Trial of the Century
Reported by Nancy - July 1, 2004 -
That's what Fox is calling the trial of Saddam Hussein, even though it hasn't begun yet.
But the real trial will be on the patience of TV viewers who, if this morning's coverage is any indication, will be subjected to all-Saddam, all the time, wall-to-wall coverage. Fox anchors like Brigitte Quinn, Bob Sellers & David Asman spent the morning enlightening us with such fascinating info as: the hearing was held in a small building on the "sprawling grounds" of one of Hussein's former palaces, there was a $40,000 rug on the floor (also from one of his former palaces), & that Saddam Hussein was "defiant" & "argumentative". They trotted out the usual range of Fox "commentators", including Alice Wiser (a "body language expert") to trivialize the whole process. Some guests, like Stuart Eizenstadt (former US ambassador to the UN) & David Stoelting (ABA), attempted a more serious discussion of why this trial needs an international imprimatur. They were quickly swatted down by Asman asking insipid questions that tried to steer the topic back to Fox themes: "What if Saddam tries to call Jacques Chirac as a witness? Won't that expose the whole UN oil-for-food scandal?" Alternatively, Fox would switch to someone like Steve Centanni (at the White House, who enlightened us with Scott McClellan's comments & a rundown of Bush's planned activities today) or Bret Baier (at the Pentagon, who quoted chapter & verse from Salem Chalabi). The piece de resistance was at 11:42am EDT, when Asman showed 3 photos of Hussein (from 1998, 2003 & today). & proudly announced that this should put to rest those nasty unfounded rumors that "coalition" forces have mistreated any prisoners.
