This Berger's well done

If you go to a dictionary and look up the definitions for canard, red herring or distraction, you will see the logo for Fersatz News Channel. These people really are something. I can't imagine the advantage (or at least bringing the existing inequality up to being roughly equal) if the Democrats had a 24-hour cable news network blindly devoted to its obtaining/remaining in power. Fox gives Repubes an advantage not seen in a society since TASS (now ITAR-TASS) in the old U.S.S.R., or the Völkischer Beobachter in Nazi Germany.

Anyway, since things are going so poorly for the Bush Administration, Fox has decided to take the low road by exhuming an old scandal about Sandy Berger, President Clinton's former national security advisor, who has admitted to taking some secret documents to prepare for his testimony before the 9-11 Commission. He was sentenced to two years probation and paid a $50k fine. What's more, Noel Hillman, the lead prosecutor and chief of the Justice Department's public integrity section, stated that Berger only removed classified copies of data stored on hard drives stored in the National Archives, and that no original material was destroyed. Hillman's and the FBI's opinion of the case led The Wall Street Journal to editorialize against the allegations, stating in part:

Justice says the picture that emerged is of a man who knowingly and recklessly violated the law in handling classified documents, but who was not trying to hide any evidence. Prosecutors believe Mr. Berger genuinely wanted to prepare for his testimony before the 9/11 Commission but felt he was somehow above having to spend numerous hours in the Archives as the rules required, and that he didn't exactly know how to return the documents once he'd taken them out... We called Justice Department Public Integrity chief prosecutor Noel Hillman, who assured us that Mr. Berger did not deny any documents to history. "There is no evidence that he intended to destroy originals," said Mr. Hillman. "There is no evidence that he did destroy originals. We have objectively and affirmatively confirmed that the contents of all the five documents at issue exist today and were made available to the 9/11 Commission."

If the WSJ is editorializing in favor of Berger, you can bet it's legit; the paper is well-known for having one of the most conservative editorial pages in the country and wouldn't miss a chance to slam Berger and/or Clinton if the opportunity presented itself. Still, Fox won't let it die - above is the promo that the network ran all last week, hyping its special that aired on Saturday night. I haven't found tape yet, but when I do, I'll bring it to you. The promo is pretty funny.

Could there possibly be a less relevant story right now than Sandy Berger? Fox's obsession with the Clintons is demented, pathetic and sad. What's more, the network's timing in airing in airing a special Berger is a transparent, blatant attempt to distract viewers from the deep crap Bush is in. Fox smacks of a press run by a totalitarian society.



This Where's the Outrage? clip ran on Fox in December of last year, right after the Democrats took control of both Houses of Congress. Watch and guffaw.

By the way, I defy you to get through more than two minutes of this tape - the insipid Ann Culter annoys me in every possible way. I keep focusing on her rather large Adam's apple. You know those commercials for erectile disfunction drugs, when they say "men who experience an erection lasting longer than four hours should see a doctor"? See a doctor my eye - listen to 10 seconds of Culter, and I can just about guarantee going from rock to raisin before you can say "bitter, old-maid Ann will probably die alone, because her hate has consumed her." Ann Culter - curing side effects for Viagra users everywhere.

I'm not there yet, but I'm nearly to the point of calling people who watch Fox complete imbeciles, or so ideologically driven that they cannot see the country crumbling around us all, while Bush kicks out the legs holding up our Democracy and Constitution.

There! How's that for Fox-like, wind-blown rhetoric from the left?