European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 3, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday december 3, 1993 a commentary the stars and stripes fags 17with enemies like this who needs friends Cal Thomas every president from George Washington to the current one has been critical of the press which at some Point always returns the sentiment. Bill Clinton unburdened himself about his feelings to Ward the press in an interview with rolling Stone published in the dec. 9 Issue. Clinton places journalists for not giving him the credit he thinks he deserves but quickly adds with false modesty that he does no to want. His approval ratings remain locked below 50 percent a because of the Way this administration has been covered a not because of the policies it is pursuing. The press thinks Bill Clinton is the Best communicator since for. Still the president says a pm sorry if pm not very Good at communicating but i Haven to gotten a hell of a lot of help since ave been in fact Clinton has received so much help that the coverage has crossed the line into cheer leading and editorializing masked As reporting. Examples abound. Take Dan rather a sugary conversation via satellite with the president during a lbs affiliates meeting on May 27. Speaking of his pairing with co Anchor Connie Chung rather was caught with his ideological pants Down when he said a if we could be one Hundredth As great As you and Hillary Rodham Clinton Nave been in the White House wed take it right now and walk away winners a. Thank you very much and Tell mrs. Clinton we respect her and we re pulling for in the rolling Stone interview the president cited time Magazine As being less Friendly than other Media organs. You know it from Lance Morrow a Man of the year cover Story on Jan. 4 a pc Linton a Campaign conducted with dignity with Earnest attention to issues and with an impressive display of self a Possession under fire served to rehabilitate and restore the legitimacy of american politics and thus prospectively of government itself. He vindicated at least for a while the Honor of a system that has been sinking fast a How about this example of a a negative offender Colu some weeks ago a correspondent wrote to me to say a i never met you but i had formed certain opinions of you and i was certainly surprised to read m the paper that you had made a scene when spending the night at a new Haven hotel lost your computer and then got mixed up when speaking at Bryn mawr. I replied that the newspaper reporter must have been mixed up because a in my entire life i have never spent a night at a new Haven hotel b my a pts a computer is secure and Hasni to been lost and c Byrt mawr has the distinction of being perhaps the Only College in the United states at which i Haven to spoken. So much for that correspondent. But then one after another the clips started coming in Day after Day from newspapers All Over the country. They All said the same thing in one or another version of their people Columna William f. Buckley jr., conservative columnist during a visit to Yale he reportedly ran up a $500 hotel Bill and left behind his Laptop computer. While speaking at another school he repeatedly referred to his Host College As Bryn mawr when he was speaking at Sarah lawrence.�?�. ,. The item appeared under various names Ana rubrics including in one paper a pop follies Quot i wrote to one columnist and asked where she had got the item but and then someone sent me a copy of the pro Genitive Niece. It reads in its entirety As follows a conservative blowhole William f. Buckley Yale history when he ran up a Bill in excess of s500 at a Fai. Of Fra Clinton reporting from the dec. 14,1992, Washington Post a without running the risk of being considered a Touchy Feely a Clinton is known As a Hugger of men and women. Simple handshakes Arentt enough for this Man whose theme song easily could be borrowed from the Cotton Industry so the touch the feel the fabric of our writing in the Jan. 25 Newsweek howard1 Fineman said a a there a no doubting that the nation is about to be led by its first sensitive male chief executive. He a the first president to have attended both lamaze classes and family therapy. A the can speak in the rhythms of pop psychology and self actualization he can search for the inner self while seeking connectedness with the greater abcs Tom Foreman following Clin tones appearance with children on the network on feb. 20, elevated him to Hans Christian Andersen status a was one Parent put it there is no better Way to make me change my opinion than to change the world for my with nothing More than a listening ear that is what Bill Clinton no cd a Bryant Gumbel sees to be Little More than a mouthpiece for the Clinton administration with his uncritical accolades of its policies. In a March 17.intervicw with Gerald Swanson co author of bankruptcy 1995, Gumbel posed this loaded question a a it a Early yet but for at least trying to address the deficit in a More serious fashion than anybody in 12 years what kind of Early Marks do you give Bill Clinton Quot Newsweek s Eleanor Clift has been conducting a journalistic love affair with both Clinton and enjoying Access to the president because of it. About Clinton a proposed tax increases and supposed spending cuts Clift said on the feb. 12 the Mclaughlin group a a it a one for one and its Gutier than any Republican president has done in 12 years of feel Good ism. This is going to be. Courageous and you re going to of it was t a one for one a As it turned out but then Clift predicted Jim Florio s reelection by a substantial margin. These Are not isolated examples. They arc representative of a press that while fickle largely supports president Clinton a programs ideology and objectives. The president has no cause for complaining that he Hasni to gotten any help from the press. He a gotten far More than he deserves to Angela Timet new Haven hotel at one Point bellowing a waiter bring me a bottle of wine before i pass though he did not in fact lose consciousness he did become drunk enough to leave his Laptop computer behind in the restaurant. It May also have been his famed conviviality that caused Buckley to repeatedly refer to his Host College As Bryn mawr when he was speaking at Sarah it has been an instructive experience. The pro Genitive libel was published in a Slick unfunny monthly that amuses itself and a sickly clientele by sheer fabrications. In the account above the editors might at least have troubled to situate me at a College where i had recently spoken which does no to include Yale. But if you re in the business of extempore izing libel what does it matter Here for the Benefit of those who Are curious about such things is the bearing of the libel Laws in such matters. As a a Public figure a 1 cannot sue the Magazine unless i am in a position to prove a actual malice. This is defined As demonstrating that the person who wrote the libel had every reason to know that it was not True when he wrote it. So far no problem inasmuch As the author simply made up every feature of the Story. William f. Buckley so then having established that he had indeed trafficked in actual malice the time comes to assess the actual damages have to be measured concretely if an editor who publishes this column had written to say a Given that you behave so disgracefully in Public places we do not wish any further association with you and Are therefore dropping your contract a that letter presented to a jury would qualify the plaintiff for damages but if the letter came in from a single source the jury would probably Levy damages not much in excess of a year or two a income from the column published in a single paper which alas Isnit quite enough to build you a Castle in Spain where you can cackle about How you hit Back at the Little Bugger who amuses himself by writing squalid lies. Then there is something called a exemplary if the jury thought that the editor who wrote the item and the Magazine that published it should be punished for their utter indifference to matters of truth and falsehood then you might get an impressive judgment. Many years ago the writer Quentin Reynolds sued the columnist Westbrook Pegler in a famous Case. Reynolds prove thl he had suffered any actual damage but the jury ruled that Pegler did not have the data to Back up his charges that they were irresponsible and malicious and awarded Reynolds $100,000, which was at the time the largest exemplary damage that had Ever been awarded. C univ foal i 9# syrup la
