CBS News: idiotic story about Kerry and gay marriage

[dogpatch]

CBS just led off on a big story about the gay marriage ruling in Massachusetts, and how this plus his vote against the Defense of Marriage Act will tar Kerry as some sort of pro-gay radical.

Dan Rather is intoning, even though Kerry had nothing to do with the ruling, how this will become the big flaming issue of the campaign.

I work as a tv producer myself and I know it's important to look for tension, controversy etc. when putting together a story but this is just beyond the pale.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. Good.

Because Kerry is NOT framing it as gay marriage or civil unions. He is framing it as civil rights which is the intelligent approach and something that speaks to the gun owner, the property owner and the protestor.. He will never be the favorite child of the 700 Club anyway.

[BootinUp]

2. Sometimes I hate being right n/t

[tishaLA]

3. Kerry speaks very well about his opposition to DoMA

so I don't know what the deal is. He says he wouldn't allow gay bashing on the floor of the United States Senate. It's the proper stand and--as much as I like to criticize Kerry sometimes for being a politician--it was an honorable vote he has refused to walk away from or try to explain with some sort of nuanced response.

[sandnsea]

7. Now we have an actual ruling

I don't think he ever expected a court to rule that gays had to have marriage, that the legal protections in a civil union weren't adequate. So now it becomes about marriage and constitutional amendments, not equal rights. A big fat mess.

[tishaLA]

8. It's not a mess

Kerry has the right position on this: he can say (quite correctly) that one can both disaprove of gay marriage personally AND abhor creating federal legislation that restricts individual rights. It is like the abortion issue...and that isn't hard to defend, is it?

[anti-NAFTA]

4. Don't blame Rather.

He's only reporting the news, and to deny that Bush is going to use the court ruling to his advantage is silly.

This means that the arguments against Dean's being from Vermont also apply to Kerry's state.

[unblock]

9. no he's not "only reporting the news"

yes he's relaying that kerry voted against the promotion of homosexual promiscuity act, and also that a court case in ma now permits gay marriages.

but to put the two items in the same story, to connect those particular dots, and to opine that this will become a major issue dogging kerry's campaign, all this is NOT reporting. it's editorializing, at best, and propagandizing, at worst.


as for blame, maybe it's not rather, maybe it's his producers/bosses/reporters/assistants, whatever. does the precise allocation of blame really matter?

[anti-NAFTA]

10. oh.

You might be right.

[bunk76]

5. I caught that...

(6:300 eastern time) and thought it very odd for the lead also,even
though I find all the news coverage a bit strange.I always heard "if it bleeds it leads",and now if it bleeds it is the fourth or fifth story.I have a question a bit off the subject seeing that you are in television.I have watched Denise Miller's monologue and I am curious
about something.I hear laughter off camera,is it customary for the producer,director,cameraman or cue card person to laugh at what I feel are jokes that are not at all funny,just curious?

[hedda_foil]

6. You're right

And it was inevitable unfortunately, though I'm surprised, frankly, that Rather is starting this ball rolling.