8.19.2005

Would that a President Suffer an Anchorman's Fate!

In a recent post, the honorable Mr. Varones described his joy at watching CBS' ratings go in the tank after Dan Rather botched the Bush/National Guard piece. Imagine if the public (and Mr. Varones') were to hold the same critical candle to Mr. Bush...

What did it take to destroy Mr. Rather's--and his network's--credibility? The anchor was tricked into using a false source in reporting a story whose essential truth was never called into question. It amounted to a fairly serious journalistic error, made by a man no doubt blinkered by his own political leanings. Nonetheless, it's safe to say nobody died because of it.

Compare this to Mr. Bush's deceptions, triangulations, and backtracking on Nigerian uranium, Plame-gate, free trade, etc., and one might fairly wonder why he still acts as torchbearer for the Fair-and-Balanced crowd. After all, American lives and livelihoods actually depend on this man's statements and actions.

If we raise a furious chorus against the victim of a small fraud, perhaps we can muster the integrity to also call to account the perpetrator of a much larger one.

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