In case you didn’t see it yet, Salon has an excerpt today from Eric Boehlert’s new book, “Lapdogs : How the Press Rolled Over for Bush.” Here’s a clip:
…The press corps’s barely-there performance that night, as reporters quietly melted into the scenery, coming at such a crucial moment in time remains an industry-wide embarrassment. Laying out the reasons for war, Bush that night mentioned al-Qaida and the terrorist attacks of September 11 thirteen times in less than an hour, yet not a single journalist challenged the presumed connection Bush was making between al-Qaida and Iraq, despite the fact that intelligence sources had publicly questioned any such association. And during the Q&A session, nobody bothered to ask Bush about the elusive Osama bin Laden, the terrorist mastermind whom Bush had vowed to capture. Follow-up questions were nonexistent, which only encouraged Bush to give answers to questions he was not asked…
(Fortunately for our struggling little Democracy, we occasionally get an informed citizen willing to stand in for the press and ask a hard question or two.)
Oh, and on the subject of recently released books, also check out David Sirota’s new one, “Hostile Takeover: How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government–and How We Take It Back.” It looks great. (Sirota was on Al Frankin’s show last week, but I haven’t been able to track down the audio yet.)
3 Comments
Eric Boehlert is right. But I want to know *why* the press rolled over for Bush.
I noticed this (it was pretty damn hard to miss) after the first Bush-Gore debate. Al Gore appeared magnificently presidential– intelligent, informed, wise. All Bush could do was look confused and stammer something about “fuzzy math.” Yet “the press” (my people, really) couldn’t stop talking about how well Bush did. I believe that, and the Oprah kiss, won him the election.
Humankind is, above all else, cowardly and fearful, Chelsea. My guess it that no one wanted to be the first to question the President, and thereby open himself or herself up to accusations of being a triator.
As you’ll recall, when people questioned the war in Iraq here on this site there was a venomous response from the right suggesting that those who spoke out were “pro-Sadam” and “anti-America.” The environment was not one of open, honest debate. Members of the press should have done the right thing, even if it meant being fired, but they sat back and went with the prevailing current. Democracy demands a free and open press, and we clearly did not have it two years ago. And, it’s debatable whether we have it now.
But the American people have balls to shave.
Actually, I was talking about *six* years ago. And, as far as questioning a leader already in office, that is not without precedent in American history, either. So…I dunno what’s up, or what *was* up with the press. Bizarre.