In the last few days, Ron Paul has finally been getting the mainstream attention that his loyal political followers have been begging for. After a pitiful 89 second appearance on CBS at the last Republican Presidential Debate, the fans of Ron Paul swooped to the internet and begged the question “why?” Luckily, Paul kept his eye on the prize and his words began to catch on. People are starting to see Paul for the honest and intelligent challenger that he is. Polls have Ron Paul in a logistical four way tie for first place with Mitt Romney, Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich.
Ron Paul was a guest on CBS “Face The Nation” on November 20th 2011. It seems as though CBS was trying to give Ron Paul a fair chance to share his views. After all, it was CBS who only gave Paul a mere 89 seconds of face time at the last debate. However, as the eight minute segment went on, it seemed like CBS was trying to smear and mash Ron Paul’s message.
One of the first questions that Bob Schieffer, host of “Face The Nation” asked the fine Dr. was about 9/11. Schieffer insinuated in his question that Ron Paul thought Americans were at fault for the awful tragedy. Paul replied that Schieffer was wrong and was mixing his words. Paul went on to explain that Americans had nothing to do with 9/11, but it was the United States policy that is what leads to these kind of conflicts. Paul continued by stating our foreign policy was flawed and having all these bases in different countries is what caused the countries to have hatred for our nation. A completely logical answer, and Ron Paul even backed up his statement by saying it was the same conclusion that the CIA and 9/11 Commission came to. However, after Ron Paul was done with his long intelligent answer, Bob Schieffer concluded “so what you’re saying is Ron Paul, 9/11 was our fault. That it was Americas fault.”
This kind of blatant misconstrued reporting is laughable. Nowhere in Ron Paul’s answer did he say Americans were at fault. He said our foreign policy is not working. And guess what? All the Republicans running for the Presidential Nomination agree that our foreign policy is flawed. What Bob Schieffer tried to do this morning was, despite whatever Ron Paul stated, he wanted to leave the viewers with the last words being “Ron Paul thinks America is at fault for 9/11.”
Ten years ago, reporting like this may have been acceptable. However, the nation has begun to wake up and they can see beyond the reporters who base their arguments on tag lines and fancy spinning. There is a new generation of people who grew up on the internet, and know that for every Bob Schieffer, there is another fair an honest reporter willing to report on the truth.
It’s sad that major television networks have become so politically motivated that you can’t watch without cringing. There is a reason young people get their news from Jon Stewart and the Daily Show. Because despite the views of Jon Stewart, he is fair and simple and calls people out for being a hypocrite. Bob Schieffer and CBS Should be ashamed.