Mr. Taylor's below article is what news agencies everywhere should guard against, an editorial masquerading as news. First of all, the term 'Liberal' is subjective and depends a lot on perspective and geography. If you ask fifty people what it means to be a Liberal, I guarantee you get at least thirty different answers. If you ask a member of the website Free Republic, they will tell you that anyone to the left of Ronald Reagan is a Liberal, including Republican Senator John McCain. If you ask a member of the Green Party, they will tell you that anyone to the right of Dennis Kucinich is NOT a Liberal and that pretty much excludes everyone on Mr. Taylor's list and 75% of the Democratic Party. Second, the entire premise is insulting to readers of all stripes. Is there anyone in the American population or electorate who has even a mild interest in politics who would not instinctively know that if the House changes hands to the Democrats that those who will lead it are more 'Liberal' than the Republicans running it now? Third, thanks to Ronald Reagan and his ilk, the term has been redefined in the minds of many as a pejorative. I find it difficult to believe that Mr. Taylor does not know this and did not intentionally craft the article around this word as a veiled attack on the congress people discussed therein. The author mentioned the word no less than nine times in his article. Fourth, Mr. Taylor went out of his way to repeat unsubstantiated allegations against Congressman Conyers, who already has served previously as chair of the judiciary committee without ushering in Armageddon, and of course had to bring up the impeachment of Judge Hastings. Although how either of those issues fit into his main premise I have no idea. A better practice would have been to stick to highlighting a few House leaders and describe particular different stances that their replacements would have. Mr. Taylor seemed to start to do this several times but was either too lazy to do a thorough job of it, or too distracted by his seeming anti-Democratic agenda.
The Associated Press needs to take some sort of action. I hate to see anyone lose their jobs but at the very least a counseling session is in order. The two major news agencies in the world are the Associated Press, and Reuters. The lack of real competition means that we are at the mercy of these organizations sticking to their principles and keeping their writers in line with their missions as AP's is stated above. I have no problem with Mr. Taylor joining me and countless others on the editorial side of the house. But if he is going to write news, then do it properly.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060603/ap_on_go_co/democratic_chairmen
Sat Jun 3, 12:46 PM ET
WASHINGTON - If the chips fall right for Democrats and their party seizes control of the House, President Bush's agenda on Capitol Hill would fall into the hands of some of his most dogged opponents.
It's not just would-be Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California,
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So who are the chairmen to be?
_a Polish-American lawyer with a reputation for making witnesses quiver.
_a die-hard liberal from New York's Harlem with 35 years in the House.
_a free-spending progressive from Wausau, Wis.
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As for those prospective Democratic chairmen, the group is overwhelmingly liberal-leaning.
Only two of 20 earned grades of less than 90 percent on last year's voting records from the liberal Americans for Democratic Action interest group.
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The liberal with the distinct New York accent is Rep. Charles Rangel (news, bio, voting record), poised to grab the helm of the Ways and Means Committee
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Rep. David Obey (news, bio, voting record), the unapologetic liberal from Wisconsin, is eager to retake the gavel of the powerful Appropriations Committee,
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Rep. George Miller (news, bio, voting record) of California ...is an unalloyed liberal, but he proved able to work with Bush in writing the 2002 No Child Left Behind education bill ...For Republicans, the prospect of the House being led by a San Franciscan and so many left-leaning chairmen
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The prospect of some of Congress' biggest liberals running committees
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In a potential power switch between the parties, more than an unrelenting string of liberal Democrats are positioned to take over committees.
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Conyers has been accused by former aides of misusing his office by turning them into baby sitters for his children.
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Hastings, a charismatic former federal judge, was impeached and removed from the bench in 1989 for fabricating evidence that secured his acquittal in 1983 on bribery charges.
