Joe Scarborough
‘The Real Deal’ on Hillary and media double standard
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | Put on your bibs. The media has kicked off the Hillary love-fest summer tour, and it's already getting sickly sweet. If you want to hear some of the questions Barbara and the press didn't have the guts to ask.
HILLARY CLINTON GOT paid $8 million by media conglomerate Viacom to put her life's story into print. Aided by three ghostwriters and a lapdog press, the New York senator is sure to sell a ton of books and rake in even more money.
Today, the Associated Press likened Hillary Clinton to a rock star. And last night, Barbara Walters was too busy drooling over the former first lady to at least pretend she had once been a trailblazing journalist herself. Maybe that's why Ms. Walters didn't ask Hillary why it was okay to rake in $8 million from Viacom, when Mr. Gingrich got neutered for making less than half of that sum.
I think Americans would have really liked to know why Democrats get fawning praise for million dollar book deals, while Republicans get ethic charges and vicious press attacks. And how Ms. Walters just let Hillary off the hook when she had the nerve to say that she and Bill never did anything wrong? Or how the Paula Jones matter was all a lie that was dismissed in court?
Dismissed? Nothing to it? What about the lawsuit that ended in an $850,000 settlement? What about Bill Clinton's disbarment? And how does Hillary quickly brush off any questions about Gennifer Flowers as private, but sells books by going into great detail about Monica Lewinsky? Hey, Barbara…even you should have caught that one.
Maybe America wanted a People magazine puff piece beamed into their homes last night. That's fine. But now that the ABC fan club has had their day in the sun, how about real journalists wading into the fray and asking tough questions about, say, Viacom did when a Republican speaker made much less on his own his book deal a few paying a United States senator $8 million dollars while they have critically important pending business before Congress.
Maybe Viacom-owned CBS news should raise those questions first. G-d knows they years back.
It's not just about Hillary. It's about big media's double standard. It's not right,
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Former Congressman Joe Scarborough (R-Fla.) hosts “Scarborough Country,” 10 p.m. ET, weeknights on MSNBC. Comment by clicking here.
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