Jill Dougherty, Bush, and hypocrisy

[Julien Sorel]

From the Transcript:

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the president would argue that he -- that these groups, regardless of who they are, do have the right to express their opinion. And he believes that the Swift Boats Veterans, just like everybody else, has the right to say what they believe about this.

So it's a First Amendment issue. Or is it?

DOUGHERTY: I do not think that they have, Miles, per se. But certainly, the president, by saying all of these ads should go, all of these 527 groups should go -- in fact, he said he thought an end was put to this back when McCain-Feingold was passed. But it didn't happen.


Oddly, no one seems to have caught the contradiction here. What the Swift Hoax veterans are doing is exercising their free speech rights, which Bush is for, but he wants the 527 groups outlawed, because people use them to exercise their free speech rights. Remember though, Kerry is the nuanced one.

[Catfight]

1. I beg you all, stop watching Faux and CNN!

[Pirate Smile]

4. If we didn't watch CNN today we would have missed Cleland's press

conference and it was awesome.

[Catfight]

6. alright then, just the cliff notes of why it was so awesome?

I promise you though, I stopped watching CNN and even trying to listen to AM radio and my life has been much more positive lately. The brainwashing is very subversive!

[The empressof all]

2. This is far too deep

Their poor, poor, little brains just can't quite get it.

[Beetwasher]

3. Right! Either He's FOR Free Speech and Supports 527's

Or he's AGAINST free speech and wants to do away w/ them. She contradicted herself in almost the same breath. Bush can't call for an end to 527's AND say this particular one DOES have their right to free speech. It's nonsensical and contradictory.

Kerry is NOT condemning 527's because he believes in free speech. He's condemning the LIES being put out by this particular ad by a 527.

A simple concept, not too hard to grasp, unless you're a whore.

[Nightjock]

5. WHY....

dosen't someone ask Bush which 527 ad is LYING about him?!

[Bunny]

7. Yep, that's it! Bush doesn't "do" nuance.

But we already knew that.

[DeepModem Mom]

8. My guess is Jill Dougherty wishes she were back in Russia...

where she was a real journalist. This transcript leads me to believe that her job is to give the Bush talking points, whether or not they make any sense. That's the job now, it seems, of a "reporter" covering a "President." The job is a stenographer's job, and it was not always so.

[MaineDem]

9. Bingo!

I think you've nailed it.

The WH reporters only "report" what someone (and I'm not exactly sure if that someone is the WH or the CNN corp)wants reported. I've come to believe that not one of the WH press corps is allowed to think for her or himself and actually do any reporting.

I think Jill was good reporting from Moscow. I hope she isn't being used as a hack reporter now. What a waste! But I think it's obvious with this mess today that they're all given the script and must adhere to it. Sad...