Gotcha Questions for Katie Couric
By: Dennis Prager
FrontPageMagazine.com | Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Just as
Charlie Gibson did in his interview with Sarah Palin, Katie Couric set out to
humiliate the Republican vice-presidential candidate with a series of
"gotcha" questions.
This tactic -- rarely employed with major
liberal candidates -- could be used equally effectively against Couric, or most
any other liberal member of the television news media. It would be highly
instructive to have Couric asked questions in the same way in which she (and
Gibson) asked questions of Palin.
For example:
Q: Critics of the war in Iraq argue that
prior to the invasion of Iraq, America had never attacked a country that had no
plans to attack it. How then do you explain the Korean War?
On my radio show, I have asked this
question of some of the most celebrated names among liberal intellectuals, and
they had little or nothing to say. One major editor simply admitted that he had
little familiarity with that war. That is too bad because America invaded a
country that had absolutely no intention, let alone ability, to attack the
United States. The United States attacked Korea -- and sacrificed over 30,000
American lives -- solely in order to prevent Korea from becoming a totalitarian
Communist state. We succeeded in the southern half, and over 50 years later,
North Korea remains essentially a gigantic concentration camp.
Q: Many Americans believe that the most
important way of understanding the effects of taxation on government revenues
is the Laffer Curve. What is your opinion about this?
The Laffer Curve, which, unlike the
"Bush Doctrine," is objectively definable, is perhaps the most
important economic argument against tax increases -- because at a given point
of increased taxation, the government will actually receive less tax revenue,
not more. It would be quite surprising if many TV news people, including
anchors, could define this economic theory, let alone intelligently discuss it.
Q: Is there any point in a woman's
pregnancy at which you would call an abortion immoral?
Couric spent some time trying to show how
immoral Palin's anti-abortion position is, since it even extends to cases of
rape or incest. That was not necessarily unfair questioning. Even some who
believe that human life begins at conception are prepared to allow abortions in
the case of rape or incest. But it would be highly educational for Americans to
see the tables reversed on pro-choice people: Are there any circumstances when
a pro-choice person is prepared to make a moral judgment on killing a human
fetus? How about during the third trimester (presuming, of course, that the
pregnancy poses no threat to the life or health of the mother)? Or when an abortion
is performed solely for convenience (for example, a married woman who was
planning to start a new business or to take a long-planned trip abroad -- and
the pregnancy therefore came at an inconvenient time)?
Some more possible questions:
Q: Members of the news media believe,
correctly, that individuals running for political office, because of their
potentially great impact on American life, should subject themselves to
interview after interview about their views, values, personal life and knowledge
base by often hostile members of the news media. But, the most powerful members
of the news media, people who have more impact on American life than almost any
politician in America, do not allow themselves to be interviewed about their
views, values, personal life and knowledge of the issues. Why not?
Q: Which of the Federalist Papers do you
think is most important? Why?
Q: In a question to Palin, you said that
"women make 77 cents for every dollar a man makes." If that is so,
why don't employers only hire women whenever possible? What employer wouldn't
want to save 23 percent for the same work? Is it possible that many women
choose more flexible hours, want jobs with less travel and may choose less
demanding work given their desire to be home more?
Q: On one of your CBS newscasts this year,
you said: "A new study on teens and sexual harassment should give every
parent pause. … In a study that appeared in the journal Child Development, 90
percent of teen girls say they've been harassed at least once." Did you
read that report? If not, how do you justify reporting it on a national
newscast in order to alarm "every parent"? The report defines sexism
and sexual harassment as including "sexist comments about their academic
abilities, sexist comments about their athletic abilities … demeaning
gender-related comments, teasing based on their appearance, and unwanted
physical contact." In other words, if a boy says to a girl, "You
throw a ball like a girl!" that is deemed an instance of sexual harassment.
Isn't that somewhat hysterical?
Q: What did you think of any articles in
the most recent issues of Commentary, The Weekly Standard, National Review or
any other conservative journal? Or do you only read liberal writing?
While every conservative pundit, commentator
and talk show host I know of is regularly exposed to liberal thought, the
opposite is not the case. It would be fascinating to learn how much Couric
knows about how half the country thinks.
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