Tom Brokaw, NBC News, Jan. 22, 2001, reporting on the first working day of Bush's presidency: "We'll begin with the new president's very active day, which started on a controversial (emphasis added) note."
Peter Jennings, ABC News, Jan. 22, 1993, reporting on the first working day of Clinton's presidency: "President Clinton keeps his word (emphasis added) on abortion rights. President Clinton kept a promise today on the 20th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Mr. Clinton signed presidential memoranda rolling back many of the restrictions imposed by his predecessors."
Peter Jennings, ABC News, Jan. 22, 2001, reporting on the first working day of Bush's presidency: "One of the president's first actions was designed to appeal to anti-abortion conservatives (emphasis added). The president signed an order reinstating a Reagan-era policy that prohibited federal funding of family-planning groups that provided abortion-counseling services overseas."
And how about this for sheer gall?
The New York Times, Dec. 30, 2001, editorialized on Rudy Giuliani's waning reign as mayor of New York City: "It would be easy to go on about the things Mr. Giuliani failed to do -- New York City has so many problems and crises and needs that all mayors leave office with far more losses than wins. The most its residents can expect of a mayor is that he -- or someday she -- accomplish one big thing. When measured in that way, Mr. Giuliani more than did the job. He restored New Yorkers' confidence in their ability to control the city's destiny. The long years he spent fighting crime and disorder became the platform from which he showed us how to fight terrorism and Osama bin Laden."
The New York Times, Jan. 25, 2008, re-editorialized the tenure as mayor of the then-presidential candidate: "The real Mr. Giuliani, whom many New Yorkers came to know and mistrust, is a narrow, obsessively secretive, vindictive man who saw no need to limit police power. Racial polarization was as much a legacy of his tenure as the rebirth of Times Square. Mr. Giuliani's arrogance and bad judgment are breathtaking. When he claims fiscal prudence, we remember how he ran through surpluses without a thought to the inevitable downturn and bequeathed huge deficits to his successor. He fired Police Commissioner William Bratton, the architect of the drop in crime, because he couldn't share the limelight. He later gave the job to Bernard Kerik, who has now been indicted on fraud and corruption charges."
Any questions?