Tuesday, February 22, 2005
On Guckert/Gannon and Hypocrisy
Roger Ailes:
"Why should my past prevent me from having a future?"Found via The American Street.
In the past:
He lied about a Democratic presidential candidate.
He lied about Democratic congressional leaders.
He lied to his employer and his readers when he plagiarized White House press releases.
He lied when conducting interviews, if you believe his current lies.
He lied about his identity.
When he got caught lying about his identity, he lied about the reasons for lying about it, and lied about being harassed.
He lied about his past.
He lied to cover up his lies about his past.
He lied about being subpoenaed by the grand jury, either when he said he had or he said he hadn't been.
He lied to the White House, if you believe the White House.
He lied to his potential johns.
You're absolutely right, James.
Your past shouldn't prevent you from having a bright future as a conservative journalist.
In fact, it should guarantee it.
Joe Conason:
How did this character obtain a coveted place in the White House? What did the White House press staff know about him? How does his story fit within the larger scandal of payola punditry, with federal funds subsidizing Republican propagandists in the press corps? Did someone in the Bush administration give him a classified document?
Such questions are evidently of little concern to our liberal media outlets, whose leading lights prefer to deliver prim lectures about the unwarranted invasion of Mr. Guckert’s private affairs and his victimization for his conservative views. In fact, everything known about him comes from material he posted on public Web sites, but that’s beside the point.
Imagine the media explosion if a male escort had been discovered operating as a correspondent in the Clinton White House. Imagine that he was paid by an outfit owned by Arkansas Democrats and had been trained in journalism by James Carville. Imagine that this gentleman had been cultivated and called upon by Mike McCurry or Joe Lockhart—or by President Clinton himself. Imagine that this "journalist" had smeared a Republican Presidential candidate and had previously claimed access to classified documents in a national-security scandal.
Then imagine the constant screaming on radio, on television, on Capitol Hill, in the Washington press corps—and listen to the placid mumbling of the "liberal" media now.
Definition:
hypocrisy
A noun
1 hypocrisy, lip service
an expression of agreement that is not supported by real conviction.
