Most people know not to take Fox News seriously, but many believe CNN is a reliable source of news. This makes CNN a lot more dangerous. "The most trusted name in news" has been running a hit piece since last night on whether or not Obama is too liberal. This hit piece is one of the laziest and most irresponsible pieces of journalism I've seen since-well the day before.
The segment begins with the premise that being against the Iraq War, pro choice, pro saving social security, pro taking care of our veterans is left of the mainstream. Where's the piece on whether or not McCain is too conservative?
Next they interview Peter Wehner, a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. That organization sounds non-partisan but its mission is to to clarify and reinforce the bond between the Judeo-Christian moral tradition and the public debate over domestic and foreign policy issues. A look at its website features an article by Rick "Man on Dog" Santorum. It also features articles critical of Obama over the Reverend Wright issue. Mr. Wehner then proceeds to give Obama advice on how to be less liberal and brings up how Bill Clinton used Welfare reform to move more towards the right. I am sure the Bible has a lot to say about welfare queens.
After the piece, Candy Crowley shows off her investigative skills by conducting a "fact check" on whether Obama worked with Republicans in the Illinois and US Senate. She didn't mention the bipartisan state ethics legislation he helped pass nor his endorsement by Illinois Republican State Senator Kirk Dillard, but she did mention that he played poker with Republicans and got along with them in Illinois.
She then added that there was not much evidence of Obama working with Republicans in the US Senate. There was no mention of his work with Senator Lugar on nuclear proliferation nor his work with Senator Coburn on Transparency.
The segment by Randi Kaye aired on Anderson Cooper and was repeated this morning. I can't find the actual piece that aired; below is the transcript on the blog, which is slightly more balanced than what was aired and doesn't feature Crumbs Crowley.
I wrote CNN to let them know what I thought about this piece and provided a link so that you can too. I am tired of this garbage passing as journalism.
transcript of segment
Contact CNN