Doug Ross @ Journal

Press the Meet: the anti-Meet the Press

Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly, host of Press the Meet. Here we ask all the questions that Meet the Press won't. We're honored to have Tim Russert as today's guest...


Bill. Pleasure to be here.


Hope you still feel that way in five minutes, Tim. Let's get right to the Libby case, shall we?


Nothing to hide, Bill.


Libby's charged with telling conflicting stories about what he told you and other media-types about Plame's affiliation with the CIA. What reason would Libby have to lie?


Bill, I'm not telepathic, I can't speak for Libby's motivation.


Isn't it true that Libby's main interest wasn't Plame at all? That he was trying to combat Joe Wilson's lies, including VP Dick Cheney had sent him to Africa?


I guess that could be the case.


Not only was Plame behind Wilson's trip, but Wilson had actually found evidence that Iraq was in the process of acquiring uranium from Africa? Just as President Bush had charged in his State of the Union speech, correct?


Er --- well, I guess you have me there...


And isn't it true that you and your press cohorts have continually avoided Joe Wilson's lies, uniformly demonized Dick Cheney, and distorted what the bi-partisan Senate Committee on Intelligence discovered about Joe Wilson's real activities?


Define "demonize"...


And isn't it the case that you and most other journalists have avoided mentioning key facts about Iraq -- both before and after the war?


How do you mean?


That terror heavyweights Abu Abbas, Abu Nidal, and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi were all in Iraq before the war. That a terrorist training center at Salman Pak featured a Boeing 707 used to train hijackers. That al-Qaida affiliate Ansar al-Islam operated in Iraq. And Saddam's government provided official support and money for many terror groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah, Fatah, and other homicidal goons throughout the Middle East.


Oh, that... well...


And that, since the war, you've avoided calling out The New York Times on its many anti-administration fabrications like Al-Qaqaa...


Well, our schedule precludes covering every ---


Its damaging disclosures of classified, yet perfectly legal programs like SWIFT, international call-record data-mining...


Bill, I think it's debatable whether -


And you and your cohorts have avoided mentioning that, say, 500 WMDs have been found in Iraq since 2003...


Well, they could have been some old WMD's...


Furthermore, that by failing to highlight any success stories in Iraq since 2003, you've directly contributed to Al-Jazeera's disinformation campaign against America... and thereby helped make the fight even more difficult for our men and women in uniform...


But... but... I'm only one man...


And by dint of these omissions and one-sided coverage, isn't it true that -- either purposefully or through sheer ignorance -- Meet the Press and its ilk have been waging information warfare against America itself?


But... why... why would I have any reason to do that...?


Why would you and the rest of the press not connect the dots for your audience? That we face a threat more challenging than the Third Reich: Iran's mullahs are Hitler with nukes. Worse, they represent only the leadership of a worldwide, nihilistic cabal of extremists bent on destruction. Are the attacks in Manhattan, Washington, Bali, Beslan, Madrid, London, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Israel, Mumbai, Kashmir, Thailand, Darfur, Somalia, Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines not connected?


Err... but... I... don't...


Isn't it true that instead of facing up to this growing threat, today's press and Democrats alike have abdicated responsibility for educating the public and have effectively thrown the country "under the bus" to gain partisan advantage?


But... it makes no sense... why would I... we...


Well, Tim, isn't it also true that your wife is Maureen Orth, a correspondent for the rabidly anti-administration magazine, Vanity Fair? Hasn't she been dependent on paychecks from that virulently one-sided mouthpiece for over a decade?


Well... well... I won't sit here and have you impugn my background as a scrupulously honest, non-partisan reporter! I'm outta here, O'Reilly!


Thanks for visiting Press the Meet, Tim, and we'll look forward to seeing you on This Week in the DNC -- or whatever it is that you call your show these days. And to you, our viewers, thank you for watching and please join us next week, when our guest is John Murtha...


Thank you for watching Press the Meet. We explore the stories that Meet the Press ignores.



Oven-baked good readin', just like Mama used to make:
AIM: Media on Trial in Libby Case, Decision '08, Eclipse Ramblings, Hang Right Politics, Imus Blog, Just One Minutes, Kesher Talk, Moderate Voice, National Review Online: Contradictions Come to Define Libby Trial, Newsbusters, New York Sun, No Easy Answers, Ocean Guy, PostWatch, Roger L. Simon, Soccer Dad, STACLU, Washington Post: Trial in Error, Wizbang