right-wing hack, but I can't remember ANY news organization allowing anyone that damned UGLY to anchor a TV news broadcast. Any theories? What gives here?

[vankuria]

3. Gibson plays to his audience

He knows the average Fox viewer is simpleminded, dumber than a box of rocks, never lets facts get in the way of their narrow worldview, and froths at the mouth anytime Clinton can be blamed for whatever mess Bush makes.

[Bucky]

4. It's like they're not even putting any thought into their talking points anymore.

I watched a video of the old Buckley-Vidal debates from the 60s this morning. I remember when, nutty as they were, Republicans could at least carry a logical and consistant train of thought in their arguments. Today's conservatives find it easier to just deny or ignore the facts they don't like and keep on blabbing past the point of good manners.

How sad. How shameful.

[Jack Rabbit]

5. Gibson speaks

:boring: