I can appreciate that the Newsweek-Qur’an story is a much bigger deal to the right than, say, a misguided foreign policy that has cost thousands of lives and inflamed the Middle East, but GOP efforts to punish the magazine are surprisingly ridiculous.
Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) is planning to introduce a resolution in the House on Wednesday condemning Newsweek for “irresponsible and inaccurate journalism,” according to the Texas Republican’s office.
The Neugebauer resolution, which was still a work in progress Tuesday night, will note that a free and independent press is vital for the success of any democracy while at the same time cautioning U.S. media outlets that their now global reach requires greater accuracy and responsibility than has been demonstrated up until now.
It really does seem like some kind of parody, doesn’t it?
When the White House relies on bogus intelligence to launch a deadly and costly war under false pretenses, House Republicans don’t even want to hold hearings, worse yet express the displeasure of the chamber. But Newsweek sort of gets a story wrong — just how wrong is still unclear — and now Republicans are worried about “greater accuracy and responsibility”? Not from the Bush administration, which got everything about Iraq wrong, but from a magazine?
Here’s a thought: House Dems should tell Neugebauer that they’ll gladly vote for his resolution demanding more accuracy and responsibility from the media, just as long as he inserts similar language demanding identical standards for the White House. Considering the Republicans’ new-found respect for accountability, that shouldn’t be a problem, right?