This is the height of the Manhattan social season and Election
Day is approaching, so invitations to fund-raisers, award shows,
and political party functions are flooding in. If I were a
younger woman, I might find attending all these affairs exciting,
but I'm not and I don't.
These days, I especially avoid any soirees or luncheons where I
might come in contact with journalists from liberal broadcasters,
which lately seem to be shilling for our enemies rather than
behaving as legitimate news gatherers. Yet I did accept an
invitation to a luncheon at the Waldorf this Wednesday, because
awards were being given to women of courage who actually deserve
them.
As I gazed around the reception area, I spotted anchors from CNN
and the alphabet networks and quietly thought, "Ugh."
Shame on me for such a mean-spirited reaction, but I just
couldn't help it. I'm usually pretty objective about anyone's
political sentiments, but I scream when journalists inject their
partisan leanings into reporting the news.
CNN recently aired video given to it by the enemy showing the
sniper attacks on our warriors fighting in Iraq. "Worst week
ever," "Heavy casualties for the Marines,"
"Bad news, blah, blah, blah" - so go the headlines from
the Associated Press, Reuters, ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC and of
course, the Soros-supported organizations like MoveOn.org.
Here's a little fact that I'll wait in vain for these news
outlets to report. We were involved in World War II for three
years and seven months. We've been in Iraq for about the same
amount of time and the military deaths may soon approach 3,000.
The military loss total in World War II was 400,000, and there
were millions of civilian deaths. There was no concern back then
about collateral damage on either side.
Our military is incurring heavier losses than it has to because
of the concern for civilian casualties. Meanwhile, it is fighting
a craven enemy that uses civilians for cover. Americans should be
hearing news reported fairly, but the major networks and news
publication are bending over backwards to give the enemy what
they consider a fair shake. I call it aid and comfort, and
there's a little passage in our Constitution that warns about
doing just that.
I pushed these thoughts to the back of my mind and tried to
concentrate on the purpose of the luncheon. The noisy crowd was
brought to attention by Eleanor Clift of Newsweek, a woman who
never fails to raise my blood pressure whenever I happen to catch
her on television. She then introduced the award-winning
journalists and I gladly joined in the applause. Usually,
liberals tend to consider journalists courageous only if they
attack President Bush and Republicans, but these women went up
against genuine evil and were lucky to have escaped with their
lives.
Jill Carroll, the staff writer for the Christian Science Monitor
who was abducted in January and held for 82 days, has received
the most attention in the press (and was the only name I
recognized in the invitation).
May Chidiac is a Lebanese journalist who hosted a television
program, "Nharkom Said" ("Good Day"). After a
show that addressed Syria's involvement in the assassination of
Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a bomb exploded near her car and she
lost her left hand and leg.
Gao Yu is a Chinese economics and political reporter who was
sentenced in 1993 to six years in prison for "leaking state
secrets" through a Hong Kong-based pro-Chinese government
newspaper. Her writing and involvement in the pro-democracy
movement and her high regard for freedom, democracy, and human
rights certainly can set an example for the liberal journalists
whose main interests seem to be ousting Republicans from
Congress.
Elena Poniatowska Amor is a renowned journalist and author from
Mexico. The 74-year-old was bravely dressed in colorful native
dress, but unlike the radical Hispanic groups protesting at
Columbia University and Los Angeles, Ms. Amor has targeted the
real culprit behind the mass illegal immigration to America. She
exposes the corruption and killing by the Mexican government of
its poor citizens. Brava, Brava.
These are tremendous examples of the women of courage in
journalism, and I'm glad I could share in honoring their bravery.
I did note, however, the difference between attending events such
as this and the ones I usually attend, which are held by
conservative and respect-life foundations. Most of the latter
reserve a table for the press and photographers in some area off
to one side but still on the main floor as the rest of
assemblage, and the press is served the same meal.
At the Waldorf event, the reporters were placed in the balcony
overlooking the paid guests and were provided a table with
sandwiches, chips, and soda - rather like extras on a movie set.
Guess who really likes the working class?