CBS News republishes this vile New Republic article which calls Ahmadinejad "Iran's George Bush."
The comparison is shallow and designed for outrage (which it's getting plenty of), and provides yet another example of why we can no longer take the MSM seriously when it comes to actual news. As Gateway Pundit points out,
Of course, CBS forgot the part about Bush liberating over 50,000,000 Muslims from two of the most violent regimes in history and bringing democracy to the Middle East.
For some reason, that did not make it in their story.
The story makes superficial comparisons between a ruthless, autocratic regime which supresses basic freedoms with the most free nation on earth. To wit:
-- The economy in Iran is poor.
--Rural voters tend to support Ahmadinejad.
-- ???
That's it. The article tries to imply that George W. Bush "clamped down on political dissent and social freedoms, militarized the state, and earned the enmity of much of the world" as Ahmadinejad has, but there's no evidence to support this hyperbole. There was no squashing of political dissent during the Bush administration; indeed, liberal sites such as Daily KOS and Media Matters flourished during the eight years of "Bush tyranny."
Similarly, there was no "militarization" of the state, certainly not in the sense Iran has done. America has fought two wars with a minimum of casualties. It uses a volunteer army. The U.S. has not threatened its neighbors or called for the annihilation of any country on earth, which is a far cry from Iran.
As for earning the "emnity of the world," this rhetoric does not hold water, either. Being disdained by Hugo Chavez isn't an insult, after all. And George Bush certainly succeeded in making Europe, for example, a much more conservative place than Democrats would like to admit (as recent elections have shown).
I expect the New Republic to be hysterical; it's their style. But CBS News is supposed to be a serious news organization. Running nonsense like this makes them look worse than biased. They look pathetic.
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