Ryan ChartrandI don’t know if Mr. Molnar was short on time and had to rush out a quick article, but rather than discredit the idea of “liberal media,” all he did was enforce it. And in doing so, he hypocritically threw a jab at Fox News for being “fair and balanced,” yet taking it easy on McCain.
What is it going to be, Mr. Molnar? Is the media unbiased or does it just hurt you to hear it’s liberal? Does all the Obama vs. Clinton coverage mean that CNN doesn’t have a liberal slant? It was once said that any publicity is good publicity. This may not be true, but good, compelling news includes the giant mudslinging battle that is currently being waged by the Democratic candidates. And wouldn’t you think that since McCain has already wrapped up the Republican nomination, he would be less interesting than the two candidates slugging it out for the last delegates and superdelegates?
I agree that the Pentagon’s 81-page memo on terrorism (boy, it sounds like an exciting read!) should be covered, and that McCain made a gaffe when claiming that Iran (Shiite) supports al-Qaida (Sunni). However, those are the only concessions I will give you. Instead, I will try to balance your obviously liberally biased article. (I tried not to laugh out loud when I read over the title of your article again.)
War crimes are nothing to laugh at, nor are civilian casualties in Iraq (or military for that matter). Speaking of war crimes, UNICEF released a report that says 1 million Iraqi children under age 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition, and some four thousand to five thousand children die per month from the combination of malnutrition and disease; this rate is beyond natural death rates. Death from disease was greatly increased by the shortage of potable water and medicines, which led to a 20-fold increase in malaria, among other ailments.
If you are paying close attention, you will notice I used past tense. That is because the report was released in 1999. Because of increased sanctions and embargoes during the Clinton presidency, as well as the failed oil-for-food program (failed mostly due to Hussein’s corruptness), it is estimated that there were over a million excess civilian deaths. And yes, I know the sanctions were established in 1990, but they were continued by Clinton throughout his presidency and during the worst period of the situation.
And about McCain’s gaffe, I understand you only have so many words per article, so let me use mine to show his corrected response. After some help from Sen. Joe Lieberman, he said, “I’m sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaida.” As someone who has a whole brain, I can tell you that even with deep religious division, nothing unifies the extremist Muslim world better than killing Americans. But for this article, let us assume Iran isn’t being helped by al-Qaida. Iran is still pumping arms, money, supplies and manpower into the Shiite militias in Iraq. While it is true that this may show McCain’s lack of understanding of the Iraq situation, do you know al-Qaida’s or Iran’s particular branch of Islam?
Thanks to a liberal, biased article and a desire for the truth, I now do! And I’m sure this mistake will be rehashed in the presidential race, mark my words. The only reason it didn’t get the airtime and cost him the nomination is that he already has the nomination, if you didn’t know; therefore, politically, it isn’t as dynamic, considering the timing.
In closing, I would like to thank you for further discrediting yourself by making the two following statements: “I find it stunning that . nobody asks whether we’re willing to embrace a 72-year-old candidate in McCain,” followed by, “An NBC/WSJ poll recently revealed that . only 60 percent said they are ready to vote for a candidate over the age of 70.”
P.S. Obama is a terrible bowler (37/300), the Clintons are super-rich, and McCain, if elected, would be the oldest incoming president in history.
Steve Sharer is an industrial engineering junior and a guest columnist for the Mustang Daily.