MM: CNN's "John Bolton: Behind the Mustache" attacked Democrats

[sabra]

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http://mediamatters.org/items/200508020005

CNN's "John Bolton: Behind the Mustache" attacked Democrats, whitewashed Bolton

In its coverage of President Bush's recess appointment of John R. Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, CNN featured a segment by State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel, titled "John Bolton: Behind the Mustache." The report characterized Democratic senators as having "demonized" Bolton but made no mention of evidence marshaled against Bolton -- including that he may have lied on a Senate committee questionnaire required as part of the nomination process.

CNN anchor Kyra Phillips introduced "John Bolton: Behind the Mustache" by saying: "Our State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel takes a closer look at him now, and what he believes, and why some senators are a bit concerned." The segment began with a voice-over of Koppel saying that "John Bolton has been downright demonized by Democrats" (emphasizing the word "demonized"), then proceeded to show video clips of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) saying Bolton "needs anger management," Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D-MD) saying Bolton "has a reputation for being abusive," and Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-DE) comparing sending Bolton to the United Nations to "sending a bull into a china shop."

But beyond these short clips, CNN gave no other indication as to why Democratic -- and Republican -- senators "are a bit concerned" over Bolton's nomination, completely ignoring allegations that Bolton manipulated intelligence, harassed colleagues, and gave false information to the Senate on a questionnaire.

While Koppel featured Democrats voicing concerns about Bolton's purported short temper, she omitted far more serious allegations of harassment of colleagues at the State Department. As undersecretary of state for arms control, Bolton drafted a speech in 2002 in which he reportedly mischaracterized Cuba's biological weapons capabilities as a "program," rather than an "effort" -- a distinction considered important by the intelligence community. When the language was corrected by an intelligence analyst, Bolton allegedly lashed out at the analyst and "berated him," according to a July 2004 Senate Intelligence Committee report on prewar intelligence on Iraq. The report further noted: "The analyst said that six months after the incident, when his new office director met with the Under Secretary, the Under Secretary asked to have the analyst removed from his current worldwide chemical and biological weapons portfolio." Also, the White House refused a Democratic request for National Security Agency (NSA) documents to answer questions regarding Bolton's conduct in the State Department: specifically, why "Mr. Bolton had previously acknowledged using his authority as undersecretary of state to obtain from the N.S.A. information about the identities of Americans mentioned in intercepted communications" . Democratic senators cited the White House's refusal as a primary reason for delaying the vote on Bolton's nomination -- another fact CNN omitted.

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[Strawman]

1. Maybe they should have titled the segment: Mustache Ride

with John Bolton.

Ok. I just made myself vomit.

[melissinha]

2. Sounds like demonizing to me

... yeah... demonizing of Democrats. The policy of ommission is so easy.... Thats exactly what these pigs are doing... demonizing the most outspoken individuals that by far represent legitimate concerns.

Oh yeah, and did they show that there were some Republicans.. notable Chafee and Voinovich who opposed him?? hmmm?

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. Bolton is to "diplomacy"....

... what CNN and Koppel are to "journalism."

[mrdmk]

4. Do you not know that the LMSM is not here to teach anybody anything

The LMSM is here to see that during the corporate takeover of the United States there is no civil war. I say this just in-case some people did not know.