Well here is one example from yesterday. Yesterday on Inside politics Dana Bash reported from Arizona on the Bush campaign. More on the flip.
Here is what
Bash had to say:
Now some Democrats have been openly accusing the president of playing politics here, trying to appeal to, even reward, his conservative who came out in great numbers for his re-election. And now Democrats, some, are saying that perhaps the president is being hypocritical. They are pointing to a piece of legislation he signed into law as Texas governor. They say in that law he made it possible for hospitals to discontinue life. The president's spokesman is responding to that saying that it's absolutely incorrect and that a 1999 bill he did sign into law actually made it harder to remove sustenance from a patient. And the White House says that anything to the contrary -- any accusation to the contrary -- is an uninformed accusation.
Good job Dana you figured out what the blogs had been discussing since 9 am, but here is the problem that is so rampant in our media its amazing. The money quote is at the bottom of the passage in bold. Now, the White House says we (liberals) are misrepresenting the 1999 bill, this is a classic he said she said debate, good media would simply go and look at the legislation in question and state what the actual law says! Simply saying he says this and they say that is not sufficient, I know you are lazy and this type of reporting is easier; in fact it requires little work on your part. So lets do the work for you since you are clearly incapable of doing it your self. Look here
(e) If the patient or the person responsible for the health
care decisions of the patient is requesting life-sustaining
treatment that the attending physician has decided and the review
process has affirmed is inappropriate treatment, the patient shall
be given available life-sustaining treatment pending transfer
under Subsection (d). The patient is responsible for any costs
incurred in transferring the patient to another facility. The
physician and the health care facility are not obligated to provide
life-sustaining treatment after the 10th day after the written
decision required under Subsection
Man that sure was tuff, you would think with all the research staff cnn has this task could be accomplished, but NO! I know it is discussed all the time but the way this type of reporting by all the media has significantly damaged our nation and politics is almost immeasurable. I don't have a problem with the media allowing both sides to state their case, even if one side is lying and really has nothing to offer the discussion, but and listen closely reporters; It is your job to state after both side has had its say what the facts of the situation are. I understand that some situations have grey areas, we're smart just explain it, we will understand I promise. But the above case clearly is either black or white, why would you allow Bush to lie?
I want to discus another issue at this point, Republicans and Bush love to talk about the nature of the press and its propensity towards gotcha politics. Remember Bush claims this is his rational for not dealing with the press. I would have to say that gotcha politics if not entirely, at least for Republicans no longer exists. And it is the he said she said reporting that has caused its demise. When was the last time you saw a Republican gotten by the media? This is a clear example of the administration lying and will we ever see this question asked by the media:
Mr. President a law you passed while governor of Texas, just yesterday caused the death of a baby against his parents wishes because they couldn't afford the care. How do you reconcile this with your current passion over the Schiavo case, some are saying in light of the babies death your current stance is simply a gross calculated position to garner political points from a women's suffering, how would you address these critics? As a follow up why didn't you or congress convene to save the life of this baby who would have lived a full life unlike the Schiavo women who is destined to remain in a vegetative state, what about the cases makes them so different?
No, never. That question would never be asked. The question needs to be asked at this point is there anything currently that prevents politicians from lying? For the Republicans the answer appears to be no, for us on the other hand we have a 400 million dollar a year watch dog, and they are damn efficient. It simply boggles the mind that the media hasn't figured this out. Daily Howler has a good discussion about this going on right now, it is on part 5 I believe, go read it. The silver lining is the passion and unity among the "netroots", we understand what is happening and the tide is beginning to turn because we are demanding better from the complacent media.