Blitzer, Lauer ignored Dems' recently released security platform while allowing Republican guests to claim Dems lack an "agenda"
SUMMARY: Just days after the Democratic Party released a national security plan, CNN host Wolf Blitzer and NBC Today host Matt Lauer simply ignored the release and allowed -- and even encouraged -- Republican guests to suggest the Democrats have no "agenda." This continues patterns by CNN and Today of largely ignoring the Democrats' security plan, despite repeatedly reporting or commenting on the Democratic Party's purported lack of clear alternatives to the Republicans.
Just days after the Democratic Party released a national security plan, CNN host Wolf Blitzer and NBC host Matt Lauer simply ignored the release and allowed -- and even encouraged -- Republican guests to suggest the Democrats have no "agenda." During an April 4 interview on CNN's Situation Room with Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), who recently announced that he is resigning from Congress and abandoning his re-election bid, Blitzer left unchallenged DeLay's claim that "[t]he Democrats have no agenda. They have no ideas. They have no solutions." Similarly, during an April 4 interview with former Republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan on NBC's Today, Lauer asked Buchanan: "What is their [the Democrats] agenda, other than pouncing on Tom DeLay?" Predictably, Buchanan replied that the Democrat's "don't have a really positive, attractive agenda," and asserted their only positions are to "censure Bush and raise taxes." According to a Nexis database search, Today hasn't covered the Democrats' security proposal even once; as Media Matters for America has previously noted, CNN also largely ignored the Democrats' security platform when it was released, despite repeatedly reporting or commenting on the Democratic Party's purported lack of clear alternatives to the Republicans.
In the early afternoon on March 29, the Democrats held a 40-minute press conference announcing the release of their new national security agenda, "Real Security: Protecting America and Restoring Our Leadership in the World." The proposals include screening 100 percent of containers and cargo entering the United States, boosting the size of the U.S. Special Forces and National Guard, ensuring that troops have better body armor, providing more resources to first responders, and allotting greater funding for veterans benefits.
Blitzer's failure to mention the Democratic security platform was consistent with CNN's scant coverage of the Democrats' plan when it was announced on March 29. As Media Matters previously noted, over the past year, CNN hosts, anchors, and reporters have repeatedly commented on the Democratic Party's purported lack of a clear plan or concrete set of alternatives on issues ranging from Social Security to the war in Iraq. Blitzer himself has repeatedly referenced a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll that found that 70 percent of Americans believe Democrats have no clear plan for Iraq. "The Democrats seem to be all over the place," he said on one occasion after reading the poll numbers. But on the day that Democratic leaders announced a broad national security strategy, CNN barely covered this development, instead devoting an hour and a half of uninterrupted coverage to a speech by President Bush on Iraq, his third such speech in two weeks. Moreover, when CNN finally reported on the Democrats' national security plan, it omitted any details about the proposals put forth by the congressional leaders.
Similarly, a Nexis search of Today transcripts found that Today failed completely to report on the Democrats' national security proposals, and Lauer repeated the failure by suggesting that the Democrat's agenda consists of "pouncing on Tom DeLay." The day after the Democrats' announcement, Today addressed subjects such as the following: how to find the "perfect white pants," Major League Baseball's intention to launch an investigation into steroid abuse, and the history of Grace Kelly's wedding dress.
Media Matters has previously documented the broader pattern in the media of giving scant attention to Democratic proposals, while simultaneously asserting that Democrats lack ideas.
From the April 5 broadcast of NBC's Today:
LAUER: Isn't it different, except for this too, back in 1994, the Republicans capitalized with a bold idea. They had Newt Gingrich's Contract with America. And, so the question is, what are the Democrats putting forward now? What is their agenda, other than pouncing on Tom DeLay?
BUCHANAN: Their agenda is censure the president and raise taxes. They don't have a really positive, attractive agenda. And that's the one hope the Republican Party has got, Matt. They make it not a referendum on the president or how we've done, but a contest between red and blue. Do you want taxes down or do you want the president censured? That's the only way the Republican Party can come back. I think they are in real trouble. If the election were held now, they would certainly lose the House, but I think they have got a chance. And frankly, the president is a fighter, and he's a good campaigner. This isn't gonna be a 10-point difference by the fall.
From the April 4 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:
BLITZER: Some of your critics already have come out, and you know this quite well, and they say there are other reasons in effect right now; that the timing of your decision coming on the heels of a couple of your former top aides pleading guilty and now cooperating with federal prosecutors in this expanding lobbying investigation involving Jack Abramoff; that, that may have had a role to play in your decision to step down.
DeLAY: I made this decision before I even knew that [former aide] Tony Rudy was going to plead guilty. Those are people that believe in the politics of personal destruction. They've been trying to destroy my reputation for 10 years. They're trying to criminalize politics. The Democrats have no agenda. They have no ideas. They have no solutions. All they have is the politics of personal destruction. There is nothing that connects me to Abramoff or any of the activities that they have. I am not a target of this investigation. I haven't even been interviewed by these investigators.
