Didn't Katie Couric wear a Bush pin on the air a few years ago?

[RagingInMiami]

I never watch her show, but I remember somebody mentioning it here once. I just can't find it in the archives. I'm trying to settle an argument with somebody who claims she is a liberal. I say she is right-winger.

What other evidence do we have?

[ananda]

1. boycott

I will definitely be boycotting CBS News and most network and cable news shows.

Nothing there for me. I prefer courageous truth.

Sue

[blue cat]

2. I know that she is a bushbot

that is why she got the job. Is her replacement a bushbot?

[cali]

5. You don't know that she's a bushbot.

I don't give a flying rat's ass what she is, bit I certainly do get sick of these opinion based assertions without a scintilla of evidence. As for her replacement, Viera participated in an anti-war march in 2004 just prior to the repuke convention.

[Trajan]

17. Sorry Cali ....

But sometimes supporters of Bush dont just come out and scream it, but you get the impression nevertheless ....

I too believe Katie Couric is a GOP supporter: has she said she is ? ... of course not, but one can simply listen to her questions, and the tone she uses when she asks those questions, to get a VERY strong impression that she is a Bush supporter ....

I have a basic rule: IF I feel like puking in disgust when I listen to a set of questions slanted to favor Bush and the GOP, or to denigrate the Democrats wrongly, then I consider that evidence enough ....

Evidence enough for me .... you wish I should suppress my opinion ?

[cali]

19. Heck no, I don't want you to suppress your opinion.

But if there's one thing I'm certain of it's that we all view people and events through the prism of our own biases. You want to believe that Katie Couric is a repuke supporter, you will do so. For every one of the DUers that are convinced she's a puke or puke sympathizer there is a wingnut who's equally convinced that she's a flaming liberal. That tells me something. Frankly, none of you know her political affiliation. We do have evidence that the powers that be over at NBC are not doctrinaire in their hiring of hosts for the Today Show.

[Trajan]

21. Really ?

What evidence have you ?

[cali]

31. They just hired Meredith Viera

to replace Couric. Viera has made remarks on the air stating that the Iraq war is based on lies. In 2004 she participated with her daughter and husband in an anti-war, anti-bush demonstration just prior to the repub national convention. I think that's pretty damned solid evidence of the willingness of NBC news execs to hire a liberal.

[pacalo]

26. I could care less what her political affiliation is.

I don't care how she votes. I do care how she presents the news for a large tv viewing audience. That's when I start caring about how she leans. Please watch the video I provided above from the archive of crooks&liars.com.

[kath]

29. cali, read Trajan's post more closely - especially his her "basic rule" :

"I have a basic rule: IF I feel like puking in disgust when I listen to a set of questions slanted to favor Bush and the GOP, or to denigrate the Democrats wrongly, then I consider that evidence enough ...."
T is not merely saying that Katie is a Bushbot, but giving some criteria for judging this. Pay close attention to the questions these mediawhores ask, and the way they frame them - then it becomes fairly easy to see where their biases lie. (also look at all the rah-rah unquestioning support for the war given by Katie and others in the MSM - "Navy SEALs rock!!")

VERY good rule, BTW, Trajan!

[cali]

32. That basic rule is as silly a one as I could possibly

imagine. I use my gut too, but I like to back it up by using my brain and analyzing actual evidence, and sorry, you have provided exactly zip in that regard. T's rather low bar for judging who is and isn't a bushbot is his/her gut. That's just pathetic.

[IChing]

41. So are you dating a republican right now? Could you date a repulican right

now?

Morally could you date a republican now?


She does............MAYBE YOU COULD TOO

And don't tell her job or her new boyfriend have nothing to do with politics. BULLSHIT.



Does "Today" show star Katie Couric have a new beau?

And is he Washington, D.C., beer distributor Jimmy Reyes - a 43-year-old divorced father of two who happens to be a staunch supporter of President Bush and former fiance of right-wing radio host Laura Ingraham?

Apparently, the answer is yes - which might reassure Couric's Republican detractors as she considers leaving NBC for the anchor chair at "CBS Evening News.">>>>>>http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/402372p-340824c.html

[IChing]

42. In addition read this between her and Howard Dean

Katie: Hey, wait a second. Democrats took-Democrats took money from Abramoff too, Mr. Dean.

Howard: That is absolutely false. That did not happen. Not one dime of money from Jack Abramoff went to any Democrat at any time.

Katie: According to the CRP, Abramoff and his associates gave 3 million dollars to republicans and 1.5 million to democrats...

Howard: Not-one-dime.

Katie: We'll obviously have to look into that and clarify that to our viewers at a later date...

