Part-Time Pundit

Blaming Karl Rove is so 2004 Apparently…

The press has demonstrated why a growing number of people don’t believe in the free press. In response to the Newsweek controversy of reporting a false story about Koran flushing (KoranGate), you’d think they’d be apologetic. Oh no, the MSM went on full offensive against the White House, despite the fact the truth is on the President’s side.

The press corps became unhinged when Scott McClennan suggested Newsweek help repair the damage. “Who made you the editor of Newsweek?”

Today, MSNBC’s own blogger suggests that the proper way to quell the controversy is for Scott McClennan to resign. Somehow Scott is responsible for Jeff Gannon getting a pass into the news room. But the most damning thought of the whole post is that somehow Gen. Myers and Scott McClennan’s statements are irreconcilable. He admits the absurdity of desecrating a Koran in order to get people to talk.

Gen. Myers said the riots were related to the ongoing political reconciliation process, Scott McClennan said the Newsweek story lead to the loss of lives. Let me check something.

Those look like Koran’s they are holding in a peaceful protest against the Newsweek article. Here’s a phrase that might help; “fueling the fire”. Sure, there were riots before the Newsweek article ran, but once that article did run the radicals took it and showed it to the people saying “the Americans really ARE desecrating our Koran’s, even the American media says that”.

Apparently though, because Jeff Gannon was in the press room (hint: I can get a press pass into the press room) the administration can no long complain about Newsweek running false and inflammatory articles that provide aid and comfort to the enemy. How many people died because of Jeff Gannon again? It’s as if Keith Olbermann is asking us to boycott Newsweek’s advertisers, or for that matter, boycott GE itself.

Blaming Scott McClennan for Newsweek running a false story that shouldn’t have passed the smell test was like CBS blaming Karl Rove for running forged documents to prove Bush didn’t do his Guard duty. The public is watching, and the trust in the MSM has just gone that much lower. There is no point to having a free press in this country if the press, instead of informing the public with real information, is going to be a sounding board for Al Qaeda. At least of we outsource the media to Al Jazeera we know what to expect.

This article first appeared at Ravings of John C. A. Bambenek

May 18th, 2005 Posted by John Bambenek | The MSM | one comment