With the Obama administration and their friends in the media denouncing the sometimes loud dissent that liberals are facing in town hall meetings on health care, it’s worth recalling how some of those same journalists celebrated the anti-Bush dissenters and denounced what they claimed was the Republican administration’s attempts to stifle dissent.
Back in 2006, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann attacked what he called President Bush’s “portable public chorus” (does President Obama have one of those?) For telling “those who dissent...[that] we are somehow un-American.” PBS’s Bill Moyers in 2003 found it “galling” to see “all those moralistic ideologues in Washington...attacking dissenters as un-American.”
In 2003, Olbermann saluted protests: “It is political dissent that created this country and sustained it and improved it.” But on Friday’s Countdown, Olbermann called the anti-Obama protests “societal sabotage,” determined that the grassroots groups are “fake” and insisted that “the protestors are not interested in hearing any voices other than their own.” (But the anti-Bush protesters were open-minded?)
That same night, ABC called the protests “ugly,” while CBS termed them “nasty.” Also on Friday, former CNN reporter Bob Franken scolded the “organized intimidation” of “a crazed group of people,” whom he described as “partisan groups that whip up their fear-of-change ultra-conservative base.” MSNBC ran graphics on Monday about “unhinged” conservatives “scaring seniors” with their “health care hysteria.” Those don't doesn't sound like efforts to elevate dissent as a key element of a healthy democracy.
For those with short memories, here are a few examples of how liberal reporters talked about dissent during the Bush administration:
■ Co-host Harry Smith: "[Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan] talks about the failure of mainstream media to hold the Bush administration’s feet to the fire in the run-up to the war. Is that an allegation that feels to you like it has merit or not?"...
CBS anchor Katie Couric: "I think it’s one of the most embarrassing chapters in American journalism. And I think there was a sense of pressure from corporations who own where we work and from the government itself to really squash any kinds of dissent or any kind of questioning of it. I think it was extremely subtle but very, very effective. And I think Scott McClellan has a really good point."
— CBS’s The Early Show, May 28, 2008.
■ “Whatever you think of its policies, the current administration has been more secretive, more mistrustful of an inquisitive press, than any since the Nixon administration. It has treated freedom of information requests with contempt, asserted sweeping claims of executive privilege, even reclassified material that had been declassified. The administration has subsidized propaganda at home and abroad, refined the art of spin, discouraged dissent, and sought to limit traditional congressional oversight and court review.”
— New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller delivering the Hugo Young Memorial Lecture in London, as reported by Britain’s Guardian newspaper, November 29, 2007.
■ “When those who dissent are told time and time again — as we will be, if not tonight by the President, then tomorrow by his portable public chorus — that he is preserving our freedom, but that if we use any of that freedom, we are somehow un-American; when we are scolded, that if we merely question, we have ‘forgotten the lessons of 9/11;’ look into this empty space behind me and the bipartisanship upon which this administration also did not build, and tell me this: Who has left this hole in the ground? We have not forgotten, Mr. President. You have. May this country forgive you.”
— MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann on September 11, 2006, ending his Countdown with a commentary from the site of the World Trade Center.
■ “This has been a year in which dissent, especially taking an unpopular or minority political opinion, has been attacked by people like Mr. O'Reilly. In the last year, it has not been enough just to disagree with dissenters. Many of us have decided it is necessary to silence them. Which is really kind of ironic since it is political dissent that created this country and sustained it and improved it. But ask the Dixie Chicks about how well this year we Americans kept our pledge to be tolerant of dissent, our delight in disagreeing with your opinion but being willing to fight to the death to protect your right to express it. ”
– Keith Olbermann on MSNBC’s Countdown, Sept. 29, 2003.
■ Peter Jennings: “Finally this evening, what it sometimes costs to be in the minority and say what you think publicly. There is nothing like a war to create tension between some of those who most fervently support it and those who do not. And as we’ve seen in the case of this war, when those who are opposed happen to be in show business, well, some other people want to make them pay....”
Actor Tim Robbins: “A chill wind is blowing in this nation.”
Jim Wooten: “In Washington this week, Robbins criticized the political climate in which his right to express his views has come under attack....All this has reminded some of the McCarthy era’s blacklists that barred those even accused of communist sympathies from working in films or on television.”
