SUNDAY, January 25, 2004

BIAS?  THAT WASN'T BIAS, THAT WAS JUST A DAMNED GOOD QUESTION

I guess by now you've heard Weasley Clark whining about Brit Hume's questioning in the presidential debate in New Hampshire last Thursday evening.  Clark says that Hume was asking questions from the Republican perspective.  And this guy's military?  This is all the heat he can take? 

Decide for your self.  Here is the exact transcript of that particular question and answer from the debate.  Clark's problem is that he was nailed with a damned good question:

HUME: General Clark, Governor Dean has said that you're a good guy but he thinks you're a Republican. Now, we're told you did vote for several Republican presidents -- President Nixon, President Reagan -- said good things about the first President Bush and even about this President Bush.

You said, in an article published in The Times of London back in April as the war ended, quote, "Liberation is at hand. Liberation, the powerful balm that justifies painful sacrifice, erases lingering doubt and reinforces bold actions."

As to the president, you wrote, quote, "President Bush and Tony Blair should be proud of their resolve in the face of so much doubt."

Given those statements, given your votes, I think it is not unreasonable to ask you when you first noticed that you were a Democrat.

CLARK: Well, actually, actually, Brit, actually, I did vote for Al Gore in 2000 and for Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996.

But when I was in the military, I was not a member of any party. I was an independent, and that's the way it is done in the state of Arkansas.

And when I got out, I looked at both parties. And I'm a fair- minded person. And when the president of the United States does two things that I agree with -- one of them attacking the Taliban in Iraq, and the other is not quitting in the use of military force in the middle of a dust storm -- then I'm going to say so.

And when I'm president, I hope that Republicans will praise me when I do things right.

But...

HUME: Well, that's...

CLARK: Can I just finish my statement?

HUME: Please.

CLARK: I'm running for president because I don't like the direction George Bush is taking the country in. I am a Democrat, and I want to turn this country around and set it going in the right direction.

I want to put a strong basis of values back into this Democratic Party and take George Bush head-on. Because family values is our issue in the Democratic Party; it is not the Republicans' issue.

HUME: Could not a reader be justified in concluding, from this piece that you wrote for the Times of London in April, that you did indeed support this war and was pleased by its outcome and, as you said the first time when asked the question, probably would have voted to support it?

CLARK: No, that's not true. In fact, if you look at the whole article, what you'll see is that the article lays out a whole series of tasks that have to be done later on.

And it's written in a foreign publication. I'm not going to take U.S. policy and my differences with the administration directly into a foreign publication.

But I made it clear in the article -- and I think you've got it there. If you read it on down, you'll see that I say this doesn't mean -- they've got to focus now on the peacekeeping, the occupation, the provision of order.

There's a whole series of tasks that I laid out for them to do that, in fact, they were incapable of doing.

I did not support this war. I would not have voted for the resolution. But once American soldiers are on the battlefield, then I want them to be successful and I want them to come home safely.

JENNINGS: Thank you, General.

There's Peter Jennings stepping in to save the General's hide. 

Now read this again, folks.  This is supposed to show Republican bias?  What you have here is a reporter asking tough questions.  Political candidates are used to having the Washington and DC press corps lob softballs their way in debate situations such as this again. That didn't happen with Brit Hume.  The question he asked was one that is on the minds of many Americans.  It's not at all unreasonable to expect that quite a few Democrats would like to have an answer to this question also?  Is their champion really nothing more than a political opportunist?  One thing for sure, it's a question Clark didn't appreciate one small bit. 

AND A BIG BRAVO FOR PETER JENNINGS

Usually ABC's Peter Jennings can be counted on to couch his questions in terms most likely to benefit the left.  At one point in last week's debate Jennings thought it might be a good idea to sound out Al Sharpton on some critical matters:

JENNINGS: Reverend Sharpton, I'd like to ask you a question about domestic policy, if you don't mind.

If during your term as president, if you become the nominee, and you have the opportunity to nominate someone to be chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, what kind of person would you consider for the job? You can name someone in particular, if you have someone in mind.

And maybe just take a minute or so to give us a little bit about your views on monetary policy.

SHARPTON: Well, first of all, let me say this. I wanted to say to Governor Dean, don't be hard on yourself about hooting and hollering. If I had spent the money you did and got 18 percent, I'd still be in Iowa hooting and hollering.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

So, don't worry about it, Howard.

(LAUGHTER)

DEAN: Thanks, Reverend.

SHARPTON: I think, first of all, we must have a person at the Monetary Fund that is concerned about growth of all, not setting standards that would, in my judgment, protect some and not elevate those that cannot, in my view, expand and come to the levels of development and the levels of where we need to be.

I think part of my problem with how we're operating at this point is that the IMF and the policies that are emanating there do not lead to the expansion that is necessary for our country and our global village to rise to levels that underdeveloped countries and those businesses in this country can have the development policies necessary.

JENNINGS: Forgive me, Reverend Sharpton, but the question was actually about the Federal Reserve Board.

SHARPTON: I thought you said IMF, I'm sorry.

JENNINGS: No, I'm sorry, sir. And what you'd be looking for in a chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.

SHARPTON: Oh, in the Federal Reserve Board, I would be looking for someone that would set standards in this country, in terms of our banking, our -- in how government regulates the Federal Reserve as we see it under Greenspan, that we would not be protecting the big businesses; we would not be protecting banking interests in a way that would not, in my judgment, lead toward mass employment, mass development and mass production.

I think that -- would I replace Greenspan, probably. Do I have a name? No.

The purpose of this question was to point out that Al Sharpton is in no way a serious presidential candidate.  It worked.  Sharpton looked like a fool.  Now if Sharpton had taken a page out of Clark's playbook he would be calling Jennings a racist for putting forth this line of questioning.

AND JUST A FEW SUNDAY READING ASSIGNMENTS

You just absolutely, positively KNEW that it was going to happen sooner or later.  Kobe Bryant's defense team has decided that the rape charges are racially motivated.

Curious about the Libertarians?  I was somewhat impressed with this overview of the Libertarian Party contained in the "Wikipedia" ... an on-line encyclopedia. 

If you think that Bush is a big spender (and he is), just wait until you see some of the spending plans the Democrats want to run in on you.

Do you think that San Francisco would be a great place to live?  Think again!  San Francisco is a prime example of what liberalism can do to a fine city.

Click here.  Just do it.  You won't regret it.  You need to remember ... you need to be reminded.  You must never forget.

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