Count Me Blue: Leslie Stahl latest CBS disgrace

Above is Part I of a a 60 Minutes interview of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi by Leslie Stahl this past Sunday.

I can honestly say that I haven't been more appalled at a 60 Minutes interview in a long time. Stahl might just as well have been working for the Republican National Committee. Don't get me wrong, I've got no issue or problem with a tough interview or probing questions of a politician affiliated with any political party - that's what journalists are for. But, Stahl revealed her bias with idiotic and leading questions and comments that had me wheeling me around in my chair. (I was listening more than watching; Sunday is often a busy day of writing and planning.) First, take a look at part II:

I'll get to the specific questions and comments I found highly dubious in a minute. However, after watching the interview, I'm wondering why CBS would air such an interview with such an outrageous slant and bias. We'll probably never find out, but I'll suggest a two-word motive - Dan Rather. Ever since Rather aired an unflattering story before the '04 presidential election about President Bush's time in the Air National Guard based on questionable documents, the network has been dogged with accusations of liberal bias.

Perhaps CBS thinks it can placate the far right with interviews like this one?

In short, Stahl is embarrassing herself and CBS News. Stahl begins her interview with this whopper: "I mean, you're one of the reasons we have to restore civility in the first place". Correct me if I'm wrong, Leslie, but it's Republicans who have controlled the House since 1994, and it's the GOP that has been setting the partisan tone in the House. Sure, the Democrats can take part of the blame, too, but wasn't it the Republicans who led the witch hunt against Clinton? Isn't it the GOP who have been ramming bills though Congress, mostly without reaching across the aisle and even working with Democrats? Isn't it the GOP that has been rocked by scandals, be it Mark Foley, Tom Delay, Newt Gingrich, etc?

It looks like 60 Minutes should restore civility to its show by yanking Stahl from its line of traditionally respected correspondents. That's certainly an opinion she could have and should have kept to herself. Can you just imagine the cries of "liberal media" if Stahl led off an interview with, say, Vice President Dick Cheney with a comment that he's one of the reasons we have to restore civility in Washington? Rush Limbaugh would have wet his pants and popped 10 Oxycontin.

At the top of the interview, after Stahl makes the absurd "restore civility" comment, she just gets rolling. I love it when she asks Pelosi about the names she's called the president, Pelosi said, "Oh, I was being nice when I said those things." Stahl voices over, "Oh reeealllly?!?" Someone correct me - does Stahl now work for Karl Rove or the Republican National Convention?

It gets worse. Stahl then asks Pelosi, with a straight face, "How are you going to work with him [the president]?" I find this amusing, since this administration hasn't really given too much thought to working with Democrats since Bush took office. In short, it's because Bush hasn't had to; he's enjoyed an almost total domination of Congress by the GOP since he was appointed president. It sounds like Bush, if the Democrats take back one or both Houses of Congress, is the one who's gonna have to worry about working with Democrats. And it will be an uphill battle indeed, since Bush and Karl Rove has spent almost six years pissing in the eyes of political opponents whenever they've had the chance.

Hey, I've got no problem with Stahl being a conservative, if she is in fact one, but the entire tone of this interview and broadcast is sickening. Later, in the interview, Stahl comments that Pelosi was pregnant while she was working, and then almost forces Pelosi's daughter to defend her mother on camera that they were amazingly still “fed and clothed” while Pelosi worked. What the hell are we in, the 1950s again?

Oh, there's more that got me full hot about this interview. How about Stahl's comments about Pelosi's clothes and how much she eats? Is that relevant in any way tp this piece? (A few quick examples by Stahl: "Here's Pelosi in Armani" and "Here she is in Cowboy boots" and "She ate not one but two pork chops.") I ask you, if this interview were about a man, would ANY of these comments been made about clothes or eating habits? Without question, no. Stahl's comments do nothing to add to the piece; they merely add to the perception that this is a Pelosi hatchet job (oh CHRIST, I sound like Bill O'Lielly now).

One would think that in the 21st century, a woman journalist would not put such ridiculous questions and comments in a broadcast about a potential first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history. Pelosi, if she does get elected the next Speaker if the Democrats take back the House, would signify a significant leap forward for all women. What kind of message is Stahl sending by asking such misogynistic questions? Not a good one. Stahl might as well have been a man circa 1955 wearing a wife beater, bellowing from the couch, "Get me another beer, bitch! When's dinner gonna be ready?!?"

I'm curious if Stahl would have treated woman pioneers Sally Ride, Sandra Day O'Connor or Madeleine Albright this way? I seriously doubt it.

Stahl ought to be ashamed of herself. I bet Stahl's daugher is real proud of this interview.

However, the Pelosi hysteria on 60 Minutes if just a small snippet of the drumbeats of doom that are being pounded hourly about a potential Pelosi speakership. Who can we count on to keep the "liberal hysteria" going? Why Bill O'Lielly, of course! Take a listen, and I won't even comment - the piece speaks for itself. Caution, you're about to enter the Dipshit Zone...