Right wing disinformation on Al Gore from ABC

February 18, 2007 at 8:32 am (2008 Elections, Al Gore, Climate Change, Draft Gore, Global Warming, journalism, media, Politics, the press, Uncategorized)

A strong rightward shift in ABC News (and The Note) has been discussed and documented by writers like Eric Boehlert, for example in his fine book Lapdogs, How the Press Rolled Over for Bush.

Al Gore represents a nightmare scenario for the right. If he runs, for example with Obama as VP, he could be well nigh unbeatable. Even a well known Gore-o-phobe like Chris Matthews admits as much.

It serves right wing interests to repress the emerging draft Gore movement. Obama at the top of the ticket will allow them not only to attack his middle name (Hussein) but to question his national security credentials in an uncertain time. And Clinton allows them to muddy the water on Iraq because of her ambivalence about the invasion (e.g. unlike Edwards, she has refused to apologize for her vote. Gore at the top of the ticket solves all aforementioned issues and provides a gravitas on national security and the climate crisis unrivalled by any Democrat alive today.

So repressing the draft Gore movement is a plus for the right. ABC News recently played along with that agenda by promoting the idea that Gore has recently ruled out a run in 2008: 

http://www.bc.net.au/news/newsitems/200702/s1850162.htm

Unfortunately it was even picked up by the Huffington Post: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/topics/al+gore

 All of it is silliness. Reuters made the same gaffe recently and was quickly debunked by Gore’s spokesman, as quoted  in the Huffington Post (after they had repreated the gaffe in the Reuter’s instance as well): 

“Absolutely nothing new,” Gore spokesman Michael Feldman said of the report. “He’s been saying the same thing for six years – that he’s not running but has not completely ruled it out – and depending on where he is, it’s reported differently.”

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/01/16/huffpos-melinda-henneber_n_38770.html

So now ABC is spreading more of this cyclic misinformation.

You know what? Having to fight the “mainstream” press again is no big deal. Once you learn to anticipate journalistic malpractice at every turn, you learn to adapt. Like coastal residents who are experiencing rising hurricane insurance rates, it simply re-inforces the sentiment in the public that the system is broken. That sentiment, fortunately, fuels our movement.

So spread the word. As no clear frontrunner emerges in the Democratic race and as Gore keeps his powder dry, we can expect more journalistic malpractice from the likes of ABC News.

Here’s my tally: two major instances in this cycle of right-wing-favoring disinformation on Gore’s potential candidacy status so far (Reuter’s in Tokyo, ABC News in LA). And counting.