Yes Katie, I hope you'll do that. I hope you will actually get the story right.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/01/26.html#a6871

[RagingInMiami]

40. Back when I had cable

I used to feel the same way about Daryn Kagen. Then a year later, I heard she was shacking up with rush limbaugh.

[pacalo]

24. Here's a perfect piece of evidence...

Judge for yourself:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/01/26.html#a6871

[kath]

30. Thanks for posting that, 8yn - I challenge others to watch that then come

back here to tell us Katie's not a Bushbot Kool-Aid drinker.

[pacalo]

36. I've watched her for years & I can tell you that this video

is very representative of her dealings with Democrats. I'm just flabbergasted that the network that gave us Murrow & Cronkite would even consider hiring this shill.

This was in my city's newspaper yesterday & it says it all. It's from Jack Ohman of The Oregonian:

[onehandle]

3. Doubtful. Networks have rules about things like that.

Anyway, I don't think she's right-wing. She's just a chowderhead and a media whore.

[ashling]

7. You forgot the sarcasm thingy

Networks have rules about things like that.

at least, I hope you just FORGOT the sarcasm thingy : :sarcasm:

[Eric J in MN]

4. Are you thinking of the story of Tim Russert flashing a Bush pin

to show Bush at an event in 2000?

[RagingInMiami]

13. I'm thinking of something I read on DU a few months ago

[Minnesota Libra]

6. Sure wouldn't surprise me because...

.....I truly think ALL network stations are purposely moving to the far right. Aren't most of the network stations now owned and/or operated by Murdock or some such right wing company??

Can't think of the name right now but it was big in the news some months ago. Help me out here people??!!

[cali]

8. If all networks are purposely moving to the far right

why in hell would NBC hre Meredith Viera, who's opposition to the war and bushco are widely known? Doesn't that put a hole in your theory? After all, The Today Show is their news division's most watched program and biggest money maker by far.

[Minnesota Libra]

11. Hey, I don't claim my theories are right but it could be that.........

....Couric moved a bit to far to the right for NBC - in that case Kudos to them.:bounce: I truly do hope at least one network station stays to the political middle or the left.

[pacalo]

33. Minnesota Libra, have you heard of the Big 10?

Before we entered the Twilight Zone in 2000, I had no idea what was going on with the media. You'll be very interested in learning about how our media has been merged into 10 major corporations, thanks to relaxed FCC regulations made possible by -- you guessed it -- this administration.

First, here's a handy chart about the who's & the what's; be sure to click the link buttons to learn exactly what holdings these Big 10 corporations have & why they have an interest in which direction public opinion goes:

http://www.freepress.net/content/ownership

(Here's an example: Let's take GE. If you click the "non-media" button, you'll see that GE has holdings in: Military Production: Manufactures engines for the F-16 Fighter jet, Abrams tank, Apache helicopter, U2 Bomber, Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV), A-10 aircraft, and numerous military equipment including planes, helicopters, tanks, and more.

And here's a short summary about the Big 10:

http://www.freepress.net/issues/ownership

[Minnesota Libra]

37. 8_year_nightmare - THANK YOU for the links, this is what I was.........

....referring to. The who owns what stuff. Scary isn't it that our media is owned by companies that build military equipment. Talk about pro-war news, neocons/fundies based propaganda otherwise known as "news".

[pacalo]

38. Kind of puts the "liberal media" into the proper perspective, doesn't it?

[Orangepeel]

9. I doubt it. As for other "evidence" (and I use the term loosely)

her late sister was an elected Democratic official. She's dated republicans.

If it is any consolation, the right wing is as likely to think that she's a raging liberal as the left wing is to think she's a right-winger. (easily googled example: http://www.discoverthenetwork.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=633 )

[Sadie5]

10. Her dead husband was a Dem

But since his death I would say she has changed her politics a bit. She is no Dem in my book!

[OzarkDem]

14. Her sister was a Dem elected official

I'm going to defend her, I think she was working under pressure from her bosses at NBC and started looking elsewhere for a job.

[theHandpuppet]

15. Katie's sister Emily was a DEMOCRATIC State Senator from VA

I really doubt Ms. Couric is a Repuke.

