The American Spectator

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R. Emmett Tyrrell’s stiletto-like comments about the new Senate minority leader (Senator Harry Reid of Nevada) were wondrous to read but, I suspect, his is merely an early offering among a tidal-wave of such commentary to come from center-right punditry. Although, who except Tyrrell will come up with such characterizations as “born blank” or “preposterosity” to describe the good senator?

But, Reid’s comments on “Meet the Press” that Justice Thomas is an “embarrassment to the court” and that his opinions are “poorly written” were no worse than Tim Russert’s failure to ask the obvious question: what opinions do you mean, Senator?

This failure by Russert was not a surprise, however, because his record of bias against conservatism is obvious — and it was especially so during the recent election campaign. For months leading up to the election, Russert had as guests on “Meet the Press” various liberal partisans such as Richard Clark, Joseph Wilson, Robert Byrd and others to bash the Bush administration. Yet, not a single Swift Boat Vets, or other such guest, appeared on “Meet the Press” to comment on Kerry’s bogus war medals or his treachery as a war protester after he returned from Vietnam.

On the other hand, when President Bush gave Russert an hour interview, about half that time was spent by Russert badgering the President about missing WMD and other aspects of Iraq. Similarly, when he interviewed Condi Rice, Colin Powell, and other Bush administration officials, he was relentless on the subject of Iraq and especially the missing WMD. He just couldn’t be restrained; he was a pitbull; he was, well, he was just obnoxious.

That all changed, however, when John Kerry appeared on “Meet the Press” and admitted having committed war crimes; and he insisted his accusations about wide-spread atrocities being committed by other veterans were true — although he (Kerry) may have, somewhat, overstated the allegations. As with Reid, Russert didn’t bother to follow up with any hard questions about the nature of the war crimes Kerry acknowledged having committed, or the accusations against his fellow veterans having been proven untrue by scholarly research in recent years.

p>It’s a travesty that Russert has a reputation for being fair and reasonable. He’s not. He’s as biased, or more so, than any of the other ranking members of the “old media.” br> — A. A. Reynolds br> Chula Vista, California /p> p> Lay off Warren Harding. He was a good President who gave did his best for America, and had on the whole a very successful administration. His posthumous slander is the worst that any American has ever suffered. Harry Reid is racist scum. Harding was a strong proponent of civil rights. The two men should never be considered similar in any respect; especially not by anyone who calls himself a Republican. br> — Doug /p>