HH: And is this worse? This White House Press Corps more hostile to George W. Bush than Clinton's Press Corps was to Clinton?
TM: I think it's a different kind of hostile. I think that under Clinton, partly because he gave...there may have been plenty of ammunition that he handed out, but there was just a relentless hunt for scandal to the distraction of the real policy and security concerns of the United States. I think the country got off track in its press coverage of the presidency in the Clinton administration.
HH: But is it worse now?
TM: Now, I think that there is, you know, you talk to people on the left, they think we gave him a free pass.
HH: No, but what's Terry Moran think?
TM: What do I think?
HH: Yea.
TM: I think that there's...I think there's an attitude...how do I take a pound of flesh out of the president today in any White House. In any White House.
HH: But is this worse than it was under Clinton?
TM: I didn't cover Clinton.
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HH: Hats off to you, Terry, for sticking around. I know you're pressed for time. We'll make it quick, get a couple of calls in. Five quick questions. ABC News, it's been 118 days since John Kerry promised Tim Russert he would sign the SF-180 form. I went to the ABC News website during the break, there is not one story on that promise, or its abrogation. Why is that?
TM: Well, it's not huge news, I'd say, but I don't make the decisions for ABC News. You know, it just doesn't seem to me to be something that the majority of the country's really clamoring for.
HH: You were in the White House press room when the Texas Air National Guard pledge was made, and there were arguments that Bush had not honored it. It was a frenzy. Why a frenzy then, but not any concern, even a little bit about the SF-180 now?
TM: Well, that is a very good question. I think that the biggest difference, and one for which I'm sure you're grateful, is that George W. Bush is the president of the United States, and John Kerry is the guy who lost the last election.
HH: But who is running again.
TM: There is, in general, a lot less interest in what the loser has done, or is about, or you know, John Kerry is deluding himself, it seems, that he has a continued political life, and perhaps you share that. But I think that when it's the president of the United States, and I agree with you. It was something of a frenzy.
HH: And so, should Kerry follow through on his commitment?
TM: Yes, absolutely.
HH: Are there members of the White House Press Corps, Terry, who actually hate Bush?
TM: I would say the answer to that is yes.
HH: And what percentage of them, do you think that amounts to?
TM: Uh, small, I would say, but some big fish.
HH: What's your guess about the percentage of the White House Press Corps that voted for Kerry?
TM: Oh, very high. Very, very high.
HH: 95%?
TM: Huh?
HH: 95%?
TM: No, I don't think that high. But I would certainly say, you know, it's hard for me, but I'd guess it's in...upwards of 70, maybe higher. You know, it's hard for me to say, but I would say very, very high.
HH: Who'd you vote for?
TM: Well, that's a secret ballot, isn't it?
HH: Well, it is. I'm just asking, though.
TM: I'd prefer not to answer that.
HH: I know you would, but...
TM: It might surprise you, but I'd prefer not to.
HH: No, I'd love to know. I think why does the media resist the idea that, you know, it matters to tell people...it's not going to change my assessment of your reporting on a given basis.
TM: ...which is pretty low. I would say for this reason. Because then everything I would say would get colored by whatever, whoever I voted for, and I would say this, too. The questions I ask, and you know, I can be faulted for all kinds of, you know, all kinds of things. But I would not necessarily make the mistake in assuming that I shared the assumption that underlies the question. Sometimes, I think a question just needs to be asked, because it's a legitimate question that some segment of the citizenry might have of the president of the United States. And so, I try and frame the question as aggressively as I can, for the question's sake, not for mine.
HH: Couldn't agree with you more. I still think that journalists would be better served by transparancy as to their political beliefs and votes, but that's your call.
TM: You may be right. I mean they do that in many other countries.
HH: I want to give a couple of calls. Colonel Don, a United States Marine, who served in Iraq, welcome Colonel to the program, you're on with Terry Moran.
Col: Hi, Hugh. I've got several comments. I don't know how much time I have...
HH: About a minute.
