As NewsBusters reported, disgraced former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather said Wednesday that most journalists aren't liberal and the concept of media bias "is a sham."
Former CBS reporter Bernie Goldberg appearing on Fox News's O'Reilly Factor Thursday called Rather's assertion "delusional" (video follows with transcript and absolutely no need for additional commentary):
BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS: Bernie Goldberg worked with Dan Rather for about 15 years. So what say you?
BERNIE GOLDBERG, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I'm not sure, Bill, why you have a media analyst on to talk about this. I think you need a psychiatrist because what Dan said is delusional. I mean it's delusional. Number one his -- his problem and his dispute is not with conservative critics of the media. It's with the American people because poll after poll after poll show that large numbers of Republicans and Democrats of conservatives and liberals believe the media has a liberal bias. That's number one.
Number two when I was writing my book, "A Slobbering Love Affair" right after the last presidential election, I quote several prominent and highly well-respected journalists in Washington. And one of them, a fellow named Charlie Cook who is a very well-respected political journalist said "Let's face it, is there a Democratic and a liberal bias in the media? Of course there is." I think you can say that the media had a finger, more than a finger on the Democratic side.
So, this is -- this is simply ridiculous and delusional and the facts you gave in the "Talking Points" more than prove the point that there is an abundance of liberalism in the media and they don't keep it to themselves enough.
O'REILLY: Not anymore. I mean, there's a book out on Walter Cronkite now. And Mr. Cronkite a very, very left-wing guy, much further left than I think you thought he was. I certainly didn't. I knew he was liberal but I didn't think he was off the chart left which he is.
GOLDBERG: Right.
O'REILLY: And this book documents that. And Rather took over and Rather -- Cronkite tried to hide it I mean it will come out in little ways. But he did, you know he was respectful to authority. He went along with the Vietnam War in the beginning. He wasn't some crank. Rather pushed it, you know, toward the liberal precincts.
I know he killed a couple of stories of mine that didn't reflect his political correct vision. One on gays in Massachusetts he killed and there were a couple of others.
GOLDBERG: Right.
O'REILLY: But at this point, I think we've established the fact and we don't have to really debate it any longer, that what you just said is absolutely true. So then the question becomes --
GOLDBERG: Can I give you one --
O'REILLY: Go ahead. Go ahead.
GOLDBERG: Can I give you one example because you mentioned the Vietnam War. Can I -- this is something that I've written about and it needs to get a lot more play than it's gotten so far. At the end of August of 2004, when John Kerry was getting shellacked by the Vietnam veterans for truth, the Swift Boat Veterans --
O'REILLY: Right.
GOLDBERG: -- I'm sorry for truth over his war record in Vietnam, Dan Rather gave an interview to a national news magazine broadcasting in cable in which he said, "In the end what difference does it make what one candidate or the other did or didn't do during the Vietnam War. In some ways that war is as distant as the Napoleonic campaigns."
One week later. Not one year later. Not one month later, one week later the same Dan Rather is on "60 Minutes" Wednesday on CBS telling us about what a candidate did or didn't do during the Vietnam War. So the Vietnam War --
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: And of course, that was -- that was President Bush and that was his National Guard service.
GOLDBERG: Yes exactly. Exactly.
O'REILLY: So he said it, look, it doesn't matter with Kerry and he makes a big deal about Bush, right.
GOLDBERG: Exactly. Exactly.
(HT Fox Nation)
