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too long to get published -- but had to say it ....
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I want to thank Mr. Wycliff, for his column, How we came to make that endorsement, because it confirmed, as this reader suspected it must, that Tribune's presidential endorsement was both disingenuous and contradictory to the paper's usual fine journalistic principles.
According to Mr. Wycliff, the board was guided by a Manifesto, which states, The Tribune believes in the traditional principles of limited government; maximum individual responsibility; and minimum restriction of personal liberty, opportunity and enterprise. It believes in free markets, free will and freedom of expression. Yet these laudable principles had no place in the Tribune's endorsement.
The Tribune Principle of Limited Government:
Under the Bush Administration, the government, and government spending, has expanded dramatically. Non-defense discretionary spending alone has increased by a whopping by 20.8 percent. Many of the "new jobs" touted by the Bush campaign are new government jobs. Indeed, the only limit placed on the government by the Bush Administration has been the ability to pay for the "war on terror," and domestic programs including the "No Child Left Behind" program lauded in the endorsement. These actions are directly contrary to the beliefs set forth in the Manifesto, and yet the Tribune endorses George W. Bush.
The Tribune Principle of Minimum Restriction of Personal Liberty:
The Bush Administration has shown nothing but disdain for personal liberties - other than the right to own Uzis. The Patriot Act gives the government unprecedented power to intrude into the privacy of individuals, as well as the operations of business and public libraries - and the Bush Administration has shown that it is more than willing to abuse the powers provided under the act. The administration's efforts to criminalize abortion (an unavoidable outcome of the proposed constitutional amendment) will usurp state control and ensure that no woman can obtain an abortion without risking both her health and her liberty. The proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage is yet another example of this administrations' attempt to usurp state control and slither under the doors of our homes. These actions are directly contrary to the beliefs set forth in the Manifesto, and yet the Tribune endorses George W. Bush.
The Tribune Principle of Freedom of Expression:
Under the Bush Administration, the level of governmental secrecy and citizen censorship has risen to levels not experienced since at least the McCarthy era. This administration has been the most secretive in history, turning the Freedom of Information Act inside out, such that the government no longer bears the burden of accountability to its citizens. Instead, as Valerie Plame and Richard Clarke have discovered, the information selected for release is not to ensure government accountability, but rather to punish and harm those who dare exercise their "freedom of expression" to criticize Bush. Bush officials charged those who express questions about its handling of 9/11 with helping terrorists, and those who express question about its handling of the Iraqi war with lack of patriotism. They have gone to court to prevent whistleblowers from "expressing" concerns over documented governmental misconduct. They have prevented the press from showing the dead and wounded soldiers returning from Iraq They have created "free speech zones," herding protesters into pens far away from the President, a tactic blatantly designed to discourage free expression and to limit press coverage of any such dissenting views. These actions are directly contrary to the beliefs set forth in the Manifesto and yet the Tribune endorses George W. Bush.
The Tribune's refusal to address and acknowledge these issues is a grave disappointment to its readers and constitutes a fundamental failure to abide by the principles of its own Manifesto.
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