CNN must be so proud!
On Sunday, the self-described most trusted name in news aired a thirteen minute interview with Global Warmingist-in-Chief Al Gore, and although the subject of the sale of Current TV was raised, host Fareed Zakaria didn't ask him one question about al Jazeera's connection to oil (video follows with transcript and commentary):
FAREED ZAKARIA: Current TV, a great business deal, but you started it because you wanted to create a greater, well, another liberal voice, a stronger one, an independent voice. Is this an endorsement of al Jazeera and you're saying al Jazeera represents the same kind of traditions that you were trying to further when you founded Current TV?
AL GORE: Well, I think that al Jazeera has, in fact, established itself as a highly-respected international news gathering organization. It’s won awards all over the world. It has a reputation for integrity and excellent reporting. I'm sure you watch al Jazeera English.
ZAKARIA: You're talking about the English language channel, not the Arabic language.
GORE: Yes. And al Jazeera America promises to be even better still. But as Secretary Clinton has said, al Jazeera is part of the solution not part of the problem. It is viewed as a highly responsible organization. And I'm very pleased. I think the net result is going to be very positive for the American media landscape.
And that was it. Not one question about selling his television network to an organization sponsored by an oil nation.
Zero. Nada. Zilch.
Instead, Zakaria changed the subject asking, “Do you feel that President Obama should use his second term to push through some of the things that, you know, he or you really believe in, and how should he deal with the Republicans, which has been the thorniest problem he faces?"
So in a thirteen minute interview, Zakaria spent roughly one minute on al Jazeera buying Current, and totally ignored the astonishingly hypocritical elephant in the room.
It turns out that comedians David Letterman and Jon Stewart did a better job of questioning Gore on this subject than Zakaria.
In fact, Gore's been getting such rough questions on this issue that Politico created a video of his treatment:
So even the perilously liberal Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC grilled Gore about this hypocrisy.
But not Fareed Zakaria.
CNN must be so proud!
