Cokie Roberts fooled me

[Cocoa]

I'm embarrassed to say, when Cokie Roberts said on NPR that Al Gore used Willie Horton against Dukakis before Poppy did, I believed her.

But can you blame me? Who would think it would be necessary to go to sites like "The Daily Howler" just to get the basic facts straight? Who would think that NPR would continue to employ liars like Cokie?

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh011304.shtml

<snip>

THEY NEVER STOP TELLING THESE STORIES: Many readers complained about Cokie Roberts’ appearance on yesterday’s Morning Edition. She had said it again, we were told—she had said that Al Gore was the first person to bring up Willie Horton, during the 1988 primaries. It’s been RNC cant since 1992, as we’ve incomparably explained in the past (links below). And, of course, it’s blatantly bogus: Though Gore criticized the Massachusetts furlough program at one Dem debate in 1988, he never mentioned Horton (or anyone else) by name; he never mentioned Horton’s crime; he never ran any ads on the subject; and he never said anything at all about race. The racializing of the issue—and the introduction of Horton—occurred in the general election.

more...

[lazarus]

1. Bob Somerby

Is a national treasure.

[Junkdrawer]

2. Yes, but lies are a small price to pay in order to get invited...

to the right parties. Get your priorities right.

[el_gato]

3. i can't understand why people believe these liars at all

basically if your a talking tv head you are most likely a LIAR.

never believe anything these shitbags tell you

[Cocoa]

6. my email...

Subj: was I fooled by NPR?
Date: 1/13/04 12:13:26 PM Central Standard Time
From:
To: [e-mail]

Dear NPR,

"The Daily Howler" website claims that Gore did not mention Willie Horton by name.

I heard Cokie Roberts's commentaty, and I strongly think she said that he did. I came away thinking that, I was surprised and I thought I had learned something new. I didn't suspect for a second that it wasn't true. I don't care for Roberts's analysis, but I did not doubt her basic truthfullness about facts.

So, my first question is, did Gore in fact mention Horton by name before Bush did?

And if not, do you agree with me that Roberts essentially lied?

Right now, I feel as if I have been fooled by NPR.

Thank you,

[goforit]

NPR S*cks royally!!.Imperialistic/capitalistic globalization is their 24/7

program with the support of Pat Robertson's ideals.

They have gone so far right it is totally nauseating.

[mobuto]

12. Hyperbole anyone?

Yeah there's no difference between NPR and Pat Robertson just as there was no difference between Dubya and Gore.

Do you actually believe that?

I agree that Cokie Roberts is a pompous fool, and Mara Liasson is worse, but NPR is still head and shoulders above the rest of the broadcast media. And in that group I include the Beeb, Deutschewelle, Pacifica and PBS.

[KG]

4. cokie roberts is a lazy fraud -

she just basically repeats stuff she heard and makes shit up.

[pookastew]

5. Cokie.

"...and then when I was 12, daddy got me the most beautiful white horse, and I rode it through the halls of Congress, and all the Senators said that I was the prettiest princess in all the land."

[Loonman]

7. Cokie the whore

Lies and lies again.

[Coventina]

8. Cokie Roberts is why I no longer donate to NPR

I give money to my local station and specify that it is for their BBC programming NOT NPR

[montanacowboy]

9. Have stopped listening and donating

to NPR - Cokie Roberts - what a joke - this is the bottom of the barrel they are scraping for "news analysis" - Cokie as an "analyst", please give me a freakin break. Worthless shill.

[tom_paine]

10. Cocoa, you must apply Soviet-level skepticism

to all the pronouncements of Impeial Amerika's Pravda Pundits.

Yes they lie. They lie constantly. When they aren't lying they are telling half-truths.

The Imperial Amerikan media, once so admired throughout the world during the Days of the Old Republic, is rapidly becoming a laughingstock.

Just take NOTHING any Pravda Whores say as truth. You can;t go wrong that way.

[Cocoa]

13. my new rule

no NPR before I've had my coffee. :-)

[DrBB]

11. A letter to Morning Edition

Re Cokie Roberts's claim on today's Morning Edition that it was Al Gore who "first introduced the Willie Horton issue" into the 1988 presidential campaign:

President G. H. W. Bush's campaign director, Lee Attwater never tried to blame Gore or anyone else when he apologized for his own conduct in creating the Willie Horton ads and injecting an ugly racial aspect into the campaign. That is because Gore was not in fact responsible, and on his deathbed, Mr Attwater discovered remorse and honesty.

The same can not be said of Rush Limbaugh, who is the origin of this slur against Mr Gore. Like all effective lies, it does bear a tiny kernel of truth: Gore DID mention the Massachusetts furlough program in one--ONE--of the 45 primary debates held that election season. But to refer to this as introducing "the Willie Horton issue" is disingenuous in the extreme. Gore never mentioned Horton, and made no attempt to personalize or racialize the issue, which is surely what everyone understands the words "Willie Horton" to refer to in American politics.

Unlike Lee Attwater, Mr Limbaugh has never apologized for or corrected this mistake (or any other of the myriad ones he has voiced). But surely we are justified in expecting Cokie Roberts to adhere to a higher standard than the one Rush Limbaugh observes.

That is why I confidently await her on-air retraction and apology for perpetuating this canard.

Course I'm not holding my breath....