(This update courtesy of the Media Research Center.)
by Brent Baker
“A new CBS News/New York Times poll out tonight finds that
Americans still have plenty of questions about going after
Saddam,” John Roberts declared on Monday's CBS Evening News.
Roberts highlighted a particular poll finding: “Most notably, why
are the President and Congress spending so much time on it? 70
percent of people say they want to hear more about the economy
than war.”
But Roberts failed to point out how when asked, “Do you think
George W. Bush has been spending too much time on foreign policy
problems, or too much time on problems here at home, or has he
been spending his time about right?,” a majority of 52 percent
responded that he's getting the balance “about right.”
Roberts went on to stress that “while a majority of Americans
support the idea of military action, they overwhelmingly want to
give weapons inspectors time before sending in the troops and want
the U.S. to wait for its allies before acting.”
At least Roberts simply chose to highlight one question over
another. The New York Times decided to make up results to
questions which were never asked, FNC's Brit Hume pointed out on
Monday night.
Reporters Adam Nagourney and Janet Elder began their October 7
New York Times story, headlined “Public Says Bush Needs to Pay
Heed to Weak Economy,” by asserting:
“A majority of Americans say that the nation's economy is in
its worst shape in nearly a decade and that President Bush and
congressional leaders are spending too much time talking about
Iraq while neglecting problems at home, according to the latest
New York Times/CBS News poll.”
But as Hume observed Monday night on FNC's Special Report with
Brit Hume after reading that opening sentence from the Times
story: “In fact, the poll shows no such thing. It does show that
people by a 56 to 43 percent margin think the economy is bad, and
it does show that 70 percent of those asked would like to hear
political candidates talk more about the economy. But the poll
never asks whether the President is talking too much about Iraq.”
And, as noted above, Hume relayed how “the poll found a
majority — 52 percent — think the President is spending his
time, quote, 'about right,' with only 41 percent saying he's too
focused on foreign policy. Those numbers, by the way, are not
reported in the New York Times.”
For the October 7 New York Times story click here.
For the complete poll results with every question posed click here.
Whoopie Goldberg Likens Corporate Crooks to Violent Terrorists
Actress/comedian Whoopi Goldberg contended earlier this
week that corporate crooks are “terrorists” who are “much the same
as Saddam” because “they're just as horrific and in terms of,
literally, destroying people's lives on a daily basis.”
Except they didn't commit any mass murders and don't have the
power to imprison others for life or have them executed.
Goldberg issued her exaggerated comparison during a taped
interview on CNBC's Monday night show, After Hours with Maria
Bartiromo.
Asked by Bartiromo on the October 7 program about how she's
working the corporate scandals into her comedy act, Goldberg
replied by commenting on the subject in general:
“It's kind of frightening, the arrogance with which this has
gone down. And, you know, people really trusted and wanted the
best and wanted the best for the country only to turn around and
see corporate terrorists — because I think these guys are much
the same as Saddam. I think they're just as horrific and in terms
of, literally, destroying people's lives on a daily basis.”
A little over the top. Equating corporate sleazes with
terrorists and mass murdering dictators could cause the reality of
true terrorists to be diluted.
