The impending nomination of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State has caused a complete mental breakdown among the usually punctilious ethicists in the media. Suddenly, there is no conflict of interest worth investigating, especially Bill Clinton’s multiplicitous foreign connections through the Clinton Global Initiative. Listen to the bow-to-our-king tone coming from NPR "news analyst" Daniel Schorr on Weekend Edition Saturday:
SCOTT SIMON, host: Does Bill Clinton become a complicating factor? Because he not only has financial interests all over the world one way or another, but in some ways, he's been conducting his own foreign policy campaign.
SCHORR: Well, somewhat. Well, he could be a problem but apparently he has satisfied Mr. Obama that he will not be a problem. He has surfaced everything that he got in the way of money from Arab and other countries for his library and for himself. He apparently has given promise that in the future, he will not do anything in his own travels around the world that will interfere with his wife as secretary of state. And if the president-elect is satisfied, I suppose we must all be.
Schorr sounds like the butler to Obama's Batman. Speaking of deference, on Friday night's All Things Considered, pseudo-conservative David Brooks offered high praise to the Clinton cabinet picks:
ROBERT SIEGEL, host: In today's New York Times, you said this is a team that looks like America, or that part of America that got 800 on both your SATs.
BROOKS: Yes, they all have gone to Harvard and Yale. It seems that E.J. would be under educated in this group. (Laughter) My line was that if someone attacks this country during the Harvard-Yale game we're in big trouble because they're all going to be there. But, it is a very impressive group and I would say just to generalize about them, they tend to be Washington insiders, but they also tend to be very change-oriented, they also tend to be very evidence-based. So, even if you disagree with them they are people you can talk to and who Republicans can respect and I think that includes Geithner. I think it includes a supposed budget director Peter Orszag, it even includes Clinton on foreign affairs.
Predictably, liberal Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne – who’s supposed to be a conservative’s sparring partner, but you would need someone throwing jabs from the right to make that metaphor work – says the Republican Party must embrace Big Government or be consigned to the ash heap of history:
DIONNE: I think, unless they fundamentally rethink conservatism and present themselves as a more moderately conservative party, and accept the fact that they're going to run a big government whether they like it or not, they are going to be in the wilderness for a much longer time.
SIEGEL: That's your kind of party, a big government conservative party.
BROOKS: Well, don't insult me here, Robert. (laughter) I'd like to think a Hamiltonian, limited but energetic government.
Something tells me that the average liberal NPR staff doesn't think a limited government is "change-oriented" or "evidence-based."
NPR still needs to try an authentic conservative pundit if it's seeking more than phony balance. Brooks make Alan Colmes on Fox look like a raging lion of dissent.
—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.
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Comments Policy
Experience HIS gravitas...
November 25, 2008 - 12:24 ET by Rackie"OOOOOOOOOOOO..."
"BAAAAAAAAAAA..."
"MAAAAAAAAAAA..."
I now know in my heart that everything will be okay.
Schorr is 92 Years Old
November 25, 2008 - 12:25 ET by allanfIt is good to hear a fresh viewpoint on NPR. Schorr is 92.
"And if the president-elect
November 25, 2008 - 12:24 ET by TD in FL"And if the president-elect is satisfied, I suppose we must all be."
Very good lemmings. Next, up, Obama says there's hidden wealth beyond all imagination at the bottom of the Pit of Dispair. Why probe further, just dive right in.
Amazing. Simply amazing.
This all reminds me of a recent church sermon on the topic of the '60s and the idea of rebellion against authority, especially the government. I would think complacently following a big-government Pres would run contrary to the core beliefs all those liberal hippies held back in the day.
"And if the president-elect
November 25, 2008 - 21:30 ET by Dan The Man 2"And if the president-elect is satisfied, I suppose we must all be." Shorr was not so cooperative when President Bush was elected or in office. In fact you could hear teh contempt in his very speech.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.
I guess it's all settled.
November 25, 2008 - 12:29 ET by superconAnd if the president-elect is satisfied, I suppose we must all be.
What more is there to discuss?Obama is the last word on things apparently.If he says so then it must be true.
They want a King not a President
November 25, 2008 - 12:30 ET by PopularTechTheir magical ruler is going to let them down and they will not understand why.
Censored Global Warming Videos
I think...
November 25, 2008 - 12:35 ET by The DistributistI think my radio dial was stuck, as I was listening when this was said. I am glad you posted this. I think Daniel Shorr should be sent to a nice place where they can wipe his chin and change his diaper and protect him from sharp object like newspapers.
All these smart people make me feel so inferior! How can I survive four years? At least I knew I was smarter than Bush, because the media told me so.
"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
Thanks for the advice
November 25, 2008 - 12:42 ET by KC MulvilleAgain, a liberal (Dionne) is quick with embarrassing advice for conservatives. I could understand it if his advice was just about party tactics for Republicans, which is simply a political party. Remember, conservatism is an ideology, whereas Republicans are a political party. Dionne confuses the two. A political party isn't an ideology. It's simply a group of people who are trying to win elections. Mere political parties can switch ideologies as they wish, trying to follow the herd.
