Posted on 01/10/2014 2:19:39 PM PST by Zakeet
In less than 48 hours, ABC, CBS and NBC deluged viewers with coverage of Chris Christie's traffic jam scandal, devoting a staggering 88 minutes to the story. In comparison, these same news outlets over the last six months have allowed a scant two minutes for the latest on Barack Obama's Internal Revenue Service scandal. The disparity in less than two days is 44-to-one. [See a chart below.]
From Wednesday through Friday morning, the latest on Christie's Traffic-Gate led 11 out of 13 news programs. NBC produced the heaviest coverage, over 34 minutes. CBS followed close behind with more than 30 minutes. ABC came in third with just under 23 minutes.
Over the last six months, NBC featured a meager five seconds on IRS targeting of Tea Party organizations. CBS allowed a minute and 41 seconds. ABC managed a mere 22 seconds.
The scandal exploded onto the media radar, Wednesday, when it was revealed that lane closures on the George Washington bridge last fall were as a because of political payback from the Christie administration. The resulting traffic jam caused a massive back-up.
NBC's Today on Friday opened with a graphic that announced "the crisis grows." Correspondent Kelly O'Donnell underscored, "The crisis feeds into critics' perceptions that Christie fosters hardball tactics."
On ABC's Good Morning America, Jim Avila ramped up the danger level, announcing "it was Governor Chris Christie's worst day in politics ever." He labeled Thursday's press conference a "political walk of shame" for the Republican.
On CBS This Morning, journalist Elaine Quijano saw it as "the biggest test yet of Christie's political career."
That may well be true, but a major scandal involving political targeting by Obama's IRS resulted in near media silence and a complete lack of hyperbolic, shocked language by reporters.
It wasn't as though there were a lack of potential IRS stories to follow-up on. In December, House investigator Darrell Issa announced that the FBI and IRS chief counsel is stonewalling the investigation.
In October, newly obtained e-mails showed that the scandal-plagued Lois Lerner, the woman at the center of the controversy, illegally gave Tea Party tax info to the FEC. Lerner retired from the IRS In September, but the networks skipped that. (For more, see a report by the Media Research Center.)
The accusations and revelations about the Christie administration's orchestrating and handling of a man-made traffic jam certainly warrant media attention. However, the same journalists who have jumped all over a scandal involving a potential Republican candidate in 2016 don't seem interested in the IRS scandal involving the current Democratic president.
(For the totals of the the Christie scandal as of Thursday morning, go here.)
Newsmax
US Attorney in New Jersey Seeks FBI’s Help in Bridge-Gate Probe
Thursday, January 9, 2014 11:01 AM
By: Newsmax Wires
The U.S. attorney in New Jersey is opening an inquiry into claims that public officials orchestrated the massive traffic snarl on the busy George Washington Bridge to settle a political score — and has asked the FBI to help.
The probe announcement came Thursday as Gov. Chris Christie, a possible Republican White House contender, spent the day addressing the brewing scandal over his staff’s role in orchestrating the traffic jam after a local mayor declined to endorse Christie’s re-election bid.
AG Eric Holder Is Investigating Lane Closures On The Washington Bridge But Not IRS Harassment
Thanks Zakeet.
I was around for RIchard NixOn and felt angry when the liberal media beat up on him.
But Nixon was also beating up on his enemies.
His “hatchet man” White House counsel Charles Colson wrote many letters of apology when he went to prison in connection with Watergate.
One was to a fundamentalist radio preacher whose crime against Nixon was leading mass protests for a military victory in the Vietnam War and against Nixon and Kissinger’s policy of cutting a “peace” agreement.
The ex-Air Force Chief of Staff, General Curtis Lemay, ran as George Wallace’s third party running mate in 1968, advocating using air power in the right places like Haiphong harbor instead of the limited attacks on the communists.
He thinks his auditing by the IRS during Nixon’s presidency was a warning to stay out of politics.
RINO’s go after their Democrat and liberal enemies because politics is a turf war, but in Nixon’s case strong arm tactics were unleashed on patriots and conservatives.
I suspect there’s more examples of this in Christie’s governorship.
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