News Hounds

Grapevine Whine - Hume & The Reactionary Noise Machine Get It Wrong Again

Wednesday night (1/25) on Special Report, anchor Brit Hume read a "picking" during his Grapevine segment that slammed Democratss as partisan. The hook on which he hung his "picking" was a report by the Congressional Research Service, but typically, rather than discuss the substance of the report, Hume chose to attack the messenger -- a classic tactic used when trying to defend the indefensible. In the process, Hume also displayed the sloppy "research" (I use the term loosely) that goes into these "pickings" as well as another great example of the reactionary noise machine at work.

Here's "picking" #2:

Democrats have made much of a report released last week asserting that President Bush broke the law in authorizing the National Security Agency to intercept phone calls from suspected terrorists overseas into the United States, noting the "nonpartisan" nature of the group that prepared it. But the Washington Times notes the author of the Congressional Research Service report, national security specialist Alfred Cumming, is not only a registered Democrat -- he served as staff director for the Senate Intelligence committee under since-retired Florida Democrat Bob Graham & contributed $1,250 to John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign.

Comments: Well, I guess we all know that a "registered Democrat" can't possibly be "non-partisan" about anything. Case closed for FoxFans.

The Congressional Research Service is "the public policy research arm of the United States Congress. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS works exclusively and directly for Members of Congress, their Committees and staff on a confidential, nonpartisan basis." Established in 1914 as the Legislative Reference Service & renamed the Congressional Research Service (CRS) by the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, CRS "is committed to providing the Congress, throughout the legislative process, comprehensive and reliable analysis, research and information services that are timely, objective, nonpartisan, and confidential, thereby contributing to an informed national legislature." According to its website,

The CRS staff comprises nationally recognized experts in a range of issues and disciplines, including law, economics, foreign affairs, public administration, the information, social, political sciences, natural sciences. The breadth and depth of this expertise enables CRS staff to come together quickly to provide integrated analyses of complex issues that span multiple legislative and program areas.

But that's apparently not good enough for Hume, who prefers an ad hominem attack on a public servant rather than an analysis or discussion of the report itself.

A closer examination of Hume's "picking" reveals some very interesting information.

The "source" for Cumming's alleged contributions of $1,250 to the Kerry campaign was, as far as I've been able to determine, a comment posted on a blog, JustOneMinute . The commenter says that his source was an "FEC spy:"

Okay, maybe I'm a cynic, but every time I see the term "nonpartisan," it makes me just a little suspicious. In this case, the logical place to check is with FEC spy. Imagine my surprise:
CUMMING, ALFRED
WASHINGTON, DC 20008
US GOVERNMENT/ANALYST
KERRY, JOHN F VIA JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC
03/23/2004 500.00 25971237124
06/30/2004 250.00 24971355599
07/02/2004 250.00 25971305076
08/15/2004 250.00 24991236280
Total Contributions: 1250.00
Posted by: Cecil Turner | January 19, 2006 at 12:25 PM

This was picked up & re-published on Jan 20 by Captain's Quarters

... the CRS anayses [sic] were prepared by Alfred Cumming -- the same Alfred Cumming who gave John Kerry $1,250 for his run against George Bush in the 2004 election cycle, as first reported by Tom Maguire.

Of course, Captain's Quarters gets it wrong: it wasn't "reported by Tom Maguire;" it was a comment posted on Maguire's blog (& I hope we can all agree that *comments* posted on blogs are not reliable sources of information, unless independently verified)..

But hey, who cares about accuracy & reliability when all you're trying to do is change the subject by attacking the messenger?

The data at opensecrets shows only 3 contributions totalling $1,000: 

Search Criteria:
Donor name: CUMMING, ALFRED
Cycle(s) selected: 2006, 2004, 2002
Total for this search: $1,000
Contributor / Occupation / Date / Amount / Recipient
CUMMING, ALFRED / US GOVERNMENT/ANALYST / 3/23/2004 / $500 / Kerry, John
CUMMING, ALFRED / US GOVERNMENT/ANALYST / 6/30/2004 / $250 / Kerry, John
CUMMING, ALFRED / US GOVERNMENT/ANALYST / 8/15/2004 / $250 / Kerry, John

Don't you wish the reactionary noise machine would at least get its lies straight?

Neither The New York Times:

The memorandum, written by Alfred Cumming, a national security specialist at the research service, does lay out several possible defenses for the administration's position. "The executive branch may assert that the mere discussion of the N.S.A. program generally could expose certain intelligence sources and methods to disclosure," it says.

nor The Washington Post:

The memo from national security specialist Alfred Cumming is the second report this month from CRS to question the legality of aspects of Bush's domestic spying program. A Jan. 6 report concluded that the administration's justifications for the program conflicted with current law

felt obliged to discuss the campaign contributions of the public servant who wrote the report.

The Washington Times, however, felt compelled to note Cumming's political affiliation & some -- but not all -- of his prior work experience:

... the author of the report, Alfred Cumming, is a registered Democrat who served as staff director for the Senate's Select Committee on Intelligence under since-retired Sen. Bob Graham, Florida Democrat.

Other charter members of the reactionary noise machine (e.g., Cybercast News Service, Town Hall, GOPUSA) did the same.

Can you say RESPONSIBLE JOURNALISM? I knew you could!

If you'd like to complain to Fox about this, email: special@foxnews.com

NOTE TO READERS: Please stay on topic (the reactionary noise machine in general, or this particular "picking"). O/T comments will be deleted. Thanks.

Reported by nancy at January 28, 2006 09:40 AM