AP: Associated Putzes
Michelle notes how the AP disguises editorial comment as reportage:
[H]ow about this fair and balanced Associated Press wire dispatch on the upcoming news conference:
“Bush Is Expected to Scold Congress Again”
President Bush, entrenched in disputes with Congress over spending and the war in Iraq, wants to intensify pressure on lawmakers when he addresses the media on Tuesday. It will be his first news conference in nearly seven weeks.
The president is expected again to admonish Congress for not sending him spending bills, intelligence legislation and tax-law changes. Bush, taking advantage of his veto power and the largest bully pulpit in town, regularly scolds Congress as a way to stay relevant and frame the debate as his presidency winds down.
Democrats counter that Bush is more interested in making statements than genuinely trying to negotiate some common ground with them.
Not bad. But that’s as nothing compared to this passage brought to my attention by James Taranto’s Best of the Web column:
When the hostages had been released and their alleged captor arrested, a regal-looking Hillary Rodham Clinton strolled out of her Washington home, the picture of calm in the face of crisis.
The image, broadcast just as the network news began, conveyed the message a thousand town hall meetings and campaign commercials strive for–namely, that the Democratic presidential contender can face disorder in a most orderly manner.
“I am very grateful that this difficult day has ended so well,” she declared as she stood alone at the microphone. . . .
It was a vintage example of a candidate taking a negative and turning it into a positive. And coming just six weeks before the presidential voting begins, the timing could hardly have been more beneficial to someone hoping to stave off a loss in the Iowa caucuses and secure a win in the New Hampshire primary.
Do they hand out pom-poms with journalism degrees now?
Doc said,
December 4, 2007 @ 11:20 am
It was neither negative or positive. It was plain out sad. None of it had anything to do with Hillary Clinton. It was like witnessing an Army Colonel climbing out of his helicopter brandishing his weapon “after” the battle and then receiving a medal for bravery. Disgusting.