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Wladyslaw Pleszczynski and William McGurn

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The Press' Double Standard on Abortion

By William McGurn
Posted Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2001, at 2:03 PM ET

Dear Wlad,

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Back to the dynasty question. I'm not sure it's a matter of Republicans vs. Democrats. I think it may be the WASP thing. "Camelot" just has a better ring to it than "Kennebunkport," which sounds like a bad miniseries.

In any case, was delighted to get on the train this a.m. and read about Bush coming out strong for the $1.6 trillion tax cut. First Greenspan and now the Congressional Budget Office: W.'s stars really are in alignment. I loved his comments as he was swearing in Paul O'Neill as secretary of the treasury. "Because our government has a surplus does not mean that every American family has a surplus. In fact, many families are feeling squeezed by high energy prices and credit-card debt. We need to give them their own money back."

It's a good thing more people aren't aware of your double life as nation's lead apologist for Bobby Knight. Sure, he gets a bum deal from the media, but he's still a boor. Want a real coach? Read the tributes to Marquette's late departed Al McGuire at his funeral, delivered by Sen. Kohl. Not only was McGuire a heck of a coach, he was a fabulous announcer.

There's not enough room here to discuss the astounding double standard that characterizes press treatment of abortion. I suppose my moral position on the sanctity of life puts me in the "extreme" with John Ashcroft. But my constitutional position is that this is a state's issue. This is exactly the reason we have states. To me the analogy is Lincoln and slavery: Lincoln's promise not to touch slavery where it existed actually allowed him to talk of slavery as a real evil. Were the GOP to adopt a state-based approach, we'd have a real debate on real issues--parental consent, partial-birth and third-trimester abortions.

Anyway, thank God for Fox News. Brit Hume really scored the hypocrisy this Sunday during a roundtable on W.'s abortion order. When the order was attacked by Juan Williams ("divisive") and Mara Liasson (appeasement of the "right-wing base"), Brit pounced:

Your observation reflects perfectly the play given to what Bush did. What Bush did was to restore an order which had been present for the previous 12 years before Bill Clinton came along. That was the policy. He has now restored it. When Bill Clinton undid it eight years to the day beforehand it was played as, "Clinton keeps campaign promise." All three major network news programs started it that way. Now comes George W. Bush, who goes back to the old policy, and it's "keeps promise to right wing."

For a fuller examination of the different treatments accorded the Clinton and Bush executive orders, check out the Media Research Center's report.

Cheers,
Bill