Jeez, this is beginning to be a regular feature these days. There were two egregious examples of bad journalism on NPR this morning and then, Steve Inskeep outdid himself in sheer chutzpuh.
Let us begin:
The first example comes to us from Mara Liasson. Mara, barely disguising her Kool-Aid toxicity, enlightened us about how public opinion and the two parties in Congress are struggling over the Iraq War and legislation. In her piece, Poll: Voters Down on GOP, Impatient with Congress, Mara states that the public gives Congress, and by this she means the new Congress with Democratic leadership, a 35% approval rating. This is down in Bush territory and dreadful news indeed! The people are angry that there's been a lot of talk but no actual legislation has been passed and she blithely concludes that what the public wants is for both parties to work together to solve problems.
What she doesn't say is that the Republican senate has blocked legislation that would raise the minimum wage, for example, and that even though Congress gave Bush all the funding he asked for, the president still vetoed the supplemental spending bill for Iraq. But let's hear it from Mara:
The Democrats are, dare I say it, sexier right now to the voters than Republicans are," Bolger says. "There's a lot more interest in what's going on on the Democratic side than on the Republican side. The political environment continues to be terrible."
There is a bright spot for Republicans, although it comes in the form of schadenfreude.
Approval ratings for the new Democratic Congress aren't any better than they are for the president: 59 percent of respondents disapproved of Congress, while 35 percent approved.
Even Democrats who were polled, such as Kenneth Lawanis of Clairton, Penn., aren't happy. Lawanis says the new Congress is performing "terrible."
"They're talking up a good storm, but nothing's happening," Lawanis says. "I want to see them get something through, get some laws through."
Stan Greenberg, the Democratic half of NPR's polling team, agrees that this is a challenge for his party.
"Gridlock is one of the things people don't like," Greenberg says of voters. "People do want both parties to work together. The Democrats need to move from Iraq to making some progress on other issues."
Yes, Mara, it's all Democrats fault. The Republicans are just innocent bystanders to the trainwreck. "Don't look at us. We just work here."
But, wait! There's more. According to Mara, the Republicans are united in their view of the Iraq war and this is a good thing but the Democrats are divided because they are trying to hammer out the best way to bring the war to an end and, because they are debating two different approaches, their disunity is baaaaad.
If you need to grind your teeth this morning, go listen to the whole thing.
On to Steve Innskeep. This morning, in his piece, House Committee to Consider DOD Budget, Steve reviews the proposed budget cuts that the Pentagon is threatening and that would have been funded by the supplemental spending bill. Yes, the DOD is whining that they will have to cancel missile defense systems that nobody wants and don't work anyway, as well as other more necessary items. But Steve, who once again has been asleep on the job, states twice that it was the Congress, and by this he can only mean the new Congress with Democratic leadership, failed to give the DOD the money it needed in funding.
Steve, if you're reading this, I'd like to bring you up-to-date. Congress passed a supplemental funding bill that would have provided all the things that the DOD asked for and more. Then they sent it to Bush and he vetoed it. Yes, that's right, Bush turned the money down. I know, it's shocking. After all, he had a month long hissy fit screaming, "Show me the money!" and then when Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, with great fanfare, sent it to him, he turned it down.
But Steve wasn't done. Noooo, oh my Droogs. Right after this perjurious piece of pulsing propaganda, Steve asked for money! Yes.
NPR is having a special fundraiser for Morning Edition and All Things Considered. You too can pay extra money, above and beyond the call of your normal public radio station contributions to have Steve, Mara, Juan and Cokie continue to Tokyo Rose us to death every single day.
Frankly, I am in awe of the restraint that the new Congress, and by that I mean the one with Democratic leadership, hasn't scrutinized the public radio budget more carefully. Maybe we don't need two hosts in the morning. Maybe we can get along with one, like we used to with Bob Edwards. Rene Montagne isn't perfect but she is easy on the ears. Maybe we don't need both Cokie AND Juan. Maybe we could pare the pundit welfare a bit. It's just pin money for Cokie anyway.
Hmmmm, what say you, droogs? Is this how you want to spend your milk money? I sure love WNYC. I listen with pleasure to Prairie Home Companion, Fresh Air and This American Life. I get some of my favorite music from New Sounds. Brook Gladstone is one of my favorite interviewrs on On the Media. Studio 360 is delightfully quirky.
NPR? ehhhhhhh, not so much.
Anyway, I'm not sending money for the upcoming emergency fundraiser until they get a piece of my mind.
If you feel likewise, you know what to do:
Contact NPR and/or the congressman of your choice.