Obama And GWB Made Surprise Visits To Afghanistan -- Coverage Very Different By Larry Elder

By Larry Elder, May 30, 2014

One leg of the Axis of Indoctrination: our leftwing major media.

The “Today “ show gives us a recent example of the leftwing bias of our major media. President Barack Obama made a Memorial Day surprise visit to Afghanistan. And, in March 2006, so did President George W. Bush. The “Today” show’s coverage, perspective and tone could not have been more different.

Depending upon the poll, Obama’s popularity rating is lower now than Bush’s at comparable times in their presidencies. Yet, the “Today” show failed to mention Obama’s poor poll numbers, let along the scandals of the IRS or NSA or Benghazi. It did mention the VA scandal, but ended the piece with a sound bite of Obama determined to get to the bottom of it. On the other hand, “Today’s” coverage of the Bush visit included a comment on to how poorly the Iraq War was going, as well as a reference to the controversy over leasing American ports to the United Arab Emirates.

Here’s “Today’s” Obama coverage: “President Obama has just returned to Washington this morning following a surprise visit with U.S. service members in Afghanistan, and he has a busy Memorial Day planned. NBC’s Kristen Welker is at the White House. Good morning to you, Kristen.”

Here’s “Today’s” Bush coverage: “Breaking news. President Bush makes a surprise visit to Afghanistan, his first ever. Meanwhile, back at home, his approval rating sank to an all-time low. The president’s travels come at a time when his popularity at home has, itself, gone south -- his latest job approval rating down to 34.

Consider how ABC, NBC and CBS covered the first days to the presidency of Bill Clinton versus the first day of the presidencies of George W. Bush:

Peter Jennings, ABC News, 1993 -- "President Clinton kept a promise [emphasis added] today on the 20th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Mr. Clinton signed presidential memoranda rolling back many of the restrictions imposed by his predecessors."

Peter Jennings, ABC News, 2001 -- "One of the president's first actions was designed to appeal to anti-abortion conservatives [emphasis added]. The president signed an order reinstating a Reagan-era policy."

Tom Brokaw, NBC News, 1993 --"Today, President Clinton kept a campaign promise [emphasis added], and it came on the 20th anniversary of Roe v. Wade legalizing abortion."

Tom Brokaw, NBC News, 2001 -- "We'll begin with the new president's very active day, which started on a controversial note [emphasis added]."

Dan Rather, CBS News, 1993 -- "Today, with the stroke of a pen, President Clinton delivered on his campaign promise [emphasis added] to cancel several anti-abortion regulations of the Reagan-Bush years."

Dan Rather, CBS News, 2001 -- "This was President Bush's first day at the office, and he did something to quickly please the right flank [emphasis added] in his party: He reinstituted an anti-abortion policy."

But, for a combination of blatant media bias and chutzpah, the award goes to The New York Times.

On New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s waning days in office, the Times wrote an editorial praising the job he did as mayor. Eight years later, when Giuliani decided to run for president, the same newspaper trashed the job he did as mayor:

New York Times editorial (December 30, 2001): "It would be easy to go on about the things Mr. Giuliani failed to do -- New York City has so many problems and crises and needs that all mayors leave office with far more losses than wins. The most its residents can expect of a mayor is that he -- or someday she -- accomplish one big thing. When measured in that way, Mr. Giuliani more than did the job. He restored New Yorkers' confidence in their ability to control the city's destiny. The long years he spent fighting crime and disorder became the platform from which he showed us how to fight terrorism and Osama bin Laden."

New York Times editorial (January 25, 2008): "The real Mr. Giuliani, whom many New Yorkers came to know and mistrust, is a narrow, obsessively secretive, vindictive man who saw no need to limit police power. Racial polarization was as much a legacy of his tenure as the rebirth of Times Square. Mr. Giuliani's arrogance and bad judgment are breathtaking. When he claims fiscal prudence, we remember how he ran through surpluses without a thought to the inevitable downturn and bequeathed huge deficits to his successor. He fired Police Commissioner William Bratton, the architect of the drop in crime, because he couldn't share the limelight. He later gave the job to Bernard Kerik, who has now been indicted on fraud and corruption charges."

Same guy, same job, same newspaper, same editorial page. But once Giuliani’s running for president against a Democrat, the same guy and job the Times previously applauded is now a racist, corrupt, seedy s.o.b. Sheer gall.

In “Left Turn” UCLA professor Tim Groseclose argues left wing media bias gives the typical Democratic candidate an 8 to 10 point advantage. These examples show how it’s done -- from the subtle to the blatant.

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