— ABC’s World News Tonight, April 16, 2003.
■ “Across the country, citizens have been coming out to voice their opposition, all calling for the same things. They want government accountability, they want environmental justice, and most of all, they’re calling for peace....While protesters like today are a statistical minority, in American history protests like this have been prescient indicators of the national mood. So the government may do well to listen to what’s said today.”
– ABC correspondent Chris Cuomo previewing an afternoon protest rally planned for Times Square, on a special five-hour Saturday edition of Good Morning America, March 22, 2003, three days after the war in Iraq began.
■ “I decided to put on my flag pin tonight...I put it on to take it back. The flag’s been hijacked and turned into a logo — the trademark of a monopoly on patriotism. On those Sunday morning talk shows, official chests appear adorned with the flag as if it is the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, and during the State of the Union did you notice Bush and Cheney wearing the flag?...More galling than anything are all those moralistic ideologues in Washington sporting the flag in their lapels while writing books and running Web sites and publishing magazines attacking dissenters as un-American.”
— Bill Moyers on PBS’s Now, February 28, 2003.
■ “It’s an obscene comparison, and I’m not sure I like it, but there was a time, in South Africa, where people would put flaming tires around peoples’ necks if they dissented. And in some ways, the fear is that you’ll be necklaced here, you’ll have the flaming tire of lack of patriotism put around your neck. Now it’s that fear that keeps journalists from asking the toughest of the tough questions and to continue to bore in on the tough questions so often. And again, I’m humbled to say, I do not except myself from this criticism.”
– Dan Rather on the BBC’s Newsnight program, May 16, 2002.
—Rich Noyes is Research Director at the Media Research Center.
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Comments Policy
I don't know if it's
August 11, 2009 - 16:37 ET by contraryI don't know if it's possible to find more of a hypocrite than Keith Olbermann. How could anyone possibly deny the double standard?
Er... any Keith Olbermann fans in the house?
"No I have the facts"
--The resident Joe Friday
When the ship starts sinking
August 11, 2009 - 16:50 ET by obageegeeI suspect when the Administration begins to take on more water, the rats in the MSM will come pouring out. Of course Olberdouche will go down with the ship.
Olbergoebbels.....
August 12, 2009 - 03:19 ET by adamsmithNo, Keitho the Klown will be living in a rubber room before the ship goes down....This half witted Obama tool is unravelling just a little bit more everyday. If I was GE, I'd want my money back from this lunatic, or at least have insurance for any mental breakdowns.....
KO: the woooorst hypocrite in the woooorld!
August 11, 2009 - 19:02 ET by needle- Relying upon the State Run Media for your information is like relying upon an embezzler for your portfolio management.
Time for a poll?
August 11, 2009 - 16:53 ET by The DistributistTime for a poll: Is Olberman less qualified to commentate on sports, or politics? I am torn - He sucks at both, but I think he sucks more at politics. But becuase of the dimension of his suck at politics, it taints any latent ability he may have had at sports. I'm sure Shakespeare had some pithy retort here... what is it, Keith?
"Modern man is staggering and losing his balance because he is being pelted with little pieces of alleged fact which are native to the newspapers; and, if they turn out not to be facts, that is still more native to newspapers." -GKC
Yeah Scott "What Happened"?
August 11, 2009 - 17:12 ET by SkipperMLMWhat happened to the media and loving dissidents? Scott McClellan is a perfect example as how the media fawned all over him and his book because it trashed the Bush Administration and everything the mainstream media hates about America as a great nation.
Rich.. who was Bush's "portable public chorus?"
August 11, 2009 - 17:43 ET by Gary HallYou noted:
"All those?" I need names, Bill Moyers.
Oh indeed, I recall not being able to get away from that media frenzy (and it carried right to the left wing street around the country) about all of the "un-American" attacks from the Bush administration - and on the street, usually, quoted as Bush and Cheney using the term. I remember challenging a number of folks who claimed that they'd heard it, to find the quote. Not a soul ever came up with it.
As I read the numerous blatherings from past years on the issue, they remind me of exactly what I remember; is anyone quoting anyone here, or simply repeating the rumor - the rumor that someone somewhere called someone un-American, or un-patriotic (that was another one) - none of these reporters, here mentioned a name, did they? I almost think that they practically made the entire story up.
