I'm not a prolific diariest here at DKos and someone else most likely would have covered this topic with better flair, style and substance. But I cannot find a single diary that has touched upon this, so I had to blog this myself ...
Did anyone catch the 60 Minutes piece on Barney Frank last night? I can't think of any other way to describe it other than an orchestrated hit job by Lesley Stahl on Barney Frank, if it weren't for Frank's incredible (and hilarious) off-the-cuff retorts.
I'll do what I can to describe the disaster on the flip ...
Basically, the premise for the story was solid. As the chairman of House Finance and Banking (not sure of the exact committee title), Barney Frank has been one of the most influential people involved in the numerous finance / economic developments over the past few months. And the fact that Barney Frank is one of the most colorful people in Congress only promised to make for some really good TV (by my political junkie standards).
But I can't think of any other way to describe the piece other than a complete embarassment for CBS. I never thought Stahl was that great of a reporter. Her pieces have certainly lacked the insight and depth of some of her colleagues' work. But the Frank story last night was just downright embarassing. She came across as an ignorant rightwinger, attacking Frank via liberal stereotypes, asking questions without giving him a chance to respond, clearly redacting the responses he was able to get in, and basically framing every portion of the story from a conservative (and inaccurate) position.
For those reading this post now who hadn't a chance to see the story last night, I'd like to reassure you I'm not the kind of blogger who views things through a partisan lens, who can't appreciate the validity of others' views, and who sees anti-liberal conspiracies in TM pieces that aren't overtly partisan. But viewing this story through as an objective a perspective as possible, I find it difficult how anyone could consider Stahl as anything short of a conservative hack who somehow scored an incredibly influential position as a 60 Minutes contributor.
I don't have links to video of the story, or a transcript. For those who can track that kind of thing down (and are so inclined), please add them in the comments section. But I just wanted to post this, to fill what seemed to me like an obvious void in DKos' coverage, to see if other Kossacks had a similar take on the story.
And Happy Holidays, everyone.