Howard Fineman Leaves Out A Crucial Component Of The Bush Machine: Himself [View All]

[Presstitutes]

http://www.presstitutes.com/presstitutes/2005/10/howard_fineman_.html

Fineman's at it again, proving that no matter how low Bush goes in the polls and how many policy disasters he presides over, the media simply can't let go of the standard Bush narratives.

But first, some background (from our F.A.Q.): "A Pre$$titute is a member of the press who uses his or her media presence to support the Bush administration. Our emphasis is on "non-partisan" mainstream reporters and media outlets who continue to provide cover for the administration despite a litany of scandals . . . Wolf Blitzer, Chris Matthews, Paula Zahn, Dana Milbank, Howard Kurtz, Kyra Phillips, Bill Schneider, Tim Russert, Howard Fineman, Norah O'Donnell, Elizabeth Bumiller, Adam Nagourney, the Bush apologists at ABC's The Note and others with a similar veneer of neutrality exert a more insidious influence on the public debate than rabid partisans like Limbaugh, Coulter, and Hannity."

Now here's a perfect example of how a conventional wisdom-creator like Fineman deceives his audience and promotes an insidious pro-Bush narrative:

"George W. Bush rose to power on the strength of a disciplined, aggressive, tightly-focused, leak-proof spin-machine — one that took issue positions and stuck to them, divided the world (including the media) into friends and enemies, and steamrollered the opposition with ruthless skill while the candidate remained smilingly above the fray. Sure of his social skills but not of his speaking ability (let alone his ability to speak extemporaneously), Bush (and Karl Rove) learned to stick to their bullet-item talking points, to operate through surrogates, all the while steering the initial course they had set for themselves."

Umm, Howard, aren't you leaving out the most important part of this equation? It's craven journalists like you who have enabled Bush's "rise to power." Would Bush have "remained smilingly above the fray" if people like you had done their job? Would the Bush machine have "steamrollered the opposition" without brown-nosers like you?

No, my friend, it's years of Bush ass-kissing and pass-giving that has allowed what you describe as a "disciplined, aggressive, tightly-focused, leak-proof spin-machine" to flush America's credibility down the toilet.

Thanks for nothing.