In a Wednesday speech on Iraq to general contractors, President Bush characterized which of the following as “just something that we’ve all got to live with”:
1) Taxes.
2) High gas prices.
3) Tooth decay.
4) Freedom of the press.
5) Reality TV.
If you chose No. 4, you win. The First Amendment, though, has had better days.
Bush was asked about the media seemingly not reporting “the good things that are happening as a result of us being in Iraq.”
Here is the context of his answer: “Freedom of the press is a valuable freedom here, and it’s just something that we’ve all got to live with and value it for what it is, and just continue to speak the truth as best as we can without trying to — without trying to gloss over the inherent dangers.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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18 Comments
What is this about “not reporting the good news” stuff? News organizations don’t report good news because good news is not usually “news”. They don’t come on TV in Wichita and say “today 23458 school children made it to school and came back home safely”. No, they report it when a school kid gets ran over by a car or kidnapped.
Here Here!The press are here to keep these Washington bastards from manipulating our society. For instance, Bush/Gonzalez/Rove using the DOJ to plant political operatives in key US Attorney positions.Hmmmm….is this the negative side of the press that gets Bush’s balls in a bunch?
The good news from Iraq needs to be reported too, it is to an extent but as Ken pointed out good news is the norm it is the bad news that is the glaring oddity. It is also offset when the news is that 23.457 children are ran over on the way to school and one made it to school safely. It becomes that the only parent that is hearing the good news is the one of the single child that is safe.
sorry Kev
Is it just me, or does this guy make no sense? Maybe freedom of the press to Bush is “just something that we’ve all got to live with”, like it’s a bad thing. To Bush it sure is, but for the rest of us, maybe it’s the only thing that keeps Bush/Cheney from destroying America. I get the impession Bush puts his mouth in motion long before his brain starts up.
The First Amendment guarantees us the most important freedoms of all. Without them, no other rights would be possible.
That Bush belittles and dismisses our free speech and free press rights should be a warning to us all: The man has no respect for the Constitution, for the rights of others, or for the ideals that make America great.
The radical conservatives like to say the “liberals” hate America. I say to you: No, George W. Bush hates America.
How many times do we have to learn the lessons of Nixon and Watergate? But for a free and independent (maybe not as much as then) press, we would be living in a different culture – and if Bush had it his and Cheney’s way, we would be worse off than we are – not that things are good now.
It will be a challenge to recover the time when newspapers, for instance, were family owned or privately held enterprises and not as driven by Wall Street demands. The deep investigative work that newspapers have always done is essential. I think the greedheads on Wall Street are ultimately shooting themselves in the foot when they hold out for the large margins. I wish a bold entrepreneur, some person with real capital, would challenge conventional wisdom that newspapers are in decline and spend ten years building a powerhouse investigative paper in the old tradition. Live with five to seven percent margins for a while and prove to the naysayers that people will subscribe to a newspaper that sticks its neck out and does the job.
If Rupert keeps buying up our communications media, it may no longer be “something we have to live with”! He’s now trying to take over the WSJ, and turn it into a yellow paper publication, with bias in every article or news release.
Oh, But Fox News is quote “Fair and Balanced.” It’s the news organization that tells the truth! Ha! Every news system has it’s bias. And Fox News is no better! Why do you see Bush, Cheney and Rove plus the majority of the administration go trucking off to Fox for interviews? The reason is Fox panhandles to those turkeys…throwing softballs instead of asking the hard questions. I really grow tired of hearing how CBS, NBC, ABC and other news systems are dissing Bush, Cheney or anyone else connected with the present administration when thrown a hard question or grilled about actions that effects their jobs. Look what has happpened when the press is relegated to patting these bozo’s on the head. Now we have an attorney-general who doesn’t have a clue what his job is about, a vice-president who’s stuck in one gear, and a president who can’t figure out how to bring this country together even though he’s been in office six and a half years! The old addage, “You get what you pay for” certainly rings true here!!!
TRTaliaferro,
The internet and the millions of independent voices who post on it will, hopefully, keep free speech and free press alive. It’s imperative that the courts and the various legislatures resist the urge to regulate this arena. It’s grown and thrived precisely because of the lack of regulation and the absence of single-corporation dominance.
Tom,You are absolutely right!When all the major news sources are owned by a few corporations, Censorship becomes a matter of simple daily judgements. Tip O’Niell once said “All politics is local.” So is all news!The internet allows stories that are originally local to become national and international news without editors judging what to and what not to publish. Blogs take opinion away from the pundits and allow anyone with an opinion a chance to be heard.It also means that readers exercise judgement in what they accept as true. Are we ready for that? If we are, we’re ready for self-government!
Gentlemen,
I agree with what you said, but I also regret the loss of privately held newspapers. I believe old school journalism has a place. It’s hard for bloggers to form worthwhile opinions if journalists are not out there finding the hidden stories. “Buzz” Merritt, former Eagle Editor, wrote a very good book on this subject.
But, as we have seen with Yahoo, the ability to reach a national audience can be curtailed by the power brokers.
TRT,Yes, I do too. I worked in the newsroom of the Wichita Beacon back when it was family run. It was a heady place back then. Unfortunately though, much is lost when great reporters great stories are filtered through a corporate interest.
The journalist at WSJ have came out against being sold to Murdoch, as he’s said he’s opposed to the indepth coverage in their articles, and wants them to be more superficial. Also, the internet only allows for the expression of opinions, where the powers that be want to let them be expressed. That should not be confused with exposes.
When a conservative venue like WSJ doesn’t want to be sold to Rupert, that ought to tell Americans something!
I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal. I love it when I take the time to read it. I rarely agree with the editorial page, but you have to acknowledge excellence, and they write editorials with genuine bite.
I hope the Bancroft family hangs tough, but reports are suggesting that the younger heirs are getting wobbly.