Transcript
BOB GARFIELD: And now a few of your letters. A number of you thought I was way too easy on William Pierce, the deputy assistant secretary for public affairs at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Mr. Pierce came on the show to defend a Medicare ad campaign that critics say uses taxpayers' money for ads that benefit the Bush administration politically. Manuel Shonehore writes "I think you really fluffed it. The spokesman for HHS got away with half-truths and what can only be called administration propaganda. Why weren't you more aggressive in pushing the canned answers? Tired? Too cold in New York?" No, Mr. Shonehorn. I live in Washington.
BROOKE GLADSTONE:Bob's conversation with CBS correspondent Bill Plante about the sudden aggression in the White House press corps over the president's National Guard record prompted this from John Costa of New York City: "What to think of the orgy of self-congratulation from the White House press corps at having shown a brief sign of life? It was pathetic." And keeping on the theme of Bob's faults, several people objected to his description of the New York Times's Paul Krugman as "a lefty columnist" in our show's promo. Scott Holmquist thinks Krugman is solidly in the mainstream and writes "You must know that in the media you can find actual self-described leftists who are not fringe nuts but are fairly well known and fairly widely read. Your shows are great. But please, if you want to talk left, how's about us hearing from an actual leftist?"
BOB GARFIELD:Whatever side you're on and it would be fine if, you know, you had a letter to write about Miss Perfect-- [LAUGHTER] we want to hear from you. Write to us at onthemedia@wnyc.org, and even though no one ever does, we ask that you please tell us where you live and how to pronounce your name. [MUSIC TAG]
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Coming up, why car critics are not so critical of SUVs, and a closeup look at high definition. It's not pretty.
BOB GARFIELD: This is On the Media, from NPR.
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