Col: About a minute. Okay. Well, I do question in general, as a private citizen, the patriotism, professionalism, and judgment of many people in the news media. To publish stories about proper corroboration, based on rumor or only one source, is problematic. There's no accountability for bad reporting. The soldiers that had problems in Abu Ghraib, that humiliated those Iraqis, they're getting court martialed. I don't see anything other than the hesitation to own up to this bad press. I think it seems to me it's not concerned about the safety of the troops, or the private citizens in the region in Islamic countries, where it's well known that those countries...a lot of the news media is reported based on allegations, rumors, basically not even fact. And rumors spread like wildfire over there. It's like yelling fire in a crowded theater. The newsmedia attempts to make the news by, for example, when President Bush landed on the aircraft carrier, the news media made a big thing about this mission accomplished banner. That's always put on a ship when it comes back to home port.
HH: Don, I got to interrupt you. I want to ask you, though, how long did you serve in Iraq for?
Col: I was physically only in Iraq for about six weeks.
HH: How about your son?
Col: My son was in about one week. We were lucky in that regard. Our units went in, the Marines came back out of Iraq quickly at that point. And of course, in the meantime, they have since gone back to Iraq.
HH: All right. Terry Moran, your response to Col. Don.
TM: I've got to tell you one thing first. Having been in Iraq and most of the reporters I know who have been in Iraq, when they get exposed to how the U.S. military actually operates, and they work with them, and the military...look. I rode around in some bad places. They save your life. One's perspective changes. So my hat's off to you. I would say that there is accountability in the press. Ultimately, it's essentially what Hugh's doing, it's what the listeners are doing here. If you don't like it, they'll turn it off. Our viewership will go down. The circulation will go down. Aside from the fact that some people get fired for these things, ultimately, the accountability rests with you.
HH: All right, thank you Don. Chuck, you get the last question. Chuck?
Chuck: How much time do I have?
HH: You've got thirty seconds.
Chuck: I'll cut out a lot of what I was going to say, then. Terry, you made a point of asking if Hugh had been there. I don't see that that makes one bit of difference. I can sit down, and I can talk about the difference between radical Islam and mainstream Islam, and how the two have come together, and I'll bet that you can't. I can sit down and talk about Arabic behavior patterns, about dialectics of shame, honor, and power, and challenge you. And I'll bet that you can't. And then you make a snide remark like that? And you wonder why we question the veracity of America's news media?
HH: Well, Chuck, that's okay. We're just battling it out, but Terry...
TM: We were battling it out. I got accused of having a little resume, so I got petty as well, and I do apologize.
HH: I didn't accuse you of having a little resume. I accused a lot of the White House Press Corps of having a little resume.
TM: That's all right.
HH: Now, I get the last question here. Do you think the documents in the CBS scandal were fake?
TM: Absolutely.
HH: Then why has CBS refused to admit as much?
TM: I have no idea. I have no idea. It seemed...I couldn't believe it from the first day, as soon as this stuff hit the blogs, it was pretty clear what was going on. I mean, you know, you wanted to wait for it to get nailed down, but I think that's a big problem. I came up at Court T.V. under a guy named Steve Brill, who used to say once you admitted a mistake, and come fully clean, you improve your credibility. And that's...I think some of the big establishment news organizations, like the one I work for now, have bigger problems doing that, because of the way that they once dominated the media market.
HH: Did you or Elizabeth Bumiller make a mistake in the White House Press Room yesterday?
TM: Did I hear Elizabeth make a mistake?
HH: Yea. Or you?
TM: Oh, did I?
HH: Yup.
TM: No, I...not that I'm aware of. I try to get my facts pretty straight before I go in there.
HH: Did Elizabeth?
TM: I wasn't listening...you know, I have the transcript here. I don't think so.
HH: Okay, it was in here questioning of whether or not...it was a very sarcastic response to the idea that the American media might write a favorable story about the American military. It's occasioned a lot of comment today. Terry, I'm going to let you go. Do you read the blogs by the way?
TM: Absolutely. Every day, all the time.
HH: Which ones?
TM: I always start out at Instapundit, I take a look at LGF, I look at Kos, on the other side, and Joshua Micah Marshall. I'm not a frequenter of your blog, but every once in a while, I'll get linked to it. My brother has a blog, Right Wing Nut House.
HH: Oh, I like Right Wing Nut House.
TM: That's my brother's blog.
HH: Why didn't he work on you? What happened to you? Terry, come back. A great conversation. I appreciate your being accountable to the people out there, and to taking the hard questions. We'll talk to you again soon.
End of interview
