Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Interviewing Officers and a Judge

"I thought they really had moved very slowly to the left, and I also thought that when they had the chance to clarify to the fact that they were not moving to the left, they didn't do so." That, according to NewsBusters, is a quote from retired Col. Ken Allard. Allard was a military analyst for NBC News and resigned last February. He originally said the network was undergoing a "precipitous retreat from journalistic and ethical standards."

When Bob Simon interviewed an Israeli Air Force pilot, Captain Omri, on CBS's "60 Minutes", the discussion was on air strikes in the Gaza strip. Simon actually said to Omri, "But I must tell you, your face, your manners, your demeanor, you don't look like a killer. And yet what you do a lot of the time when you're over Gaza, you're killing." The pilot responded: "I agree. I don't think I'm a killer. When I look at my face in the mirror, I don't see a killer." This, too, from NewsBusters. So, in Bob Simon's world, military pilots are simply killers. And, he's shocked he doesn't look any different than anyone else, apparently.

Also on "60 Minutes" Sunday, Leslie Stahl interviewed Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. She is as clueless as Bob Simon. I watched as much of the interview as I could stomach, then I printed out the transcript from the CBSNews.com web site. I couldn't believe her unabashed ignorance in interviewing a Conservative legal professional.

Stahl was so surprised that, for instance, Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg are very good friends. This is an indication that in the world of Leslie Stahl, the world of the swells in Manhattan, only liberal thinking people are allowed. No straying from the script for her circle of friends. How quaint. How can you possibly disagree with someone and still be friends? And, liberals are the first to blast conservatives for marching in lock step, the implication quite clear.

From the transcript: "In spending time with him, we found something we hadn't expected: a person so unpretentious and down to earth, you could easily forget he sits on the Supreme Court. But what stands out is his sharp intelligence, and his street-fighter personality which he developed growing up in New York City."

"He met his wife Maureen in Cambridge when she was a senior at Radcliffe and he was in his last year at Harvard Law School. They have been married for 48 years and rarely disagree, they say. They have 9 children and 28 grandchildren. All their children are grown up now. The Scalia children range in age from 27 to 46, are all conservative, all successful, including two lawyers, a major in the Army, a poet, and a priest."

So, who's the out of touch snob, Leslie?

Leslie and her fellow interviewers. Any wonder why the old networks are losing audiences?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I never cared for Leslie Stahl. She has always struck me as a narrow minded liberal snob.

Scalia's family is one to be proud of and one would be remiss to criticize that kind of blessing and success.

Stahl is a fool - consider the source!

Paul is a Hermit said...

Understandable enough, as far as judges go, since I think Souter and Ginsberg are totally out of it. Maybe they're a lot of other things, too. I just wish they were doing something else for a living.

Nikki said...

I am so with you on this...I can hardly stomache 60 minutes anymore. Every once in a while I try, but I usually end up changing the channel. I think people know the jig is up with these reporters and there is no objective reporting happening, so why watch. Nice Job! :)N