Liberal Media Laughfest
Um… yeahhhhh… right. Democratic Underground’s analysis of Neil Cavuto’s “fair and balanced” interview with Chimpy McFlightsuit:
Last week Our Great Leader was interviewed by Neil Cavuto, right there on Fox News. Now we can directly compare a Fox News reporter’s questioning of George Bush with a Fox News reporter’s questioning of Howard Dean. Let’s go to the transcript to see what kind of pugnacious journalism Neil Cavuto has in store for us:
NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: Mr. President, welcome to FOX. It’s great to have you.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you, Neil.
CAVUTO: We were thinking of you, Mr. President, we knew you had won the election and now we have heard that you had better grades than your opponent too in college.
Hmm. Well, I suppose this is the start of the interview. Perhaps Cavuto needs some time to warm up.
CAVUTO: What did you think with the release of those transcripts?
BUSH: I didn’t think much about it. You know, I’ve always tried to lower expectations, and I feel like if people say, well, you know, maybe, you know, I don’t think you handle the tough job, and when you do, it impresses people even more. But my view is the campaign is over.
CAVUTO: Yes. He was billed as the intellectual, though, and you had better grades in college.
Right… well, perhaps Cavuto will move onto something more substantial. Let’s see… what about the economy?
CAVUTO: Let me ask you about the economy, sir. Almost any objective read tells you that we’re still doing very, very well. Productivity is very high. Had a strong GDP report. Retail sales are very, very strong. The unemployment rate, at 5.1 percent, used to be considered full employment when Hubert Humphrey was alive. Do you think you get a bum rap in the media on the economy?
Whoa - what the hell is THAT? Is that supposed to be a question? Uh, let’s see, what else do we have here…
CAVUTO: Well, do you think wealthier folks like you, when you retire, and maybe TV anchors too, should not get Social Security, or should have their benefits pared?
BUSH: No, I think you ought to get Social Security, because you paid into the system. But I don’t think your benefits ought to rise faster than the rate of inflation. And I do think poorer citizens ought to have their benefits rise at the rate of wages, which would enable us to say two things. One, no one should retire in poverty. In other words, if you worked all your life in a tough job and you contributed to the Social Security system, when you retire, you ought not to retire into poverty. And secondly, such a plan, called progressive indexing, will go a long way towards solving the Social Security problem permanently.
CAVUTO: You know, a lot of economists agree with that, Mr. President.
Jesus. Okay, one more - perhaps there’s a tough question in here somewhere:
CAVUTO: I know this is a little outlandish, Mr. President…
BUSH: No, that’s all right, Neil.
CAVUTO: Do you think that the focus on Michael Jackson has hurt you?
Okay, that’s it. I’m done. Please excuse me for a moment while I attempt to beat my own brains out with my keyboard.
