How Will Old Media Cover Kansas Congresswoman’s Keane Testimony Temper Tantrum?

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Update, July 31: We have an answer — “‘Oh, Boyda’ Follow-up: National Media Complies with Congresswoman’s Plea Not to Cover General’s Positive Iraq Testimony — Or Her Tantrum Over It”

The original post follows.

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From the Gavel — At a House Armed Services Committee Hearing on Iraq Legislation this morning on Friday, Kansas Congresswoman Nancy Borda apparently heard as much good news as she could stand.

So she did the old cut-and-run by walking out (as The Gavel explains, “She is responding in part to General Jack Keane, who testified before the Committee but left before Rep. Boyda’s remarks, and was reportedly one of the architects of the escalation policy”; there should probably be a “from” before the second mention of Keane’s name):

“I was certainly hoping that General Keane would be able to be here as well. Let me say thank you very much for your testimony so much, Mr. Korb, and I just will make some statements more for the record based on what I heard mainly General Keane. As many of us, there was only so much that you could take until we, in fact, had to leave the room for a while, and so I think I am back and maybe can articulate some things that after so much of the frustration of having to listen to what we listened to.”

“But let me just first say that the description of Iraq as if some way or another that it’s a place that I might take the family for a vacation, things are going so well, those kinds of comments will in fact show up in the media and further divide this country instead of saying here’s the reality of the problem and people, we have to come together and deal with the reality of this issue.”

Note that she:

• Is almost certainly mischaracterizing the general’s testimony — unless someone can find Iraq described by the general as a suitable family vacation destination (good luck).
• Is afraid of positive news becoming known (this would appear to be a smoke signal to Old Media to ignore this testimony).
• Is, in effect, calling an multi-star general a liar, even though he was likely under oath.
• By walking out on a general’s testimony, is showing that SHE is more interested in keeping opinion on Iraq divided than getting at the truth.

But she supports the troops. (/sarcasm)

Let’s visit her campaign web site’s home page, shall we? Going to the last paragraph:

Now our challenge is to turn the promise of our campaign into action in Congress. Kansans cast their ballots on Election Day to end the era of one-party rule, so I am working every day in Washington to replace partisanship with leadership.

Nancy Boyda’s (possibly contrived?) hearing cut-and-run act was surely not an example of leadership.

From a Google cache of her “issues” page during her 2006 campaign (TEXT IS THERE — just click on “Foreign Policy” to see the text; backup stored here in case Ms. Boyda has Google cache scrubbed [July 28, 2008 - it was scrubbed]):

“Stay the course” is a political slogan, not a military strategy.

The administration must establish a responsible, realistic plan for dealing with the insurgency and a timeline during which the Iraqi citizens must establish a viable government for themselves.

So the administration has refined its plan, and a general comes in to explain how it’s going, in part to see if it meets Ms. Boyda’s “responsible, realistic” criteria. Apparently, Boyda’s definitions of “responsible” and “realistic” never encompassed “improving the situation in Iraq”; in fact, it seems that she can’t even handle the idea that the situation might be improving. Her expressed fears that good news might actually be reported would seem to betray a wish on her part that the mission fail, and her belief that good news testified to by a multi-star general, probably under oath, shouldn’t get out.

In light of her veiled plea to Old Media to ignore Keane’s testimony, will be interesting indeed to see how Old Media will play the testimony and Ms. Boyda’s snit fit, or whether it will bother to cover either.

Cross-posted at NewsBusters.org.

Expanding on Media Research Center’s July 30 CyberAlert and a similar post at NewsBusters (bold is mine):

Nets Barely Notice Surge in GDP as They Focus on Dow Plunge

The ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts on Friday all devoted full stories to the fall in the stock market, touted as “the worst two-day point drop for the Dow in five years,” but barely had time for a sentence about the 3.4 percent second quarter jump in the GDP, the biggest in over a year. In fact, neither ABC nor NBC cited the specific 3.4 percent rise in the Gross Domestic Product, the measure which the AP on Friday described as the “best barometer of the country’s economic fitness.” Not one of the three evening newscasts mentioned how the Dow is still well above the 13,000 level it broke through in April and none noted fresh good news on inflation.

Not even reporting what second quarter GDP growth actually was (repeat: 3.4%) is flat-out negligence.

Also conveniently overlooked: As of Friday’s close (last year’s closing numbers are here), the Dow Jones Industrial Average, at 13265, was up 6.4%, or over 800 points, for the year thus far. The S&P was up a less impressive yet positive 3.3% (from 1418 to 1459), and the NASDAQ was up 6.1% (from 2415 to 2562).

Yet the nets want their ever-shrinking evening news audiences to believe that the sky is falling.

While the following should not be construed as investment advice by yours truly or anyone else at NB or MRC, it’s worth nothing that Don Luskin at Smart Money has plenty of reasons why the Chicken Littles are more than likely full of chicken ….. you know:

THE FINANCIAL MEDIA is so promiscuous in its use of negative language to describe the stock market when prices go down. Stocks “slid,” “plummeted” or even “collapsed.” You hear it all the time, even when nothing really happened.

So what words are left to describe a really big down day like Thursday? How about, “Stocks became a better bargain than ever!”
….. So don’t be afraid just because you see stocks slide, plummet or collapse. Not even if you see them get nuked, trash-compacted, reamed, steamed or dry-cleaned.

….. We’re talking about a disruption in the markets, not a disruption in the real world. Markets are amazingly adaptable, and they will adapt to this uncertainty and quickly transform it into certainty.

