Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: Tumbleweed_Connection
I have a LOT of experience with Wayne Slater, the author of this smear piece. If Wayne had listened to me, the whole Dan Rather things would never have happened.

Here's the full text of my blog article discussing this piece of "journalism."

And, yes, I would like Freepers to visit my new blog.

-Michael McCullough (DallasMike)

 


 

The Dallas Morning News has once again resorted to publishing partisan opinion pieces under the guise of journalism with the story "'Mark of Rove': Attack, leave no trail."

I'll show not only that the article is based on conjecture, but that the writer, Wayne Slater, is co-author of a smear book and movie on Karl Rove and played a big role in pushing to prominence the man behind the phony Dan Rather memos, the loony former Texas Army National Guard Lt. Col. Bill Burkett.

Take this paragraph for starters:

It's not the first time that President Bush's most-trusted political adviser has been accused of political hardball or dirty tricks. But usually, there are no fingerprints.

"No fingerprints" -- that sums up the evidence for this opinion column masquerading as a news article. The author, Wayne Slater, serves up plenty of evidence to indicate that there's really no evidence of wrongdoing by Karl Rove no matter how much some would like there to be.

As Texas' top political operative, Karl Rove honed an ability to damage an opponent without clear evidence that he was responsible.

...

"I don't think anybody who has ever been on the other side of a campaign from Karl Rove could ever be surprised by the allegations, whether well-founded or not," said Austin political consultant Chuck McDonald.

...

Political operatives in Texas have long seen a pattern they call "the Mark of Rove." Level an opponent, leave no evidence.

And here's an interesting case: Rove once leaked the truth to a reporter that a candidate running for a seat on the powerful Texas Railroad Commission had heavily doctored her resume:

A decade ago, Mr. McDonald was advising Democrat Lena Guerrero, a rising political star, when Mr. Rove leaked word to a reporter that Ms. Guerrero, whose resume claimed she was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Texas, didn't even have a degree.

There we have it: a Democrat was caught red-handed doing something very wrong yet Wayne Slater twists things to make Karl Rove look like the bad guy. That's not the only time, though:

In 1990, Mr. Rove recruited a little-known West Texas legislator named Rick Perry to challenge Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower. Stories leaked to newspapers questioned ethical practices within Mr. Hightower's agency, prompting an FBI investigation.

Two Agriculture Department officials went to prison, and Mr. Hightower, who was not charged with wrongdoing, lost the election.

Once again, Democrats are caught in wrongdoing and are even convicted of crimes and sent to jail but Karl Rove is the bad guy because he was the one who exposed them.

As a Wall Street Journal editorial put it today -- Karl Rove is a whistleblower. He's the good guy.

So just who is Dallas Morning News reporter Wayne Slater? Is he a paradigm of journalistic excellence who feeds us just the facts?

No, he isn't. Wayne Slater is the co-author of "Bush's Brain," a Michael Moore-type expose on how Rove is the evil genius behind the simpleton George W. Bush's rise to power. It was also made into a Fahrenheit 9/11-style movie. If you decide to read the book or see the movie, you'll find tons and tons of evidence scrupulously detailed by the authors. Unfortunately, virtually all of it is circumstantial. It's a book with an agenda, similar to some of the more bizarre Clinton-is-Antichrist publications that came out during the 1990s. The only difference is that it's respectable to make any claim at all about Bush, no matter how far-fetched they are. Here's what a Amazon.com reviewer had to say about the book:

I gave this book only two stars because it roams around aimlessly in the beginning and stinks of partisanship. It got those stars for the section that is closest to actual non-fictional reporting. Be careful though, even during this section the snide comments appear.


Be mindful as you read this that all of the Democrats listed by the authors are "rising stars" and "brilliant" and beautiful people as to their Republican counterparts whom happen to have "horn rimmed glasses" and "portly" and out of touch with the people of Texas. The authors never miss an opportunity to bash the President as well. Some far-fetched stories appear against this man too!

Further, Free Republic afficionados may remember my campaign against Wayne Slater because of his role in almost singlehandedly pushing Bill Burkett to prominence. Burkett was the guy who provided Dan Rather with the infamous forged memos. I showed anybody who would -- or wouldn't -- listen at the Dallas Morning News the lack of credibility of Burkett beginning on February 13th, 2004. It fell on deaf ears though because the Dallas Morning News was engaged in agenda journalism.

As a matter of fact, Wayne Slater's story shows that the Dallas Morning News is still engaged in partisan, agenda-driven journalism. They just never learn.

89 posted on 07/13/2005 11:22:02 AM PDT by DallasMike
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]


To: DallasMike
As a matter of fact, Wayne Slater's story shows that the Dallas Morning News is still engaged in partisan, agenda-driven journalism. They just never learn.

It is happening across the country. This morning I listened to a couple of drive-time personalities blame Rush Limbaugh for handing out "talking points" and telling people to "use them" to protect Rove.

They went on to say "We must be getting our news from 'other' sources, because Rove's name turns up everywhere and he did it according to what we're reading!!"

They also said to the effect that MSM is reliable when it comes to giving out facts, so if you read it in a "reliable" MSM source--it is true.

I don't know if I was more angry, or more embarrassed to hear such ill-informed uneducated comments, and to think they are broadcasting to thousands of people every day.

They don't even try to pretend to be unbiased anymore.

90 posted on 07/13/2005 11:37:22 AM PDT by LibWrangler
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 89 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson