http://ace.mu.nu/archives/360274.phpCNN "Journalist" Caught Red-Handed Doing Media Favors for Hillary; Politico's Mike Allen Caught Red-Handed Promising Hillary's People a "No Surprises" Interview of Chelsea, in Which Questions Would Be Worked Out Beforehand
Hillary wanted some self-serving quotes publicized, and CNN's "journalist" -- the same one who just got suspended for her liberal angst about concerns about Syrian refugees -- duly complied.
She also hit Rand Paul for not attending all the hearings -- just as she was seemingly asked.
Here's that journalist reporting back to Team Hillary about the anti-Rand-Paul tweet she'd tweeted out at their apparent behest:
She also pumped out this quote that Hillary's people wanted out there:
Meanwhile, Gawker catches Politico's Mike Allen promising the Hillary staff (Phil Reines, I think) a "no surprises" interview of Chelsea. I won't link them, but instead will link the Washington Post's alleged journalistic column "The Fix," which, when presented with evidence that a liberal colleague in the media is promising against-the-rules favors to a liberal politician, affixes blame squarely where it belongs: on conservative critics of the media who allege that liberal reporters do favors for liberal politicians.
Here's Mike Allen's email promising a very cozy, reputation-boosting interview for the black hole of negative charisma Chelsea:
We're hosting a Politico New Leaders Brunch on Sunday, Jan. 20, with a brief on-stage interview with moi. We would love to honor Chelsea Clinton, and it sounds like she has some issues, marriage and others, that she enjoys talking about these days. This would be a way to send a message during inaugural week: No one besides me would ask her a question, and you and I would agree on them precisely in advance.
This would be a relaxed conversation, and our innovative format (like a speedy Playbook Breakfast) always gets heavy social-media pickup. The interview would be "no surprises:" I would work with you on topics, and would start with anything she wants to cover or make news on. Quicker than a network hit, and reaching an audience you care about with no risk.
The Washington Post's The Fix column immediately spins for their pal, and lets you know who the real villains are here.
A bit of context might be helpful here, since we’re talking about events that happened almost three years ago: President Obama had just been reelected, and Allen was requesting an interview with Chelsea Clinton on inauguration weekend, which is basically one big party in DC. The news of the moment in Clinton world was that Hillary was just a couple weeks away from stepping down as secretary of state, having previously said she would not serve in Obama’s second term.
One interpretation of Allen’s e-mail to Philippe Reines, the Clinton aide, goes something like this: Hey, I’m looking for just a few minutes with Chelsea during an important time for her mom. This isn’t a probing,"“60 Minutes"-style sit-down, so don't worry about fielding anything out of left field.
Not so bad, right?
But the Republican translation will likely go more like this: What can I do to make Chelsea look good because, as we all know, I and my Web site (and most of the media) live to serve the royal family of the Democratic Party.
The GOP field has already put the media on blast this campaign season. There was that memorable rant by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas during the third primary debate....
He then goes on to note, disapprovingly, the criticisms lodged about the media by Republican candidates.
Elsewhere in the article, he casts Republican criticisms of the media as phantasmal -- though allowing that this incident looks like it could be evidence of that paranoid fear.
And you can bet the Republican presidential candidates -- who often accuse the media of pro-Clinton bias-- will pounce on this as confirmation of that belief. It's a ready-made "liberal media" conspiracy theory...
Republican White House hopefuls sometimes go looking for bias where it's not obvious, or nonexistent. But, in this case, they won't have to look very hard. This time, Politico made their job easy.
Pro-tip for The Fix: A conspiracy requires more than one person. Mike Allen's wrongdoing was just his wrongdoing.
It's your rushing to his defense, and attacking his critics, all over an incident you concede looks very bad, that makes it a liberal conspiracy.
You're all in this together, and you make it more obvious every single day.
Glenn Thrush: We Do This All The Time. It's No Big Deal.
Correction: Chris Cilizza is the main voice of The Fix, but he's not the only voice -- and he did not write this particular column. I have omitted his name from the post.
