(This update courtesy of the Media Research Center.)
by Brent Baker
Update on coverage of Al Gore's anti-Bush Iraq policy speech: While CBS's Dan Rather had highlighted how Gore charged that he felt “betrayed by the first Bush administration's hasty departure from the battlefield,” in Iraq which left Saddam Hussein in power, FNC's Brit Hume noted how back in 1991 Gore had said the opposite, specifically saying President George H.W. Bush should not be blamed since the “consensus” was only for “pushing Iraq out of Kuwait.”
Naturally, Dan Rather did not update his viewers about Gore's hypocrisy.
Plus, while also ignoring Gore's hypocrisy, CNBC's Brian Williams tried to add heft to Gore's remarks by reminding viewers of how they came from “the number one popular vote-getter in the last election,” while ABC's Claire Shipman emphasized how Gore “noted proudly yesterday that he cast the deciding the vote” for the Persian Gulf War.
But if a resolution wins by more than one vote, as did this one (52 to 47 on January 12, 1991), then no one vote is “the deciding vote.” In fact, ten Democrats supported the resolution and the Washington Post reported on January 13, 1991 that Gore was “the last of the group to announce his position” — meaning he waited to see which side would win before casting his then definitely non-deciding vote.
And, one more update item, in drafting his speech, Gore consulted with actor Rob Reiner of All in the Family fame.
Now the details about what I've just summarized above:
On the September 23 CBS Evening News, Dan Rather trumpeted: “Gore said if other nations follow President Bush's lead in their relations with the world, quote, 'The rule of law will quickly be replaced by the reign of fear,' unquote. Gore has always supported overthrowing Saddam and was among the few Senate Democrats who voted for the 1991 Gulf War resolution. After that war, Gore said he felt betrayed by the first President Bush's, quote, 'hasty withdrawal from the battlefield.'”
The next night, FNC's Brit Hume, in the “Grapevine” segment of FNC's Special Report with Brit Hume, recalled how “in his speech in San Francisco yesterday, former Vice President Gore said the first President Bush had ended the 1991 Gulf War too soon.” Hume played a clip of Gore: “Back in 1991, I was one of a handful of Democrats in the United States Senate to vote in favor of the resolution endorsing the Persian Gulf War. And I felt betrayed by the first Bush administration's hasty departure from the battlefield.”
Hume then informed viewers of Gore's hypocrisy and contradiction: “But this is what Gore said about that back in 1991 on the floor of the Senate, of which he was then a member, quote: 'I want to state this clearly, President Bush should not be blamed for Saddam Hussein's survival to this point. There was throughout the war a clear consensus that the United States should not include the conquest of Iraq among its objectives. On the contrary, it was universally accepted that our objective was to push Iraq out of Kuwait, and it was further understood that when this was accomplished, combat should stop.'”
Nonetheless, an hour later on the September 24 edition of CNBC's The News with Brian Williams, Williams plugged an upcoming segment with two anti-war Congressmen by bucking up Gore's importance: “In this country, the march toward war has seemed inevitable, but not to the number one popular vote-getter in the last election, Al Gore. The former Vice President and a select few others have started speaking out against the idea, and today it positively ignited some political conservatives.”
Earlier that day, on ABC's Good Morning America, Claire Shipman had relayed, without any dubiousness, how Gore said he cast the “deciding vote” in 1991 for the resolution in support of the Persian Gulf War. This is how Shipman set up her piece on Gore's speech:
“This was a broad and blunt attack, by far the toughest from any top Democrat to date. And remember, in 1991, Gore was one of the few Senate Democrats to vote for the Gulf War. In fact, he noted proudly yesterday that he cast the deciding the vote, and it's that fact, he says, that now gives him the credibility to criticize Bush on a number of fronts.”
Meanwhile, in a September 25 New York Times story, Adam Nagourney reported that Gore consulted a “far-flung” group in drafting his remarks: “He wrote it after consulting a fairly far-flung group of advisers that included Rob Reiner, the comic actor and filmmaker.”
For a picture and rundown of movie and TV appearances made by Gore's foreign affairs adviser, click here.
