CNN, Chicago Tribune uncritically reported Hastert's claim that he Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 18:23:05 -0500

CNN, Chicago Tribune uncritically reported Hastert's claim that he "tried [his] best" to restore "civility"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200711160011

On the November 15 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, congressional correspondent Dana Bash said that former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL), who is resigning, "presided over a politically polarizing era. He said that was his biggest regret." Bash showed a video clip of Hastert stating: "I continue to worry about the breakdown of civility in our political discourse. I tried my best, but I wish I had been more successful." Also, a November 16 Chicago Tribune article headlined "Hastert urges Capitol Hill civility in farewell" reported that Hastert "bemoaned the 'pool of bitterness' he believes exists in the nation's capital and urged his colleagues to try and work together in civility after he is gone."

But neither Bash nor the Tribune noted Hastert's own history of partisan attacks, which includes the following:

I am saddened by the comments made today by Rep. Murtha. It is clear that as Nancy Pelosi's top lieutenant on armed services, Rep. Murtha and Democratic leaders have adopted a policy of cut and run.

[...]

Rep. Murtha and other Democrats want us to retreat. They want us to wave the white flag of surrender to the terrorists of the world. It is unfortunate that this is all politics all the time. We need to have a strong consistent policy that will protect our men and women who are fighting to protect us overseas. We must not cower like European nations who are now fighting terrorists on their soil.

This is the highest insult to the brave men and women serving overseas.

CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux noted Hastert's comment on the November 17, 2005, edition of The Situation Room.

In contrast to the CNN and Tribune reports, in a November 15 post on the Politico's blog The Crypt, staff writer Patrick O'Connor wrote that "the understated former speaker urged his colleagues to restore civility to an institution that has grown rife with partisan squabbling, even though much of that slide occurred during his tenure atop the House."

From the 4 p.m. ET hour of the November 15 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:

BLITZER: Hastert's seat is one of several held by the GOP that will be up for grabs in the coming election. The fact that the party is scrambling to hold on to what it has, that's a fact that has emerged in recent weeks and months.

Our congressional correspondent Dana Bash is joining us now. She's back in Washington. Dana, can we expect Hastert to be gone by the first of the year?

BASH: Apparently so, Wolf. And, you know, Dennis Hastert, he was really a beneficiary of the Republican rise of the 1990s, but today, he's very much a symbol of its fall from grace and continuing struggles.

[begin video clip]

BASH: A rare moment of bipartisanship for a farewell address from the longest-serving Republican speaker of the House.

HASTERT: After 21 years of serving the people of Illinois in this house, the time has come for me to make my last speech from this podium.

BASH: Dennis Hastert was an accidental speaker, thrust into the job in the wake of scandal, and presided over a politically polarizing era. He said that was his biggest regret.

HASTERT: I continue to worry about the breakdown of civility in our political discourse. I tried my best, but I wish I had been more successful.

BASH: Hastert was speaker when Republicans lost the House last year. That he is quitting Congress in the middle of his term is emblematic of his party's continued troubles.

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