Subject: The Media
 

 I don't have a good plan yet, but someone should hire you to follow Schmirk
 around and abuse him at every press conference. Sam Donaldson and Cokie
 Roberts should be ashamed of themselves. How can you interview someone like
 Schmirk and not ask about the Texas budget OR the National Guard OR the coke
 problems OR the fact that he is dumber than a dachshund?

 I am a Bill Clinton supporter, but if I had a chance to interview him, I at
 least would ask him about the White House internship "promotion" policy.

 And while we are at it, where is this "liberal media" we keep hearing about?
 It certainly isn't on ABC or MSN this week. Like a lot of people, I get
 most of my political news from MSN and their political site, Slate. Every
 day, Slate carries a host of attacks against Al Gore, balanced by a puff
 piece on Bush. Slate considers it charmingly funny when Bush mangles the
 English language, and think that their little column on "Bushisms" offer a
 satisfactory counterbalance against their slanted attacks on the President,
 Vice-President, and First Lady.

 Go to Slate on any given day and scan their headlines.
 Today's political headlines were:

 "Gore Would Execute Pregnant Woman, Hypothetically"
 "How Gore Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Attack"
 "Wait, Texas Has a Surplus"
 "Hillary Denies 1974 Slur"

 Now does this look like fair and unbiased reporting to anyone? Two
 unadulterated attack pieces on Al Gore, a piece that excuses Schmirk from
 the Texas budget crunch, and a backhanded clarification of their earlier
 attack on Hillary. The headlines alone are slanted. When they
 investigated the claims that Gore lied about his record, they found that the
 claims were false. Still, they headlined the article: "The Gore Fib-File"

 Pick the headline.
 When Slate reported on how bizarre it was for Schmirk to accept an
 endorsement from Strom Thurmond, was the headline:
 A. Former Racist and Segregationist Endorses Bush.
 B. Bush Wins Over the Senile Fool Vote.
 C. What if Patty Hearst endorsed Al Gore?

 If you answered "C.", congratulations. You have mastered the fine art of
 Slate Slantsmanship. But then to make matters worse, Slate led off the
 story with the following complete fabrication:

 "In George W. Bush's latest reincarnation, he claims to be Reagan-like.
 Mr. Bush, I know Ronald Reagan. I called Ronald Reagan a ''fascist' while he
 was still governor of California. And Mr. Bush, you are no Ronald Reagan."
  --Patty Hearst, in a statement released this week by Al Gore's presidential campaign.

 Although the next sentence explained that they had made up the entire item
 to demonstrate how absurd it is to accept an endorsement from Strom Thurmond,
 the lie was in italics and bold face type, while the rest of the article was not.

 Anyone who has worked with the internet realizes that most readers only read the
 first few words of any news story. Italics and bold face type add to the effect.
 Where is this liberal media I keep hearing about?

 I paid for liberal media and I want my money's worth.
 I want WBCC on tap for six hours every day.
 If I win the lottery there will be subsidized Schmirk abuse, you can bet on it.