You want to talk about hoaxes?
On Sunday's Reliable Sources, CNN and host Howard Kurtz actually promoted the Obama-loving Andrew Sullivan as a "conservative" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
HOWARD KURTZ, HOST: Andrew Sullivan was an accomplished journalist at a young age, coming over from Britain to become editor of "The New Republic" when he was 27. He's been a newspaper columnist and author. But most of all, a blogger -- one of the first online writers to attract a big following. "The Dish" moved this year from "The Atlantic," to my Web site, "The Daily Beast."
I spoke to him earlier on our other sit-down the hall to dish about journalism.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KURTZ: Andrew Sullivan, welcome.
ANDREW SULLIVAN, CONSERVATIVE BLOGGER: Thank you, Howie.
KURTZ: They're not?
SULLIVAN: Well, no. I think if you -- if you look at what they're saying, which is that really the most of major institutions in this country and government should be exploded -- I mean, should be destroyed, we should get rid of entirely traditions like Medicare -- instead of reforming it, just cut it off with a voucher system, or preemptive war against Iran which, again, violates most conservative nostrums, the idea that you can't defeat and cut the budget deficit without raising taxes at all is not a very conservative position. I mean, it's a very anti-tax, anti-government position. It isn't a conservative one.
If you define conservative as liking the status quo, as wanting it to be limited government but understanding there are two parties in the system, a little give and take, a little compromise. None of that is on display at all.
From there, Sullivan attacked Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, and even admitted that he's a "pretty unabashed admirer" of Obama's while being in the Tom Friedman/Ezra Klein camp that is worried the President will campaign on fear next year.
Yes - he's in New York Times columnist Tom Friedman and Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein's camp. Can you name any conservative that would admit on national television to being an admirer of Obama's who's aligned with these two liberals?
Sullivan later told Kurtz that it's inevitable Israel will have to go back to the 1967 borders.
Know a lot of conservatives that agree with that?
More importantly, do you know any conservatives that think Andrew Sullivan is a conservative?
But this is how media outlets like CNN get to present a disproportionate amount of liberal views while appearing impartial: the folks they bring on to espouse supposedly conservative opinions are people like Sullivan who are as close to being conservative as I am an NBA all-star center.
For his part, as a so-called media analyst, Kurtz certainly knows better, and should be ashamed to be part of such a dishonest charade.