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. Good find

#
"Then the fallout from the death of Matthew Shepard. The tragic beating of the college student in Wyoming has some activists in this country saying there is a climate of anti-gay hate that's been fostered by a provocative advertising campaign by the political right in this country," said Couric on Today, October 13, 1998.
#
On October 12, 1998, while interviewing the Governor of Wyoming, Couric asked whether "conservative political organizations like the Christian Coalition, the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family are contributing to this anti-homosexual atmosphere" by suggesting that homosexuals can change their sexual orientation. ("It was clear six years ago, and remains clear today," said Focus on the Family President Don Hodel in December 2004, after NBC had defended Couric's comments, "that Ms. Couric's tone and manner were not that of an impartial journalist seeking the truth about a tragedy. It was the tone and manner of an advocate intent on repeating an unfounded accusation disguised as a question.")
#
"Some people are very concerned about talk shows, radio talk shows in general, of course. Most of them around the country have a decidedly conservative bent. The rap that some people give them is that they reflect the views of a very vocal minority, the extremists in this country, and don't really reflect the true nature of political debate in the United States. And, as a matter of fact, they tend to be quite divisive and sort of have a bad, a negative impact on the country," said Couric during a Today interview with Oliver North, March 13, 1995.
#
"Some suggested over the weekend that it's wrong to expect Elian Gonzalez to live in a place that tolerates no dissent or freedom of political expression. They were talking about Miami," said Couric on Today, April 3, 2000. "Another writer this weekend called it 'an out of control banana republic within America.'"

[senseandsensibility]

22. Aren't these quotes all several years old?

:shrug: I'd like to see some more recent ones. I've seen her interview Dems recently, and she was downright vicious. Those that won't admit this did not see the interview I am referring to. There were many threads about her slanted, biased, hostile interviews with Dems on DU during the 2004 election and after. I'd like to see som of that "hostile" questioning applied to repugs within the last couple of years.

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. Like I said in another post,

she will be a news READER. I can't see how she can inject her personal opinions into reading from a teleprompter. If anything, her leaving The Today Show is probably good news for those concerned about her personal bias. She won't be chit chatting on the CBS News.

[Orangepeel]

28. I have a vague memory about an Anne Coulter interview

that made freepers (more) crazy. Of course, being harsh with Anne Coulter isn't the same as being harsh with a real person, particularly an elected official.

But, I don't remember any other interviews. Either they just aren't talked about at DU or they gave all the republican interviewers to Matt.

Personally, I don't think that Katie is a bushbot or even a republican. I think that she probably personally likes a lot of republicans (who are probably quite charming to people they consider important) and that for the sake of her career, bends over backwards not to look "biased" (to the extent that she sometimes flips all the way over). That arguably makes her a lot of things worth criticizing, but, IMO, "bushbot" isn't one of them. YMMV, of course.

[Never Forget]

12. An observation I made

The day after the prez election in 2004, Katie wore black and looked truly upset. That should count for something.

[DesertRat]

20. I saw that too

I doubt she's a Repug.

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. She will be READING the news!!

Pray tell how the hell she can inject her personal politics into a script she is READING??

I have stayed out of most of these Katie Couric threads because I find these objections kinda silly. I also don't watch ANY network news. Thanks to DU, I don't need to watch the nightly news. So I could give a rat's ass who is on my tube at 5:30 every weekday.

But this is just too stupid now. Do the anchors have a choice over what stories they will cover? Do they even write their own stories? Somehow I doubt it. So why are we all hysterical over the latest bubble headed bleached blonde to be overpaid for reading a teleprompter?

Get over it folks. Turn off that TV and come to DU for your headlines.

[UTUSN]

23. I really don't get it. She takes more wingnut HEAT over being a "Lib"

and here she gets trashed to pieces. Her deceased sister was a Democratic office holder. And, yes, somebody on the air HAS to give some grief to both sides, but all we have EVER asked is a LEVEL PLAYING FIELD not a Faux-for-the-Left. I believe the premise of this thread is false, has been debunked by a couple. What sounds worse to me is that VIEIRA is now catching heat for having marched in a peace march a couple of years ago and for having said she believed the Iraq attack is based on LIES. She says she now has to put her personal biases aside, so this means EVERY bit of balance on OUR side will be held against her.

[Eric J in MN]

35. How dare she have the foresight to see that the Iraq War

was wrong!

She shouldn't be on televison! Only people like William Kristol, who helped start the war as chair of "Project for a New American Century" should be allowed on television.

(end sarcasm)

[onecent]

27. I watched the today show every week day because of here until

the presidential election time came arouond. She tore into Michael Moore and other Dems...and I REFUSE to ever watch her again as well, my husband refuses also.

Maybe she changes her mind with the wind like some of these other talk show people...but I won't be watching CBS nightly news any more.

[WCGreen]

34. She makes a little less than a million bucks a week....

She works for one of the largest defense contractors in the world....

She lives in virtual isolation from reality....

She was never a journalist....

Only a talkng head....

That is why I do not respect her opinion...

Her presentation.....

Or anything else about her...

The same goes for MV....

They are talking heads....

Two sides of the same coin....

[kerry-is-my-prez]

39. The right wingers had her in that deck of cards - so they do dislike her.

n/t

[grateful581]

43. What ever happened to reporters being politically neutral

There was a time when reporter would get fired if they showed a political agenda. I guess thats not the case anymore.
As someone who works in tv, this makes me :puke: