The New York Times under siege, that's the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo."
Now on Monday, we broke the Page 37 story. The New York Times buried the JFK terrorism situation on Page 37 of its Sunday edition, while all the other New York papers had it on Page 1.
Well, now The Times has to explain itself after a torrent of criticism from regular folks. National editor Suzanne Daly writes, "Not all plots are the same. In this case, law enforcement officials said that JFK was never in immediate danger. In truth, the decision was widely debated even within this newsroom. A few editors thought the story should have been more prominently played."
Now Ms. Daley's analysis doesn't hold up. A few weeks ago, The New York Times did properly cover the Fort Dix terror arrests, even though the threat to Fort Dix was not operational.
The motive behind The Times playing down JFK is the Giuliani factor. The Republican candidate is getting lots of mileage out of the war on terror and The Times is worried. The paper doesn't like the mayor, and understands the war on terror is a weak point for many of the Democratic candidates.
The paper favors a Democrat in the White House next time around -- any Democrat.
Since "The Factor" exposed this story, the far left smear machine has cranked up. And it's really fascinating to watch. These dishonest websites are saying that because The New York Times listed the JFK story in the small box on Page 1 last Sunday, that my reporting is false. How ridiculous.
Also, NBC News led its Saturday and Sunday broadcast with the JFK story. But now elements over there are defending The Times and attacking FOX News.
Why? Because NBC News is in the tank for the far left. "Talking Points" sounds a bit vindictive in this analysis, I understand. But if the upcoming presidential campaign's going to be covered in a partisan way in the hard news arena, we have a huge problem in this country.
Our mandate here, as you know, is to hold the powerful in America accountable for what they do. The media is perhaps the most powerful force in the country today. And the media, I hate to say it, is becoming increasingly corrupt and dishonest. Page 37 proves it. And that's the "Memo."
Most Ridiculous Item
Time now for "The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day." It's really too bad, but we do live in a dangerous world.
In Rome, some nut flew out of the crowd -- watch him, there he is -- and jumped on the pope's vehicle. Police say the guy is a 27-year-old German national. They say he is unbalanced. Whatever. The fact that he got through security is very troubling.
Now apparently, the pope didn't even see the commotion, which is just as well.
Ridiculous? God only knows.
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