Via Bob Somerby, I found a link to a very good Gene Lyons column that puts the whole Dan Rather fiasco into proper perspective (Bob has been doing this all week, too, by the way, and it's very good reading):
Funny, but the last time CBS’ "60 Minutes" broadcast an unsubstantiated, ultimately discredited story embarrassing to the president of the United States, there was no investigation and nobody got fired.
Lyons is referring to star anti-Clinton witness, Kathleen Willey, and he goes on to talk about how the repeatedly discredited Swift Boat Vets kept getting airtime, how reporters routinely screwed up facts when it came to Kerry, Gore, Clinton, you name it.
Anyway, Bob is pretty upset that pundit programs keep scheduling "liberal" pundits on to talk about things like Dan Rather or Social Security, and these same pundits just keep screwing up. Part of the reason our side has a tough time getting our message out is basic incompetence. Right-wingers have their share of it, sure, but if they get caught in a lie, they just brazen it out and move on with no consequences.
One of ours gets caught screwing up, even if it's a debatable point (like it was with Rather or the more recent Eason Jordan), and the right-wingers in lockstep crucify the poor bastard. And we largely accept it because, hey, maybe they have a point, and we should be fair and argue this, and blah blah blah. What liberals need is a good healthy spokesman (like Dean) who can deliver an unapologetic smackdown once in a while. We have a few of them on Air America, and they are fun to listen to. I hope they keep expanding.
Posted by Observer at March 10, 2005 04:00 PMComments on entries can only be made in pop-up windows while those entries are still on the main index page. Sorry for the inconvenience this causes, but this blocks about 99.99% of the spam the blog receives.
I never watch CBS, so I didn't know how wacky Rather could be. Some of his quotes are doozies.
Posted by: Humbaba on March 10, 2005 04:15 PM