I'd imagine, however, that someone must have said as much. I rather doubt that it ever came from the white house, but if it were, it would have been retracted almost immediately. Certainly it could have popped up on a conservative radio show somewhere (there were many opportunities), but I'm going to bet that it was the MSM, itself, that looked for, and found a little tremor out there, and created 99% of the shrill reaction.
Could have it gone like this; some radical left wing editor (Jordan -yo, ya paying attention here) referring to our soldiers as nothing more than murderers of women and children - that invoked the un-American charge.
Goodness - this today is about discussing social programs - let's have an open and spirited debate. It's all very American; perhaps even patriotic.
(;~/ gary
The hypocrisy oozing out of
August 11, 2009 - 18:41 ET by Indiana JoeThe hypocrisy oozing out of the MSM these days is nothing short of astounding. "Dissent" apparently comes in two flavors: "good" dissent and "bad" dissent.
"Good" dissent is anything in support of gays, atheists, illegal immigrants, criminals masquerading as "artists," abortion, higher taxes, surpressing conservatives, and any other part of the Democrat Socialist party platform.
"Bad" dissent is disagreeing with any of the above.
May God save America.
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."-John Adams
How about good and bad news coverage?
August 11, 2009 - 19:07 ET by needleWould that there was good trustworthy news coverage as well as bad insipid and untrustworthy news coverage.
- Relying upon the State Run Media for your information is like relying upon an embezzler for your portfolio management.
There's no winning an
August 11, 2009 - 20:39 ET by RR GOPThere's no winning an argument with nor shaming TASS with evidence and other rational stuff. Just don't watch them.
But eventually they'll get bailed out by the government and blather away. I doubt we can win this struggle.
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 86% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.
Yet another liberal saying
August 11, 2009 - 21:04 ET by black47211Yet another liberal saying hateful and ignorant things when Mr. Bush was in office who are now having their words used against them.
Not a big believer in "karma", but I definitely see the "reap what you sow" principle in full-effect.
Thank God we have the ability to go back in time and capture stuff like this. It gives me a not so small sense of, dare I say it?, vindication.
HUH?
August 11, 2009 - 21:05 ET by fstaffOlbermann is still on TV?
Olbermann has said that
August 11, 2009 - 22:36 ET by 24enakOlbermann has said that shouting OVER legitimate concern and debate about the Obama Health Care Reform is Un-American, because that impedes free speech for all. There is no need for yelling at a town hall, when microphones are there, there is no need to yell at a senator when they are just feet away. There is no need to provide misinformation if Obama's health care policy is truly flawed then attack on its merits, not on falsehoods.
There are no 'Death Panels' in the bill Mrs. Palin. As a wise woman once said "So how about in honor of the American solider you quit making things up?"
The Daily Show also took a hypocrisy flashback last night. In which Fox News anchors said about anti-Bush and anti-war protesters 'they were given marching orders by the left-wing blogosphere' that 'anti-war protesters were making fools of themselves and they were looking un-American' Bill O'Reilly said, December 8th, 2005, that "the far left are Nazi, this is exactly what the Nazi's did they disrupted rallies, they came in to shout people down, they intimidated, they smeared they did all of this."
http://www.hulu.com/watch/88936/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-healther-skelter
Hypocrisy is a two party system.
Death Panels
August 12, 2009 - 08:33 ET by EllisWyattDid you read what Camile Paglia had to say about the "Death Panels"?
This is in fact what Sarah Palin hit on in her shocking image of a "death panel" under Obamacare that would make irrevocable decisions about the disabled and elderly. When I first saw that phrase, headlined on the Drudge Report, I burst out laughing. It seemed so over the top! But on reflection, I realized that Palin's shrewdly timed metaphor spoke directly to the electorate's unease with the prospect of shadowy, unelected government figures controlling our lives. A death panel not only has the power of life and death but is itself a symptom of a Kafkaesque brave new world where authority has become remote, arbitrary and spectral. And as in the Spanish Inquisition, dissidence is heresy, persecuted and punished.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2009/08/12/town_halls/print.html
"There is no need to provide misinformation if Obama's health care policy is truly flawed then attack on its merits, not on falsehoods.
