On July 2, 2004, Los Angeles Times Editorial and Opinion Editor Michael Kinsley authored a dour commentary on the country's economic deficit and reserved an ugly slam on President Bush for his closing paragraph. Kinsley's "Bush's Secret Deficit-Reduction Plan," (p. B13) included,

"Bush has put Greenspan in a terrible bind ... There's a drunk at the wheel, and all Greenspan's got is the brake." (emphasis added)

        In addition, Kinsley's piece was the journalistic equivalent of telling the story of Titanic and leaving out the part about the iceberg. In his gloomy assessment of the debt, Kinsley failed to mention any of its notable contributing factors, including the corporate scandals, the events of September 11, or the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

        Meanwhile, in another part of this very same edition, readers of the Times Business section viewed a much different account of the country's economy than Kinsley's version.

        "Record Cargo Clogs Local Ports" blared across the top of p. C1.

        The article cited:

... "record levels of trade,"

... a 14% increase in traffic at the Long Beach, CA port in the first 5 months of 2004,

... port managers who hope to hire 1,500 workers to meet demand,

... "massive hiring campaigns" at railroad companies, including,

... Union Pacific adding 4,200 employees, and

... Burlington Northern Santa Fe adding 1,700 conductors and more than 500 locomotives.

        The budget deficit and trade are separate issues, but Kinsley doesn't appear to mind letting the facts get in the way when taking a cheap shot at the President.

       

TheMediaReport says ... "Just the facts, Mike."