By PMS, I don't mean Pre-Menstrual Syndrome, though I admit not knowing Mr. Ware's estrogen levels. Rather I mean Partisan Meltdown Syndrome. Partisan Meltodwn Syndrome only became an accepted clinical diagnosis among unhappy liberals shortly after the screaming incident by Howard Dean several years ago. That it should be found today in particularly virulent form among CNN reporters is no surprise, as it has long been suspected that patient zero was Ted Turner himself. There is no known cure at the present, though apparently watching repeated showings of Michael Moore's Farenheit 9-11 and then joining in a Code Pink or MoveOn.org protest march can have a temporary palliative effect. The latest confirmed diagnosis of full blown PMS is that of CNN reporter Mr. Michael Ware. As documented in a Drudge Report exclusive:
During a live press conference in Baghdad, Senators McCain and Graham were heckled by CNN reporter Michael Ware. An official at the press conference called Ware’s conduct “outrageous,” saying, “here you have two United States Senators in Bagdad giving first-hand reports while Ware is laughing and mocking their comments. I’ve never witnessed such disrespect. This guy is an activist not a reporter.”
Senators McCain and Graham flew into Iraq and drove into Baghdad, making stops at an open market and a joint Iraq/American military security outpost before appearing at the press conference.This is not the first time Michael Ware has taken issue with Senator McCain’s comments about early progress in Iraq.
Last week, after Senator McCain told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he needed to catch up on the news coming out of Iraq, Michael Ware responded, saying: “I don't know what part of Neverland Senator McCain is talking about when he says we can go strolling in Baghdad.”
Michael Ware has also publicly expressed his views on the war last year in an interview with Bill Maher, saying, “I've been given a front-row ticket to watch this slow-motion train wreck … I try to stay as drunk for as long as possible while I'm here … In fact, I'm drinking now.”
Actually, the incident with McCain and Blitzer was examined by
Powerline, particularly Ware's assertion that violence was down in only one measure - sectarian violence - while by other measures, such as the number of car bombings, there was actually an increase in violence in Baghdad since the start of the surge. Powerline checked the positions of both McCain and Ware, ultimately concluding
Ware [made a] statement that "sectarian violence -- one type of sectarian violence -- is down." The statistics show that Iraqi deaths in Baghdad are down substantially. So I guess the type of sectarian violence that's down is the kind that kills people. And wasn't that, after all, the primary purpose of the surge?
On CNN's website, there is no mention of Ware at the Baghdad news conference with McCain and Graham. Likewise, Ware's name does not appear on the byline for the CNN article,
McCain Lauds Security During Baghdad Visit, about the Senators' visit and news conference. Nonetheless, it seems that Ware's PMS is highly infectious among his fellow liberal reporters at CNN. The story CNN does carry, under the byline of Mohammed Tawfeeq and Candy Crowley manages to get in some cheap shots, apparently without any help from Ware.
Sen. John McCain visited a Baghdad market Sunday and later told reporters the American people were not getting the full story on what he said were improving security conditions in the war-ravaged capital.
McCain, a presidential hopeful, was among a delegation of Republican lawmakers that made an unannounced trip to Iraq this weekend, the details of which were withheld for security reasons.
The delegation traveled in armored Humvees with a military escort. . . .
Do you think Candy could have spun this any harder to suggest McCain is lying to the American public about an improving security situation? These facts have no bearing on whether the security situation in Baghdad has improved. Similar security measures are common for high level visits to potentially unfriendly places, regardless if the security situation is relatively good or dire. But mentioning that in her report would spoil the effect of the ad hominem attack - and such would be contraindicative of PMS.
Alas, it is apparent that Ms. Crowley is closing in on the advanced stages of PMS herself. As the disease is invariably "progressive," watch her upcoming reports to begin with something akin to "Lying Bastard Baby Killer McCain and Idiot War Mongering Republicans Claim . . . "
UPDATE: It has long been known that the NYT has numerous reporters in various stages of PMS. It was just pointed out to me that NYT's reporter Kirk Semple in fact has a case of PMS already advanced to a degree beyond that of Ms. Crowley. On the McCain story, where Mr. McCain was attempting to convery to the public that the security situation was improving in Baghdad because of the surge, Mr. Semple authored a report of McCain's news conference, but juxtaposed that story and the headline with the sad news concerning American casualties outside of Baghdad:
4 G.I.'s Among Dead In Iraq; McCain Cites Progress.
Mortar attacks, suicide car bombs, roadside bombs, ambushes and gun battles killed at least two dozen people on Sunday, including four American soldiers, the authorities said.
The American military command said the soldiers were killed southwest of Baghdad just after midnight as they responded to an earlier bombing that had killed two other American soldiers. The insurgents have frequently tried to reap greater death tolls by carrying out attacks against rescue crews rushing to bomb sites. . .
The report continues on with some short notes about McCain's news conference, but no substantive news about whether the surge is in fact succeeding in its counterinsurgency mission inside Baghdad proper. It would appear fair to say that Mr. Semple likewise a case of PMS quickly advancing towards the end stage.
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