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Chris Field is Editor of Human Events Online [go to Field index]

More Stuff the Left Has Gotten Away With Lately
Liberal media gives a pass to their own...
[Chris Field] 4/12/04

As I've said before, the Left gets away with a lot.

The partisan mainstream media hates it when the Right points out their bias. But sometimes we just can't help it.

Here are three recent comments by well known liberal senators that received little comment in the Big Media. Thankfully, conservative sources will not let things like these slide.

Kerry: In Defense of One of Our Iraqi Enemies (and Then Flips)

In an interview on National Public Radio aired April 7, John Kerry (D.-Mass.) called Shiite imam Moztada al-Sadr a "legitimate voice" in Iraq. Al-Sadr is the leader of the current uprising in Iraq that has resulted in the killing of several of our troops. One of the steps coalition forces took against al-Sadr was to shut down a newspaper owned by the imam after it urged violence U.S. troops. Of that action Kerry said:

They shut a newspaper that belongs to a legitimate voice in Iraq -- let me change the term "legitimate" -- they shut a newspaper that belongs to a voice, because he has clearly taken on a far more radical tone in recent days and aligned himself with both Hamas and Hezbollah, which is, sort of, a terrorist alignment.

If a Republican had let a line like that slip, I doubt there is any way it wouldn't have been the leading story for Dan, Peter, and/or Tom.

Kennedy: Iraq is Vietnam

Our troops are in a war in Iraq. Men are dying. So, how does Ted Kennedy (D.-Mass.) build them up? Well, here's some of what he said in an April 5 speech to the Brookings Institution:

By going to war in Iraq on false pretenses and neglecting the real war on terrorism, President Bush gave Al Qaeda two years -- two whole years -- to regroup and recover in the border regions of Afghanistan. As the terrorist bombings in Madrid and other reports now indicate, Al Qaeda has used that time to plant terrorist cells in countries throughout the world and establish ties with terrorist groups in many different lands.

By going to war in Iraq, we have strained our ties with longstanding allies around the world, allies whose help we clearly and urgently need on intelligence, on law enforcement, and militarily. We have made America more hated in the world and made the war on terrorism harder to win.

The result is a massive and very dangerous crisis in our foreign policy. We have lost the respect of other nations in the world.

Where do we go to get back our respect? How do we reestablish the working relationships we need with other countries to win the war on terrorism and advance the ideals we share? And how can we possibly expect President Bush to do that?

He is the problem, not the solution. Iraq is George Bush's Vietnam, and this country needs a new president.

Interestingly, I've seen no one in the liberal media challenge Kennedy on this and heard no one ask him whether Vietnam was John Kennedy's Vietnam, rather than "Nixon's War" as many on the Left like to label it.

Dodd: Love Fest for Byrd, but Not for Strom

Sen. Trent Lott (R.-Miss.) lost his job as Majority Leader and was drug through the mud in the national media because of his praises of former segregationist and former Sen. Strom Thurmond (R.-S.C.) during the celebration of Thurmond's 100th birthday.

On April Fools day this year, Sen. Chris Dodd (D.-Conn.) offered the following praise of former Ku Klux Klan member and current Sen. Robert Byrd (D.-W.V.) upon his casting of his 17,000th vote. Did the liberal media give Dodd the same treatment they gave Lott?

Several thoughts come to mind. This is a day of obvious significance in the number of votes that have been cast, 17,000, but it is far more important to talk about quality than quantity. Quantity is not an insignificant achievement, but the quality of my colleague and friend's service is what I think about when the name ROBERT C. BYRD comes to my mind.

I carry with me every single day, 7 days a week, a rather threadbare copy of the United States Constitution given to me many years ago--I can't even read it well now; it is so worn out--I may need a new copy--given to me by my seatmate, ROBERT C. BYRD. I revere it. I tell people why I carry it because it reminds me of the incredible gift given to me by the people of Connecticut to serve in this Chamber, to remind me of the importance of an oath we all made, and that is to do everything we can to preserve, protect, and defend the principles upon which this Nation was founded. ROBERT C. BYRD, in my mind, is the embodiment of that goal.

It has often been said that the man and the moment come together. I do not think it is an exaggeration at all to say to my friend from West Virginia that he would have been a great Senator at any moment. Some were right for the time. ROBERT C. BYRD, in my view, would have been right at any time. He would have been right at the founding of this country. He would have been in the leadership crafting this Constitution. He would have been right during the great conflict of civil war in this Nation. He would have been right at the great moments of international threat we faced in the 20th century. I cannot think of a single moment in this Nation's 220-plus year history where he would not have been a valuable asset to this country. . . .

There is no one I admire more, there is no one to whom I listen more closely and carefully when he speaks on any subject matter. I echo the comments of my colleague from Massachusetts. If I had to pick out any particular point of service for which I admire the Senator most, it is his unyielding defense of the Constitution. All matters come and go. We cast votes on such a variety of issues, but Senator Byrd's determination to defend and protect this document which serves as our rudder as we sail through the most difficult of waters is something that I admire beyond all else.

I don't remember anyone asking Sen. Dodd what he thought about Byrd's KKK days. CRO

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