Will the introduction of Articles of Impeachment against the President of the United States be reported in the "liberal" press?

Submitted by FTCSBOD1 on Mon, 06/09/2008 - 20:48.

Will the introduction of Articles of Impeachment against the President of the United States make news?

Late on June 9, 2008 the Honorable Dennis Kucinich introduced 35 Articles of Impeachment against George W. Bush. for alleged high crimes and misdemeanors associated with the 9/11/2001 attacks, numerous violations of the United States Constitution and US and international law.

Given the media circus surrounding every rumor and innuendo associated with William Jefferson Clinton’s sexcapades and his ultimate impeachment (though not conviction) over extramarital sex, one would expect the introduction of Articles of Impeachment against a President of the United States to make BIG news.

Let us find out about the news coverage the "liberal" media provides by following (as best we can) the stories related to the event over time.

Assessment: (please see collected links below) although limited in scope and distribution, the news coverage of the introduction of Articles of Impeachment against President Bush appear much more timely and thorough than the coverage of the the introduction of Articles of Impeachment introduced against Vice President Richard Cheney in 2007. Notable exceptions include MSNBC which links to one year old stories about the Articles of Impeachment introduced against Vice President Richard Cheney only, and the New York Times, which published only two tiny stories about the introduction of Articles of Impeachment.

ABC and NPR appeared to present the most information about this historic event during the final search on June 18 (June 10 returns at ABC were non-existent while CBS had the most stories about the Articles).

Unlike the media firestorms associated with even the most minor rumor or innuendo about President Clinton's impeachment, today's press appears much less likely to sensationalize (or even list the Articles) than the 1998 press did. However, this assessment cannot be verified with Internet sources and stems primarily from the writer's memory of what seemed like endless media “feeding frenzies” during the coverage of President Clinton's Impeachment for allegedly lying under oath in a lawsuit - although some stories are still available online to the researcher with a great deal of time or access to a paid online database.

One would think that a “liberal” (and perhaps even a conservative one) press would thoroughly cover the introduction of Articles of Impeachment related to aspects of the 9/11/2001 attacks and violations of the Voting Rights Act and the Posse Comitatus Act.

June 18, 2008

Search for “impeachment:”

ABC

http://abcnews.go.com/search?searchtext=impeachment&type=

59 total, 10 returns on first page – items 3, 4, 6, 8 and 9

Six returns associated with the introduction of Articles of Impeachment against President Bush

CBS

http://search.cbsnews.com/?source=cbs&q=impeachment

285 total, 10 returns on first page – items 1, 2, 4, and 5 refer to the Articles of Impeachment against President Bush

Four returns associated with the Articles of Impeachment against President Bush

FOX

http://search2.foxnews.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&client=my_frontend&proxystylesheet=my_frontend&output=xml_no_dtd&site=story&getfields=*&filter=0&sort=date%3AD%3AS%3Ad1&entsp=0&q=impeachment

582 total, 10 returns on first page – items 1, 2, 4, and 5 refer to the Articles of Impeachment against President Bush

Four returns associated with the Articles of Impeachment against President Bush

NBC

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/

Returns video clips only – six total, first four associated with the introduction of Articles of Impeachment against President Bush

Four returns associated with the Articles of Impeachment against President Bush

Interestingly, in one clip about the reading of the Articles of Impeachment into the Record of the House of Representatives, one article was read in the clip, Article XI (Establishing Permanent Military Bases in Iraq), arguably the most benign Article of Impeachment when compared to those associated with the September 11, 2001 attacks and the violations of Acts of Congress such as the Posse Comitatus Act (Article XXIII) and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Article XXIX).

MSNBC

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/?q=impeachment&submit=Search&id=11881780&FORM=AE&os=0&gs=1&p=1&adunitid=939&propertyid=3501

7420 total, 10 returns on first page –

NO news items returned in the search associated with the introduction of Articles of Impeachment against President Bush – although many are links related to the Articles of Impeachment introduced in the US House of Representatives in 2007 against Vice President Richard Cheney. It appears that impeachment news takes about ONE YEAR to appear on MSNBC!

NEW YORK TIMES

http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?d=nytdsection%2b&o=e%2b&v=U.S.%2b&c=a%2b&query=impeachment&date_select=full

Two stories only: one 59 words, the second 116 words.

NPR

http://www.npr.org/search.php?text=impeachment

2087 total, 19 on first page, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9

Seven returns associated with the Articles of Impeachment against President Bush

USA Today

http://search.usatoday.com/search/search.aspx?qt=news%2Cyss%2Cweb%2Crel%2Cimg%2Ctop10%2Ckmatch&nr=5&s=sb&kw=impeachment

Under “Latest News” 4 returns, 1 and 2 dated June 11 and June 10 respectively

Two returns associated with the Articles of Impeachment against President Bush

End June 18 search returns.

June 10 2008 1900 MST

Top Story: the introduction of a 35 count Articles of Impeachment in the House of Representatives on the opening pages of the following websites:

None...

Obvious link to the introduction of a 35 count Articles of Impeachment in the House of Representatives on the opening pages of the following websites (Ctrl-F Find on "impeachment):

CBS News

http://www.cbsnews.com/ Under "Most Viewed" on top right of page! No need to search – however, still should be the TOP story.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/09/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4167427.shtml?source=mostpop_story

Search to find the introduction of a 35 count Articles of Impeachment in the House of Representatives on the following websites:

USA Today – includes a non-scientific poll reporting 71% in favor 26% opposed and 4% unsure at 1858 MST 061008

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/06/democrat-files.html?loc=int...

No mention of the introduction of a 35 count Articles of Impeachment in the House of Representatives on the opening pages of the following websites (Ctrl-F Find on "impeachment):

ABC

http://abcnews.go.com/?lid=ABCCOMGlobalMenu&lpos=News

CNBC

http://www.cnbc.com/ News page http://www.cnbc.com/id/15837362

MSNBC

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

NPR

http://www.npr.org/

USATODAY

http://usatoday.com/

June 9 2008 2343 EST

Google Search DURING THE INTRODUCTION OF ARTICLES: Kucinich impeachment