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For reporting that is an embarrassment to the profession of journalism, and for being beholden to corporate paymasters rather than the citizens of America.
Mike Wallace is the biological father of noted Roger Ailes lapdog Chris
Wallace. To Mike's credit, he divorced Chris's mom when the future GOP shill
was only 1, so the "60 Minutes" legend didn't play much of a role
in raising this week's Media Putz.
Chris Wallace is sometimes such a stone-faced, artless tool of White House
talking points that you worry that his rechargeable GOP battery is about
to run out.
BuzzFlash reader Frank Harper of Topanga, California, nominated Chris Wallace
for his recent rant against Bill Moyers, which is like a flack for Heidi
Fleiss dressing down Edward R. Murrow.
You see, in a
PBS commentary, Moyers used several first-hand sources as a basis for claiming
that Karl Rove considered himself an agnostic. It's a likely story, and Bill
had more than enough corroboration that Rove had claimed such a Godless outlook
on life.
Rove was a bit upset that Moyers had the temerity to present a critical
piece on the pathological "turd blossom" responsible for dragging
America through the mud, with Dick Cheney as his tag-team partner, and George
W. Bush as their "studly" tongue-tied front man.
Anyway, Rove unleashed a counteroffensive, as he most often does, accusing
-- in the most devious of ironies -- Moyers of being a sloppy, malicious
journalist: "You know, Mr. Moyers ought to do a little bit better research
before he does another drive-by slander."
(Rush Limbaugh joined the pile heap on Moyers. In a standard Limbaugh demagogic
commentary, he asked is "Bill Moyers out of his mind?" and then
repeating almost verbatim Rove's talking point, said, "Bill Moyers is
just one of the latest to launch a drive-by attack on Karl Rove.")
But Chris Wallace, in a FOX
Republican propaganda news patronizing "chastisement" of Moyers, had the audacity to accuse the conscience of modern journalism
of needing a course in "Journalism 101." Why? Because Karl Rove
claimed that he had never told four people he was agnostic, despite all of
them asserting that Rove had revealed just that. Wallace, always a toady
for his paymaster (Rupert "Republican Party" Murdoch) arrogantly
and dismissively challenged Moyers' credibility on the basis of Rove's telling
Wallace that he was a devout Christian. As a result, Wallace implied that
any theory that Rove cynically "took advantage" of the Christian
Right was borne of amateur journalism.
Two of the most laughable quotations from Wallace's Tony Snow style of propaganda
were: 1) "None of which offers any proof other than what Rove supposedly
told colleagues over the year"; and "I guess, Bill, reporting is
easier when you don't worry about the facts."
Good lord, did we forget to mention that Rove told an unchallenging Wallace
that the biggest contribution he ever gave was to his church? I wouldn't
take that quarter to the bank.
The right-wing echo chamber hopped onto the Rove attack message points and
besieged the ombudsman for PBS with complaints about Moyers.
Rove clearly doesn't believe in divine intervention when he has a paid shill
such as Chris Wallace to do the devil's work for him.
Thus far, Moyers is standing by his impeccable journalistic credentials
and even sent
a letter to Chris Wallace
detailing the sound journalistic principles behind Bill's comments on Rove.
As for Wallace, all he gets out of his foolish faith in Karl Rove's assertion
that he's a practicing Episcopalian is this week's BuzzFlash Media Putz award
for believing a con man that couldn't fool a second grader.
Ah, Chris, every week, you remind us how easy it is to separate journalism
from the truth.
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