In a column titled “Mainstream media still treating Bush with kid gloves,” a Democrat hack named Ed Garvey (who apparently lost an election to Tommy Thompson) demonstrates that he is totally looneytunes.

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if Fox News, CNBC, CBS and others were to make the same apology for the what can only be described as “journalistic fraud” as they slant the news to favor President Bush and his factually unsupportable justification of the invasion of another country?

Substitute Bill Clinton for Bush over the past six months and you will see my point. What would TV talking heads be saying today? William Kristol, Sean Hannity and the others would be demanding Clinton’s impeachment. They would be screaming that there were no weapons of mass destruction and Clinton knew it. He lied to the U.N., to the American people, and he deliberately and unnecessarily placed American troops in harm’s way.

Well, with Bill Clinton, it would all sound pretty plausible, seeing how much else he lied about, and given the fecklessness of his military policy. But of course, this is a true fantasy, because Mr. Clinton would not have invaded Iraq. The thought of him standing up (as opposed to sucking up) to the UN, and France, simply beggars my imagination.

And if that was insufficient to start an impeachment proceeding, they would be screaming that he did all of this without a congressional declaration of war.

Ummm…he had congressional approval. Did you miss the vote last fall? The one that you folks demanded last summer?

This would be “Wag the Dog” all over again. A war to divert attention from a flagging economy. And, to top it off, Clinton did not secure the Iraqi nuclear sites to prevent looting, did not protect the national museum, did not capture Saddam or his sons. He led people to believe that the invasion of Iraq was about Sept. 11, not oil.

Sure, there would probably be some partisan Republicans who’d do that. But Fox and the other “right-wing” news outlets you’re complaining about are letting hordes of Democrats do it now, as is the Capital Times, with your insane rant.

What’s your point?

They would save the best until last. Do you remember the famous haircut on Air Force One? Clinton supposedly had his hair cut while planes were diverted around Los Angeles International Airport. It didn’t happen, but Clinton was condemned on right-wing talk shows throughout America for this alleged waste of funds.

Imagine if Bill Clinton had slowed down an aircraft carrier and had landed on the deck in a jet for photo ops for his campaign. Oh, my goodness! The folks at Fox would be in cardiac arrest. Rush would froth at the mouth.

“Slowed down an aircraft carrier”? My understanding is that carriers generally go at full steam in order to allow aircraft to land on them–it reduces the relative velocity and makes for a safer landing…

Mr. Bush may get some nice campaign footage out of it, but the purpose was to make a nationwide speech and boost morale of the troops, the latter being something that Mr. Clinton tended to achieve in reverse.

And actually, Mr. Clinton did delay air traffic at LAX for a haircut, to the best of my knowledge. I’ve never seen a persuasive debunking of the story. And no one was complaining about a “waste of funds.” The complaint was that he was so inconsiderate as to delay hundreds of passengers’ departures for his personal vanity.

My recollection was that unlike the troops who were cheering for the President on the carrier, the passengers waiting on the tarmac were fuming. Other than that, the two incidents are exactly the same, of course.

When the right-wing forces control the media, what chance is there for the truth to raise its head? And the concentration is only getting worse. Those who control the electronic media can keep the Dixie Chicks off the air, praise Bush for bush league antics, and yet find time to take swipes at the Democrats.

Amazing. I don’t have time to do the whole thing, but there’s plenty more for folks to chew on.