John Dickerson is the political director at CBS News. Its an important and prestigious position because the political directors observations on the air and in internal conversations with correspondents and producers influence how political events, like presidential elections, are covered. The political director at a mainstream news organization like CBS News has to be impartial, fair and objective.
But John Dickerson has another job. This one is at the liberal on-line magazine Slate, where his title chief political correspondent. In that role, he can write columns and offer opinions, which in the news business often masquerade as analysis. Whatever you call it, its not down the middle, just the facts maam reporting.
The other day Dickerson wrote a piece for Slate under the catchy headline, Go for the Throat! The sub-headline was more explicit. It read: Why if he wants to transform American politics, Obama must declare war on the Republican Party.
Heres part of what Dickerson wrote:
Enhancing the presidents legacy requires something more than simply the clever application of predictable stratagems. Washingtons partisan rancor, the size of the problems facing government, and the limited amount of time before Obama is a lame duck all point to a single conclusion: The president who came into office speaking in lofty terms about bipartisanship and cooperation can only cement his legacy if he destroys the GOP. If he wants to transform American politics, he must go for the throat.
Obamas only remaining option is to pulverize, he continued. Whether he succeeds in passing legislation or not, given his ambitions, his goal should be to delegitimize his opponents. Through a series of clarifying fights over controversial issues, he can force Republicans to either side with their coalitions most extreme elements or cause a rift in the party that will leave it, at least temporarily, in disarray.
Lets review: John Dickerson is advising President Obama to destroy the GOP, to go for the throat, to pulverize Republicans, to delegitimize them, and to leave them in disarray.
And his day job is political director of CBS News.
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Yet some would have you believe the mainstream media such as CBS is unbiased and FOX isn't a real news source because they are biased.