Double Standard?

Times Watch reports, Sep. 29, on how the New York Times has covered current events concerning the military careers of George W. Bush and John Kerry:

.... Throughout the presidential campaign, the paper faithfully pursued Democratic charges that Bush failed to fulfill his National Guard obligations during the Vietnam War, forwarding unsubstantiated Democratic allegations without questioning the source or motivation behind the charges and without characterizing their merit. When Democratic Party boss Terry McAuliffe accused Bush on the February 1 This Week with George Stephanopoulos of being "AWOL" from the National Guard during Vietnam, the partisan origins of the story didn't stop the Times from eagerly pursuing the charge.

Yet when it came to Vietnam-era controversies involving Kerry, the combat boot was on the other foot. When Kerry's purported strong point (Vietnam) came under surprising fire over the summer by a group of veterans who served with Kerry, the Times at first ignored, then dismissed as partisan and "unsubstantiated" the allegations from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The barest hint of Republican ties by the group gave the Times an excuse to ignore the substance of the charges from the 200-plus veterans. Instead, the Times scoured for links between the Swift Boat vets and the Republican Party, even publishing a chart alleging "ties" between the Swift Boat vets and the G.O.P....

There's no double standard at work. The Times is merely fulfilling its responsibilities as a key player in the Mainstream Media Branch of the Democratic Establishment: to help the candidate of the Democratic Party and to hurt (or, at the least, to not help) the opponent of the candidate of the Democratic Party.

No double standard at all: like CBS, they're just doing their job.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 10/07/04 08:32:21 PM
Categorized as Media.