If THIS doesn't say something....Follow

Three networks delay decision about Bush Iraq talk
Three of the four broadcast networks had yet to decide late Monday whether they would carry President Bush's speech on Iraq Tuesday in front of soldiers in Fort Bragg, N.C. By then, only ABC had said it would carry the address.

The White House formally requested an hour of primetime at 8 p.m. ET for Bush's speech at a time when public opinion polls show the tide turning against the war in Iraq. While there was no question that the cable news channels would cover the president's address, the broadcast networks were a tougher sell.

CBS, NBC and Fox all said they would decide sometime Tuesday whether to carry the speech. Concerns centered on the potential newsworthiness of the speech and the fact that it was being given not in the Oval Office but far from Washington.

"You want to be certain you are broadcasting something that is newsworthy and vitally important to the American people," said one network executive who asked not to be identified.

The networks, unconvinced in initial talks with the White House late last week that the speech would be newsworthy, asked for more information. Sources said a conference call was held at 12:30 p.m. ET with officials from the Bush administration and the networks' Washington bureau chiefs.

But that might not be the only reason for the networks' holdout. While CBS was in repeats at 8 p.m., NBC was faced with the possibility of having to pre-empt or reschedule the heavily promoted original reality series "Average Joe: The Joes Strike Back."

Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia, said Monday that it was a tough decision for the network bosses.

"On the one hand, they recognize if the president actually is going to make substantial news on Iraq, they probably should cover it," Sabato said. "But on the other hand, they realize this White House is famous for constructing political rallies and convincing the networks to cover them with the sole beneficiary being the president, not the American people."

ABC News will carry the event, with Charlie Gibson anchoring from New York.

This happened for his last address as well. Amusingly, not even FOX wanted to pre-empt their programming to carry it. Eventually the White House had to compromise and move the time of Bush's address and, even then, most of the networks cut Bush short to resume normal programming.

It ain't for her looks.

Even living in California I see ignorance such as this. My mother teaches at a Catholic elementary school/middle school. The priest told teachers and students alike to vote for bush because Kerry is a “baby killer”. Keep in mind that most of these families are relatively low income families of Latino decent. Most of these families can’t even afford financially to vote republican, but do because a church instructs them to do so.

Even living in California (a sure fire blue state), I see ignorance such as this. My mother teaches at a Catholic elementary school/middle school. The priest told teachers and students alike to vote for bush because Kerry is a “baby killer”. Keep in mind that most of these families are relatively low income families of Latino decent. Most of these families can’t even afford financially to vote republican, but do because a church instructs them to do so.