Most of our alleged "representatives" haven't even read the bill they are trying to rush through Congress. If the "merits" are so wonderful, one would think they would WANT to broadcast the bill to as many places as possible. The last thing ObamaCare supporters want is a detailed reading of what's in the bill.
If you're not outraged at the media, you haven't been paying attention.
Wrong
August 11, 2009 - 23:45 ET by MES41067then and wrong now nothing changes if you are a libtard.
(Lenin called them "useful idiots" I for one have no use for them.)
Wrong
August 11, 2009 - 23:45 ET by MES41067then and wrong now nothing changes if you are a libtard.
(Lenin called them "useful idiots" I for one have no use for them.)
Commenting On Olbermann . . .
August 12, 2009 - 00:04 ET by DoktorFranken. . . is such a waste of bandwidth. Wow - Deja Vu.
All of these people are the epitome of hypocrisy. Think I'll go watch some South Park.
I've been waiting for the
August 12, 2009 - 01:56 ET by LighthouseJI've been waiting for the juxtaposition of the liberal talkers then and now about the people who speak out against the government, then and now.
Time really is the best lie detector we have, cops use it to make sure a suspects' story is consistent, and we use it, not as much as we should, to reveal personal bias and agendas of political pundits.
"Boats are safe in the harbor, but that's not what they're made for." -- Maritime quote
It drives me nuts...
August 12, 2009 - 06:09 ET by TheCableGuyI hate it when liberals pull out the Dixie Chicks or Tim Robbins as "proof" of dissenters being silenced. I know most of the poeple that read this website understand what I am going to say, but I am still going to say it for the sake of the lib trolls that may happen to read this:
The Dixie Chicks were clearly allowed to say what they wanted. The people who (used) to buy their records also have a right-- to stop buying, or to stop listening. Your right to free speech ends at my right to not listen. Now, had the Congress passed a law stating that the Dixie weren't allowed to speak, I would've stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Olbermann or anyone else to defend the First Amendment.
Congress persons are hired and paid to listen to the people that elected them-- and the people that didn't. It doesn't matter if that voice is shrill and ignorant (as many BDS-addled liberal protesters were) or supportive or against, or whatever.
If the people don't like what the protesters are saying-- whether they are "astro-turfed" or not-- THEY WILL STOP LISTENING.
August 12, 2009 - 09:40 ET by jessieHThe republican and democratic parties will never change. One always blames the other for their own reckless mistakes. Maybe it's time for another party to be in power. How about the Constitution Party. Or, how about the People's Party. Sounds good, to me.
Or maybe the Conservatives
August 12, 2009 - 09:42 ET by Free StinkerOr maybe the Conservatives should re-take control of the GOP.
Just sayin' . . .
"Gov. Palin has been subjected to one of the most massive and dishonest pile-on smear attacks in the history of liberal media." -- Lowell Ponte
I like your suggestion best, FreeS ;-)
August 12, 2009 - 21:41 ET by Cape Conservative3rds just don't make it...and usually end up putting the wrong guy in office (need I say WJC?)
This comment comes from a proud Tea Party attendee, otherwise designated by Homeland Security as a Domestic Right Wing Terrorist! It is no dishonor to be in a minority in the cause of liberty and virtue ~ Sam Adams
Rich Noyes....You do excellent work, but I wish you would stop
August 13, 2009 - 01:22 ET by Rush Fancalling these people "journalists".
Wikipedia defines "journalist" as:
Obviously these people do not fall under the definition of "journalist". I prefer Rush Limbaugh's definition: stenographers for the Obama administration.
======================
Bill Sammon, FoxNews Washington managing editor, has wriiten an article today that is a perfect compliment to Rich's piece. In Analysis: Press Largely Ignored Incendiary Rhetoric at Bush Protest Sammon writes:
Mr. Sammon goes on to provide further examples of the media hypocrisy.
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"They have sacrificed integrity (whatever little they had) their character, their professionalism, to prop this guy and his administration up. They are stenographers for Rahm Emanuel. They're propagandists for the White House and, increasingly, the Democrat Party at large" ~ Rush Limbaugh on the state-run media