A second examination of Rather's unabashed liberal bias was published by Media Research Council's Media Reality Check.
Tagged "20 Years of Liberal Spin From Gunga Dan," the report revealed what it called "a few of the many liberal outbursts that have animated Rather's tenure:
Republicans favor sleazy fund-raising.
"Republicans kill the bill to clean up sleazy political fund-raising. The business of dirty campaign money will stay business as usual. ... Good evening. Legislation to reform shady big-money campaign fund-raising is dead in Congress. Republican opponents in the Senate killed it today." (CBS Evening News, Feb. 26, 1998)
Hillary Clinton is a genius. "I hear you talking and, as I have before on this subject, I don't know of anybody, friend or foe, who isn't impressed by your grasp of the details of this [health care] plan. I'm not surprised, because you have been working on it so long and listened to so many people." (Interview with Hillary Clinton, "48 Hours," Sept. 22, 1993)
Supreme Court Justice David Souter is a right-wing woman hater. "Senator Simon, is there any doubt in your mind that [Souter's] views pretty well parallel those of John Sununu's, which means he's anti-abortion or anti-women's rights, whichever way you want to put it?" ("CBS Evening News" interview with Democratic senator Paul Simon, July 23, 1990)
The Clintons are terrific! "If we could be one-hundredth as great as you and Hillary Rodham Clinton have been in the White House, we'd take it right now and walk away winners. ... Tell Mrs. Clinton we respect her and we're pulling for her." (To President Clinton, via satellite, at a CBS affiliates meeting, referencing new co-anchor Connie Chung to the "Evening News," May 27, 1993)
No need for proof before alleging GOP dirty tricks. "Al Gore must stand and deliver here tonight as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee, and now Gore must do so against the backdrop of a potentially damaging, carefully orchestrated story leak about President Clinton. The story is that the Republican-backed special prosecutor, Robert Ray, Ken Starr's successor, has a new grand jury looking into possible criminal charges against the president growing out of Mr. Clinton's sex life." ("CBS Evening News," Aug. 17, 2000, the final day of the Democratic convention. The next day, a Carter-appointed federal judge revealed he had inadvertently leaked the news.)
Competitors to CBS News are morally inferior. "It is not just Congress that is taking a sharp turn to the right. The surge to the right on Capitol Hill is making waves all over the country on openly politically partisan, and sometimes racist, radio." ("CBS Evening News," Jan. 4, 1995)
Hillary Clinton should run for president someday. "I would not be astonished to see Hillary Clinton be the Democratic nominee in 2000. ... Hillary Clinton is the Person of the Year in that – you talk about a comeback kid – she makes her husband look like Ned in kneepants in terms of comeback from where she was early in the Clinton administration. You know, you add it all up and you can make the case that Hillary Clinton might, might – mark the word – be the strongest candidate for the Democrats." (Interview with CNN's Larry King, Dec. 3, 1998)
Dictator Castro really cares about the Cuban people. "While Fidel Castro, and certainly justified on his record, is widely criticized for a lot of things, there is no question that Castro feels a very deep and abiding connection to those Cubans who are still in Cuba. And I recognize this might be controversial, but there's little doubt in my mind that Fidel Castro was sincere when he said, 'Listen, we really want this child back here.' " (CBS News live coverage of the Elian raid, April 22, 2000).
Is Dan Rather biased? You bet he is. |
