Ari Fleischer: Still saying nothing after all these years

Of course the phrase "big tobacco" was not popularized by Gore or any other Democrat. It's been in common use for decades. In fact, among the first mentions found by Nexis comes from the Dec. 15, 1977, issue of Forbes magazine, not exactly known as a hotbed of liberal journalism.

On the cusp of the war with Iraq, Fleischer recalls how on March 18, 2003, "someone [inside the West Wing] pointed out how muted the coverage was of Tony Blair's dramatic win in Parliament authorizing the [U.K.] use of force against Iraq. After weeks of coverage about how much trouble Blair was in, his victory didn't get much press."

The vote in Parliament actually represented an embarrassing setback for Blair, since 139 members of his own Labor Party deserted him on the vote, a point Fleischer ignores. Second, here is a sample of the U.S. news organizations that supposedly "muted" coverage of the Parliament vote: Associated Press, Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, Charleston (S.C.) Gazette, Charlotte Observer, Chicago Tribune (which ran the story on the front page), CNN, Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Knight Ridder, Los Angeles Times, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, NBC, New York Times, New York Post, Newsday, Orlando Sentinel, Philadelphia Inquirer, St. Petersburg Times, Tallahassee Democrat, UPI, USA Today, Voice of America and the Wichita Eagle.

Fleischer also complains that reporters, letting their supposed Democratic bias seep through, fail to label the American Civil Liberties Union a "liberal" organization even though they're quick to tag a group like Club for Growth as "conservative." Here's a partial list of the news outlets that have referred to the ACLU as "liberal" in the last 12 months: Bergen (N.J.) Record, San Antonio Express-News, Associated Press, Time, Baltimore Sun, Washington Times, Sacramento Bee, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Newsday, Seattle Post Intelligencer, United Press International, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Chattanooga Times Free Press, Kansas City Star, San Francisco Chronicle, Oakland Tribune, International Herald Tribune, CNN, and Dallas Morning News.

When not critiquing the press through the language it opts for, Fleischer most often tries to prove his point by playing back exchanges he had during some of his 300 White House press briefings. But Fleischer leaves out important context. For instance, time and again he cites hostile questions posed by Helen Thomas, the grande dame of the White House press corps, as an example of just how agenda-driven liberal reporters can be. (Thomas: "Why does [Bush] want to drop bombs on innocent Iraqis?") The truth is, even though Thomas grabs more mentions in "Taking Heat" than any other journalist, she is irrelevant when it comes to setting the agenda inside the Beltway. She wields no real power and her pointed barbs do not reflect the general mood of the White House press corps. If Fleischer were able to point to a reporter from the New York Times or Washington Post or NBC who asked antagonizing questions on a daily basis, then his charge would stick. But he cannot. Instead he uses Thomas as a convenient foil.

And to take step back, Fleischer, focusing so intently on White House reporters (and their limited role), ignores the Republican media revolution that's going on all around him. It's an insurgency that puts to shame any hint of Democratic partisan activity inside the White House press room. (For Fleischer's purposes Fox News barely exists, garnering just five mentions within "Taking Heat's" 400 pages.) Let's face it, a blatantly partisan conservative host on Fox News or MSNBC, who programs his shows around GOP talking points and treats facts as fungible objects has far more impact on the political dialogue nationwide than a wide-eyed liberal White House news reporter whose editor demands he write balanced, factual stories, but might allow him to ask loaded questions in front of 19 other reporters at White House briefings.

Again, Fleischer pretends the events at the briefings define political journalism. They do not. They're an increasingly irrelevant sideshow. The important, substantative work of covering the administration does not occur during the televised give-and-take inside the White House press room, in part because so little information is ferreted out.

In the end, Fleischer's argument that the Beltway press's reporting is clouded by fundamental bias doesn't withstand scrutiny, and Fleischer himself is proof of that. Arguably the most famous phrase he ever uttered during his years behind the White House podium occurred just weeks after the 9/11 attack. Asked about late night comedian Bill Maher's comments that launching U.S. cruise missiles 2,000 miles away from their target was "cowardly" compared to 9/11 attackers who gave their lives, Fleischer said: "All Americans need to watch what they say, watch what they do." Fleischer insists his comment was taken out of context, and to prove it, he points approvingly to ABC's Ted Koppel, who one night reviewed Fleischer's quote and informed "Nightline" viewers, "Ari Fleischer got a bum rap on that one."

In this case at least, Koppel was able to keep his Democratic "bias" in check.

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