Spring Break
Bush's media policy mirrors Putin's
Joey Falco
Issue date: 2/28/05 Section: Viewpoint
President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin may have finally found something in common.
Anyone who tuned in to last week's diplomatic talks between the two world leaders at the Eastern European "oasis" of Bratislava, Slovakia, would have probably noticed the cold, sober tone with which both men conducted themselves, due in large part to the long history of disagreement between the two nations in most areas of global policy. However, in his now-customary efforts to advocate the proliferation of American democracy throughout the world, Bush may have accidentally stumbled upon one area of domestic policy in which Russia and America actually bear striking similarities - "freedom" of the press.
On Thursday, Bush offered a vague attack on the democratic values of Putin's state when he said, "Democracies have certain things in common. They have a rule of law and protection of minorities, a free press and a viable political opposition." All gripes over proper definitions of democracy aside, though, these hypocritical comments did at least prompt a Russian journalist to ask Putin why he didn't challenge Bush and "talk a lot about violations of the rights of journalists in the United States, about the fact that some journalists have been fired."
How, then, did our noble president respond to this attack on the integrity of the democratic ideals of his proud nation? As far as I'm concerned, he lied. "I don't know what journalists you are referring to," he said, then turned toward the American reporters in the audience and disrespectfully joked, "Any of you still have your jobs?"
I guess he was lucky that Matt Cooper of Time magazine and Judy Miller of The New York Times were not in the audience. Thanks to conservative pundit Robert Novak and a Justice Department infringement upon freedom of the press, they certainly don't still have their jobs. I guess he was lucky that Mary Mapes of CBS News was not present either. This hero of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal is now collecting unemployment checks because she and Dan Rather questioned the president's dubious military history. Without a doubt, these were the journalists to whom the Russian reporter was referring, and unless Bush hasn't been keeping up on the news in his own country, I'm pretty sure he was aware of this, too.
Anyone who tuned in to last week's diplomatic talks between the two world leaders at the Eastern European "oasis" of Bratislava, Slovakia, would have probably noticed the cold, sober tone with which both men conducted themselves, due in large part to the long history of disagreement between the two nations in most areas of global policy. However, in his now-customary efforts to advocate the proliferation of American democracy throughout the world, Bush may have accidentally stumbled upon one area of domestic policy in which Russia and America actually bear striking similarities - "freedom" of the press.
On Thursday, Bush offered a vague attack on the democratic values of Putin's state when he said, "Democracies have certain things in common. They have a rule of law and protection of minorities, a free press and a viable political opposition." All gripes over proper definitions of democracy aside, though, these hypocritical comments did at least prompt a Russian journalist to ask Putin why he didn't challenge Bush and "talk a lot about violations of the rights of journalists in the United States, about the fact that some journalists have been fired."
How, then, did our noble president respond to this attack on the integrity of the democratic ideals of his proud nation? As far as I'm concerned, he lied. "I don't know what journalists you are referring to," he said, then turned toward the American reporters in the audience and disrespectfully joked, "Any of you still have your jobs?"
I guess he was lucky that Matt Cooper of Time magazine and Judy Miller of The New York Times were not in the audience. Thanks to conservative pundit Robert Novak and a Justice Department infringement upon freedom of the press, they certainly don't still have their jobs. I guess he was lucky that Mary Mapes of CBS News was not present either. This hero of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal is now collecting unemployment checks because she and Dan Rather questioned the president's dubious military history. Without a doubt, these were the journalists to whom the Russian reporter was referring, and unless Bush hasn't been keeping up on the news in his own country, I'm pretty sure he was aware of this, too.