But an ideology, like conservativism, is a theory of government. If you want to change a theory, you have to explain why the theory is wrong. It doesn't become less true because it's popular or not. Dionne is merely saying that the winds of popularity have changed, but he offers absolutely nothing about the theory itself. As usual, he offers a emotionally-laden surface impression and calls it analysis.
When Dionne offers party advice to an ideology, he's revealing that he understands neither.
Never question the leader...
November 25, 2008 - 12:47 ET by szamp"Never question the leader". If he is satisfied, we all should agree.
Any disagreement with the leader will be punished appropriately.
On his inauguration day, you are ordered to be happy and celebrate. If you don't, an IRS audit will follow.
And if the president-elect
November 25, 2008 - 12:47 ET by TexasteacherAnd if the president-elect is satisfied, I suppose we must all be.
Translation - You have to bow down and take it from the One.
Another translation - Don't complain when he starts screwing our country.
Schorr snores, then genuflects to his Mistress O
November 25, 2008 - 12:54 ET by Jack BauerAll things considered, Daniel Shorr isn't always so cavalier about "conflicts on interests," perceived or real.
Oddly enough, it's only when it is his Lord Obama does Schoor act so sanguine.
For instance, when it's Dick Cheney:
http://www.csmonitor...
Or Enron...
http://www.barbelith...
but Bill said...
November 25, 2008 - 13:02 ET by i was just thinking"apparently he has satisfied Mr. Obama that he will not be a problem."
If Bill says it, it's good enough for me! Who could doubt the word of a man like Bill Clinton?
In Obama's term--
November 25, 2008 - 13:14 ET by misterbillI guess it's Bill's time to be under the table.
Yassah, Massah!
November 25, 2008 - 15:50 ET by Pilgrim1949Far be it for anyone to dare venture far from the O Plantation and risk incurring the wrath of the naked-as-a-jaybird Emperor. What ever His Self-Exaltedness says is Truth either to be obeyed or worshipped in awestruck wonderment.
Quick civics quiz ---- where oh where in any documents, anywhere is the "Office of the President-Elect" to be found, along with its attendant duties and prerogatives (except in the exalted arrogance of the mind of the O man, himself)? Show of hands? Anyone?
Thought so.
where oh where in any
November 25, 2008 - 21:48 ET by Dan The Man 2where oh where in any documents, anywhere is the "Office of the President-Elect" to be found - And he is not President elect until December 15 when the electoral college meets and votes.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.
Hey Dan the Man... You
November 25, 2008 - 22:03 ET by bigtimerHey Dan the Man...
You are so CORRECT!
It matters not to the msm or politicos though, let alone his own arrogance ...The Chosen One.
I have never seen anything like this, the audicity to have that on the front of the podium is embarrassing for me as an American, let alone the audicity... it's infuriating with the msm propagating all of this La-La-Land movie like scenes daily for this empty-suited sock-puppet 24/7...
Like I said from the beginning of O's primaries and his tent revival lemmings swooning, I have never seen anything like it, I feared the results then, I more than fear the results for decades to come by the stroke of his hand to what he will accomplish hand in hand with a far left Congress now.
Soros and crew, along with other groups will be smiling, they finally achieved their agenda...and they aren't done yet.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
BT I read the last chapter
November 25, 2008 - 22:54 ET by Dan The Man 2BT I read the last chapter of the book and we win.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.
BT I read the last chapter
November 25, 2008 - 22:55 ET by Dan The Man 2BT I read the last chapter of the book and we win.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.
And if the
November 25, 2008 - 16:06 ET by bigtimerAnd if the president-elect is satisfied, I suppose we must all be.
That will be when pigs fly Schorr....speak for yourself you doddering leftist tool...er....throw in fool.
...by the way, I am sick of the arrogance of O acting as if he is President already..with the msm aiding and abetting...this is getting old fast, who is going to bother watching his coronation...he already has been
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
ewww ... .
November 25, 2008 - 18:47 ET by MichiganVet"And if the president-elect is satisfied, I suppose we must all be."
I hope he doesn't get constipated ....
I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy
ewww...redux
November 25, 2008 - 18:58 ET by porpoiseboyor overly regular for that matter!!! oops! gotta go!
"Here comes the orator! With his flood of words, and his drop of reason" Ben Franklin
Ecclesiastes 10:2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left
Hmmmm, was that a statement
November 25, 2008 - 21:49 ET by Clear thinkerHmmmm, was that a statement of fact he made or a THREAT?
The Crackdown Has Started
Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/
It's true. What the heck
November 26, 2008 - 00:41 ET by RR GOPIt's true. What the heck are us Proles going to do about anything egregious that he may do? Just suck it up.
I thought that four years under Hillary would have been intolerable which, of course, it would have. But at least she would have been content to have her ego stroked like her hubby and probably would have done little irreversible harm to the country.
One of the 24% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 89% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.