Keeping Track of Hsu

Newsbusters is counting.

It's difficult to tell what Newsbusters wants from CBS. Impartiality? The same attack on Clinton that they'll make on Giuliani? I want a pony.

The CBS Evening News has apparently done only one "full" Norman Hsu story in the months since he became news (no word on what "full" means, but it sounds a little iffy to me). Somehow CBS has managed to mention Rudy Giuliani and Bernie Kerik in two "full" stories about how the indicted former police chief will affect Giuliani's presidential chances.

Back on August 31, in the newscast's only full story on Hsu, fill-in anchor Harry Smith didn't even mention Hillary Clinton's name in his introduction, but on Friday Katie Couric put Giuliani front and center: “Kerik isn't the only one who could face trouble. It's also bad news for his friend and mentor, Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani.”

So CBS is pro-Clinton. Surprise me already. There are no politically conscious people left in this country who hear the name "Norman Hsu" and don't think of Hillary Clinton. The same goes for "Bernard Kerik" and Rudy Giuliani. They are an indelible part of the story; the real test is how the candidates act in response.

Clinton has returned some of the money she acquired through Hsu's efforts, apologizing for not performing a reasonable investigation into the source of the money. Giuliani has also apologized, but for him he's apologizing for not digging up Kerik's tax omissions and discovering that Kerik was involved in bribery and obstruction of justice...–wait. How was Giuliani to know that Kerik wasn't reporting income to the IRS?

What's certain is that Newsbusters wants their Republican readers to be outraged. I'll tell you what will really outrage me: I'm never going to get a pony.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 03:31 AM

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