Media Watching, Your Yellow Undergarments are Showing!

Tom Delay's legal struggles have been a legitimate news story. The coverage of the story has, however, been far from legitimate.

On Monday, December 5th, a judge in Texas tossed out one of the three charges against the former Majority leader. The charge dismissed was the linchpin of DNC Operative and District Attorney Ronnie Earle's case. Yet, the NY Times and the AP painted the picture a bit differently. AP writer April Castro:

"Judge Pat Priest dismissed a conspiracy charge against DeLay in his ruling Monday, but with the more serious charges still intact, the case heads closer to trial...."

In the NY Times, Ralph Blumenthal and Carl Hulse:

"A Texas judge dismissed one charge against Representative Tom Delay on Monday but let stand two more serious charges, complicating Mr. DeLay's hopes of regaining his post as House majority leader when Congress resumes in January."

The charge dismissed is the "trump card" the media touted when DeLay was indicted. Now it is but a footnote. Believe it or not, the Washington Post got it right. They write the indictments that remain were a result of a hasty addition to the initial conspiracy charge against DeLay:

"But [District Judge Pat] Priest also said that a different indictment -- hastily secured by Earle from a different grand jury after he realized the conspiracy charge might be flawed -- was worth hearing at trial."

Another key topic is the economy. A media conference in the Rose Garden on December 2nd allowed the President to take on critics about the economy and to finally point out it is moving forward more strongly and briskly than in the past four decades. It was, however, not reported that way in all circles.

The NY Times POLITICAL reporter Richard Stevenson characterized Bush's "performance" in the Rose Garden:

For an administration that has been beset by trouble, it was a classic effort to change the subject, and one that could be justified, up to a point, by the facts. The Labor Department report on Friday morning showing that employers added 215,000 jobs in November was good news, and it came one day after the government announced that the economy grew at a healthy 4.3 percent annual rate in the third quarter.

Stevenson would not admit the economy is moving along stronger, he simply said it was the President's "characterization." He continued his attacks on the President by trying to tie Iraq with the economy:

"...The administration appeared to be approaching the politics of the economy in much the same way it was approaching the politics of the war: convinced that the problem is not primarily with the substance of its policy, but with skewed public perceptions of reality."

Um, Ok Mr. Stevenson. The Dow has been flirting with 11,000 for a month,the economy grew at a brisk 4.3 percent in the third quarter, the White House bumped up its projection for 2005 gross domestic product growth to 3.5 percent from a mid-year forecast of 3.4 percent. On December 6th the Labor Department said nonfarm business productivity advanced at a 4.7 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the swiftest increase in two years.

To Stevenson and other left leaning reporters like him, the glass is half empty. We have a $200B trade deficit with China - well we import lots of cheaper goods from China and export more expensive American goods elsewhere. We are running a deficit in spending. So what? The Government prints the money and values bonds. It is their math and not any real currency that is being bandied about. These are bills that will never come due. The only real financial crisis there is is Social security, but the DNC and the reporters no longer think it is an issue - why? - because if President Bush and this Congress solve that problem they score a huge political win. Expect Social Security to be a big issue in 2008 when it will again become a priority of Hillary or other Democrats with Bush being painted as one who did not handle the problem.

Keep your eyes open and read multiple sources because headlines and half truths by some do not tell the whole story.