Stocks have dropped in response to heightened uncertainty, not actual deterioration of anything in the real world outside of markets themselves. When that uncertainty is resolved, stocks prices will quickly rise, because the real world will be, and has been all along, a very good place. Earnings are improving, jobs are plentiful and the economy — other than the small portion of it devoted to housing — is accelerating.

Speaking of the accelerating economy, this little non-template fitting sentence in the prior-year revisions section of the government’s GDP report also fell to the networks’ (and the rest of Old Media’s) cutting-room floor (bold is mine):

The average annual rate of growth of real disposable personal income for 2003-2006 was 2.8 percent, 0.3 percentage point more than in the previously published estimates.

That means real disposable income (i.e., after income taxes) is up over 11% in 4 years (2.8% times 4). That’s awfully good news, and further punctures the “stagnant incomes” meme. No sense in interrupting the gloom and doom with contrary reality, I suppose.

Cross-posted at NewsBusters.org.

This blog, RAB’s Matt Naugle, and former Lincoln Logs blogger Matt Dole were interviewed by Ryan Kelley of Campaigns & Elections. The result is here, and is well-done by Mr. Kelley.

I do want to elaborate on this quote of yours truly:

“I think both parties are really not in touch with what’s on the mind of the rank-and-file voters and rank-and-file non-voters.”

I specifically cited illegal immigration; it wasn’t directly germane to what Mr. Kelley was covering, so I don’t mind that he didn’t use my example. The average Democrat voter and left-leaning non-voter is NOT for open borders, which for all practical purposes is the position of the Congressional Democratic leadership. The average GOP voter and right-leaning non-voter wants the border secured first, and the guest-worker and other problems solved second; the president and too many squishy Republicans in Washington insist on a “comprehensive solution.” How about a “comprehensive” fence first?

I also take issue with Matt Dole’s contention — “I don’t think blogs are a persuasive tool.” A logical reaction would be, “OK, then why bother?” I think a few people were persuaded for the first time that CBS reporters are not heroic investigators, and that the network’s “60 Minutes” is an agenda-driven operation, when the phony Bush-National Guard documents were exposed. I also believe that at least a few people overcame a knee-jerk (and, it turns out, largely indefensible) dislike for incumbent Jean Schmidt, and were persuaded not to vote for her challenger in Ohio’s Second District GOP Congressional Primary last year, when that challenger’s residency, illegal voting, questionable lobbying, and the nature of those backing him were exposed.

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Someone should ask the ACLU why they didn’t help this aggrieved student:

Emily Brooker, a student in Missouri State’s (MSU) School of Social Work, had religious objections to an assignment made by professor Frank Kaufman. Little did she know how much trouble her objections would cause.

According to the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), which wound up helping Brooker, Kaufman told all his students to write a letter to the Missouri legislature expressing support for homosexual adoption, and for each individual student to sign his or her name to it. As an evangelical Christian, Brooker refused to do so, and the full weight of the school’s power fell on her. She was charged with violating three of the school’s “Standards of Essential Functioning” — diversity, interpersonal skills and professional behavior.

Furthermore, ADF said, Brooker was forced to undergo a two-and-a-half hour grilling from an “ethics” committee, which asked her questions pertaining to personally-held religious beliefs such as “Do you think gays and lesbians are sinners?”

Brooker’s treatment shows that this is not just a case of one out-of-control professor. From all appearances, this is an out-of-control university where academic freedom is a one-way street. There’s no need for radical private universities like going-defunct Antioch when taxpayer-subsidized schools like MSU imitate Antioch, at about half the price.

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Speaking of the AWOL ACLU, it should also have been front-and-center on this one:

Public school district reverses decision, guarantees student’s right to read Bible

Ann Arbor, Jul 24, 2007 / 10:30 am (CNA).- A public school district has given written assurance that a third-grade student is permitted to read his Bible in his classroom.

Elementary School District 159, located outside of Chicago, sent the written assurance after receiving a letter from the Thomas More Law Center. School officials had previously denied the third-grade student, Rhajheem Haymon, this right.

The law center, which is a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, wrote the letter on behalf of the Haymon family.

Rhajheem’s father, Leslie Haymon, contacted the law center after being informed that school officials had denied his son the right to read his Bible during “reading time,” a time during the day when students may read a book of their choosing.

What possible defense was there for the school’s position?

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TVOH is R-I-G-H-T about this (underlying story is here):

U.S. District Judge James Munley, believes he can over ride the will of the people. He struck down as “unconstitutional” a local law (in Hazelton, PA — Ed.) designed to crack down on illegal immigration, dealing a blow to similar laws passed by dozens of towns and cities across the United States.

He wrote a 206 page opinion trying to prove his illegitimate point. I believe that this is ground (sic) for impeachment. Under the tenth amendment, any power not given to the Federal government by the states is reserved to the states and the people. The people passed a law that is not listed in the constitution, and a federal judge thinks he can override it. No he can not.

Being a judge doesn’t give you an unlimited right to make stuff up. When you do, you deserve impeachment.

Meanwhile, Clueless Chuckie Schumer saying that “We should reverse the presumption of confirmation,” reinvents advise and consent (HT Instapundit). Note that media commentary on “threats to judicial independence,” which would surely accompany any attempt to impeach Judge Munley for his objectively indefensible ruling, is notably lacking in regards to Schumer’s statement, which is as grave a threat to judicial independence as I’ve ever seen.

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