BLITZER: How do you know you're not a target of the investigation?
DeLAY: The Department of Justice has told my lawyers that I am not a target.
BLITZER: They have formally told your lawyers you are not a target?
Notice how often our Conservative visitors on this board regurgitate this same charge? How often have you heard it from the parrots on talk radio and cable TV? Essentially, the Republican defense is "We suck, but at least we HAVE an agenda."
This is pure nonsense, of course. Tommy will come on here and tell us that the Dems can't win by just running against Republican corruption. Oh, really? How did Newt Gingrich take the house in 94? By running against Bill and Hillary's "corruption". The "Contract on America" was a last minute stunt. How many of those initiatives are law today? Hmmmm. Negative politics WORKS. The Democrats should be shouting Republican dishonesty and corruption from the rooftops.
George Duhhbya Bush, was infected with RRD (Rovian Repetition Disease) at least 10 years ago and there is growing evidence that he contracted it intentionally rather than accidentally.
This disease has spread far and wide, affecting many politicians as well as journalists and other teleprompter-readers in the MSM.
The only known antidote, a cocktail of sorts, is to both speak the truth and report the facts.
This can be very painful for some, impossible for others.
Going to be the anchor for the CBS evening news for a whopping $15MM a year. Blows my mind that CBS thinks hiring a journalistic lightweight for their evening newscast. These guys just have no shame, and it just amazes me that a guy like Lauer can give Delay that kind of a leading question - basically providing him with the response he's looking for. It is SO sad that the only person on TV that will cut through the BS and ask a difficult question is Jon Stewart, who hosts a "fake" news show. His questioning of McCain the other night was tougher and more direct than I have EVER seen on a major news program - he called him on his kissing up to the religious wingnuts like Falwell right to his face. Could you just imagine the ratings CBS would get if they put Stewart and his writers on and gave them the real news to report in a humorous way? It would be a stroke of genius, far more bold than hiring an empty no substance shell like Couric.
I saw the interview with McCain and it was a real interview with REAL questions. John Stewart never tossed a single softball talking point question. It was interesting watching Mccain squirm, and equally sad that the best interview of a politician in months if not years appeared on the Comedy Network.
The fruition of decades of work by conservatives to paint the big media as "liberal" (the mind boggles at the term) has netted this kind of result. The goal posts have been moved so far to the right that "journalists" such as Lauer don't even know the playing field is not even. They have swallowed and ingested conservative rhetoric for so long they don't even know when they are biased against liberals.
Have to admit it has been very, very effective.
Keith Olbermann doesn't seem to have swallowed the pill but most have on cable tv.
And, as I and others have stated ad nauseum, this was no accident. They've been working on this castration of the press at least since the late 80s, maybe even longer. I think if anyone ever digs deep enough, they'll find a direct money pipeline from the GOP, maybe even the Whitehouse, to various "friendly" journalists. Hell, they've already caught two columnists red-handed. If you're willing to bribe columnists, why not people like Chris Matthews or Tim Russert?
Follow the money, although we also must not forget the very powerfull: follow the ideology
...took pride in holding folks accountable?
We're reverted. We now have Medieval sensiblities and only the court jester, Jon Stewart, is allowed to speak the truth. Meanwhile, Lauer, Blitzer, and other press nobility cower before the King.
...that's what you get when you're able to buy the press. The corporate/gov't gladhanding has effectively nullified the voice of the MSM. Couric -- a relatively bubble-headed morning talk show host soon to be elevated to legitimate newscaster -- is the latest example of 'dumbing down' the press.
do Lauer and Blitzer and other pander to the Right because they want to remain on television? Do you think they'd be fired or minimized if they behaved like members of a free press?
What about their manhood? And womanhood? Aren't they ashamed to submit for the sake of still more money and fame?
Actually, I do believe that the corporate influence upon our standard news media is immense...if not oppresive. There's little by way of 'free press' in today's standard news, I believe.
Personally, I don't think it has anything to do with 'manhood' or 'womanhood', as you asked. It's about money. Look at the GOP ... all of this, I believe, has little to do (really) with conservative or neocon philosophy.... it's about hording and controlling wealth and power.
...ultimately, the ideals of integrity and honor, patriotism, etc are sold for greater and greater amounts of money.
I'm believing the same, that the necons aren't the party of values because they value evermore money and power. They'll do or say whatever serves acquisition. Words like feminist and liberal and pro-union, which are articulations of equity, have become dirty words. But men and women that care about equity must still exist in the MSM. So, what's happened to their voices? How explicit are their masters in silencing them?
I think we made a bigger deal about 9-11 than it deserved. Yes, it was horrible. HORRIBLE. Yes, 3 thousand people died. But was it worth the loss of voice? Of equality? Of integrity? Of trillions of borrowed dollars?
Every generation has had its trials. My grandparents faced Hitler and Hirohito. WWII and the deaths of 50-60 million people. Whole cities burned. But they didn't, in their fear, give up their freedoms and the freedom of the press. I think my generation has been made soft by consumption. It's lulled us. Made us sleepy.
The notion of 'sedation'...i've often semi-jokingly referred to the average American knowing much more about American Idol and Paris Hilton than they do about where our tax dollars are being spent... Only when there is some major calamity (like 9/11) where folks feel genuine fear for themselves and their ways of life, does anyone seem to take notice. And then, there's mass hysteria.
I do believe there are real journalists and legitimate news organizations out there -- MMFA being one. Yes, there's a 'liberal' slant... but, the basis for MMFA's cause, I think, is objectively seeking truth -- much like the scientific method seeks progress through objective analysis, not mere conjecture (something the opponents of evolution or science in general seem unable to understand...) The information must be free, open to critical analysis, and open to modification and change.
My main beef with this right wing, GOP, neocon ethos...whatever you want to call it... it is patently anti-intellectual, fosters and feeds off of peoples worst traits (fear being number one)... and, for all the cries and pleas for piety and morality... I see only the opposite (crime, treason, killing, torture, etc). We live in a crazy time... thankfully, these creeps are such bad crooks, they're blowing it big time and getting caught.
Free press is currently a thing of AM radio and the internet... because there's little money in it. I'm not claiming money is the root of all evil... I'm a capitalist and I enjoy the freedoms and luxury of free commerce. But, the insane amounts of money being thrown about by the corporate influence these days -- I really think these folks just can't see anything else.
We have to continue to educate ourselves.... as well as help halt the malaise in those around us. I get hot under the collar often about some folks' responses to the issues raised, etc... but, I've greatly enjoyed sharing viewpoints and ideas with the folks on this site (you included, of course!)
You're a pal. Sometimes it's hard to come to MM and the other sites I frequent. What people say, such as Rush and BOR, and what they won't say, such as this neocon administration, it grinds at me.
But I come because I find sagacity here...a lot of it. And, of course, that includes you too.
What some people will do for money, especially that kind of money. Just imagine, if you can, how different your life could be if you made a seven-figure salary. That kind of money elevates you into a different class, and a different mindset. It has become obvious to me that the Iraq war is motivated primarily by greed and profiteering. Look at the members of the administration who have corporate connections and stand to gain immense wealth now and after they leave public life. People are willing to send others to their deaths for money...why would they hesitate to "shade the truth" just a little?
Personal integrity...or financial independence for me and all my descendants? Would I choose correctly? I can only hope so.
See Phil Donohue, Mike Wallace
To me, the only thing worse than the present course of action being adopted by Congressional Democrats, a passive "do and say nothing" approach to confronting the Administration (typified by their their failing to confront the Administration on the FALSE or FALSIFIED 'pre-invasion intelligence')...
...the only thing worse I say, than this 'talk softly and raise a lot of funds and get beaten with a stick at election time' course of action on the part of Congressional Democrats...
...is to have it pointed out (ridiculed even) by Lauer and Blitzer.
Check that; the one is not worse than the other; the salt is not worse than the wound.
NOT SURPRISE NOW LOOK AT CNN AND FOX NEWS DOING AN OVER KILL ON TH MCKINNEY CASE. AND LOOK HOW FOX NEWS ARE NOW DOWN PLAYING THE REPORT ABOUT LIBBY TODAY. NOW LET'S SEE IF WOLF WILL HAVE A WHOLE SHOW TALKING ABOUT LIBBY AND THE PRESIDENT!!! DON'T THANK SO AND IF HE DO HE WILL MAKE ACCUSED LIKE FOX NEWS IS DOING ALREADY.
The "Dems don't have a plan" canard works well because, in pathetic prophetic fashion, the media ignores any and all Democratic press releases.
They're all over Howard Dean's inhuman wail and the handful of dumb things Kerry said (he did say a few that were stunningly dumb; hardly a point of contention considering the constant gush of dumbness from #43).
Then a piece of Democratic news crosses the wire sans screams or dumbness, such as their national security platform, and it's yawn! who wants to read boring stuff like this, into the circular file, log on and see if that Dean guy has said anything I can parse and misquote and distort.
It's hard to get the word out when those who control the flow of the word won't give you equal time.
will never be a news anchor. I mean, really.
The concept of a free and fair media has just about evaporated under King George II. For every Helen Thomas, there are 10 Jeff Gannons. The mainstream media has turned into a circus of sychophants whose sole purpose is to nod their heads in unison as the King issues his decrees from on high.
Looking for real journalists? Good luck finding them on TV or on the radio. Print may be the sole bastion of truth now, and even that is questionable. Even once-neutral NPR has turned into a Republican shill.
Disgraceful.
to deny your opponents have a position than to debate them on policy.
ANOTHER excellent catch, MMFA.