John King-nominee for worst person in the world imo. What a tool.
CNN's King asked Cheney several leading questions, inviting him to hammer Obama
In an interview during the March 15 edition of CNN's State of the Union, host and CNN chief national correspondent John King asked former Vice President Dick Cheney several leading questions, most premised on conservative or Republican talking points, that provided Cheney ample opportunities to attack President Obama. For instance, King asked Cheney whether he "believe{s} the president of the United States has made Americans less safe" by reversing several Bush administration's national security policies -- echoing repeated claims by Cheney and former President Bush during their legacy tour that their administration's policies were responsible for "keep{ing} the nation safe." King also echoed dubious talking points by asking Cheney whether Obama's budget proposal is "consistent with what he promised in the campaign" and by claiming that "there is a debate in this town about whether the president is trying to do too much, too fast." One of King's leading questions to Cheney -- "{i}s the president of the United States trying to brazenly deceive the American people?" -- was even based on an article by "the conservative weekly Human Events."
Among the questions King asked Cheney were the following:
* Teasing the portion of the interview in which he would ask Cheney about Obama's national security policies, King stated: "When we come back, President Obama has made some significant changes to the way the United States fights the war on terror. Will those changes put the country in more danger? We'll ask former Vice President Dick Cheney when our exclusive interview continues in just a moment." During the segment, King stated that Obama has "announced he will close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility" and "CIA black sites around the world," and that Obama "will make CIA interrogators abide by the Army Field Manual, defined waterboarding as torture and ban it, suspend trials for terrorists by military commission, and now eliminate the label of 'enemy combatants.' " King then asked Cheney: "I'd like to just simply ask you, yes or no: By taking those steps, do you believe the president of the United States has made Americans less safe?" On-screen text read during this portion of the interview read: "CHENEY ON TERROR THREAT: Obama's programs making Americans less safe."
As Media Matters for America has documented, Bush and Cheney have repeatedly asserted in recent months that, in Cheney's words, "we've managed to keep the nation safe from further terrorist attacks for the last seven and a half years." However, an April 2008 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that "{t}he United States has not met its national security goals to destroy terrorist threats and close the safe haven in Pakistan's FATA
." And investigative journalist Ron Suskind has reported that many CIA analysts believe Al Qaeda leaders have declined to attack the United States again for strategic reasons, not due to the Bush administration's counterterrorism policies. Further, the degree to which several terrorist attacks the Bush administration supposedly thwarted were credible threats has been disputed.
* Earlier in the CNN interview, King said to Cheney: "You learn a lot about an administration, especially a new administration, when it puts forward its first budget. ... When you look at that budget -- $3.6 trillion, redirecting the government's resources in health care, in energy, in the environment; also, a pretty large $1.75 billion {sic: trillion} deficit the first year out -- do you think that is consistent with what he promised in the campaign, or do you think he's overreaching his mandate?"
As Media Matters has noted, many media conservatives have recently embraced and promoted the accusation that President Obama has "lied" or broken promises. In many cases, these accusations are based on distortions of comments he has made or misrepresentations of campaign pledges. For instance, many media figures have advanced the false claim that Obama promised during his campaign to stop earmark spending and broke that promise by signing the omnibus appropriations bill, when, in fact, Obama promised to reform the earmark process and cut wasteful spending, not eliminate earmarks altogether.
* King also said to Cheney: "As you know, there is a debate in this town about whether the president is trying to do too much, too fast." King then asked Cheney: "I know you don't like a lot what he is trying to do, but if young Richard Cheney was in the chief of staff's office down the hall from President Obama, not Rahm Emanuel, would you be saying, Mr. President, you're trying to do too much, too fast? Or given that he wants to do so many things and at the moment he is quite popular, would you say, you know what, it's a little risky, but let's go?"
King's comments echoed other media that have highlighted claims Obama's "plate" is too "full," suggested he has "bit off more than he can chew," or otherwise given credence to the accusation that the president has loaded his agenda with unrelated items when he should be focusing on the economy. Many media figures, like King, have reinforced the idea without challenge. However, Obama and his aides have asserted that Obama's initiatives on health care, energy, and education reform are inextricably linked to the economy and have made the case that reforming health care, education, and energy will have economic benefits.
more...
http://mediamatters.org/items/200903150009?f=h_top
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