Washington Post Ombudsman Falsely Claims That ‘Ari Fleischer Hasn’t Been Seen Much’ Since 2003
Washington Post Ombudsman Falsely Claims That ‘Ari Fleischer Hasn’t Been Seen Much’ Since 2003
On Sunday, Washington Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander wrote a column examining former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer’s complaint about how Post columnist Dana Milbank characterized his post-9/11 comment that Americans need to “watch what they say.” Fleischer said it was mischaracterized and demanded a correction.
At the beginning of his column, Alexander claimed that Fleischer has pretty much stayed out of “the public spotlight” since leaving the Bush administration in 2003:
Ari Fleischer hasn’t been seen much since he stepped down as White House press secretary in 2003 and moved out of the public spotlight. So it was a surprise when he e-mailed recently asking The Post to “correct the record” on a comment he made nearly eight years ago.
Fleischer, now a sports media consultant in New York, said that Post columnist Dana Milbank was guilty of repeating an “old canard” that has become an “urban myth.”
Alexander’s claim is not supported by Fleischer’s record of continuous media appearances. A Nexis search of CNN, Fox News and MSNBC transcripts shows that Fleischer has made at least six cable news appearances in the past three months. In the past month alone, Fleischer has been quoted on the record twice by Washington Post reporters.
Additionally, Fleischer is part of the “loose confederation” of former Bush aides that are defending the former president’s record in TV appearances and conversations with reporters. Describing the role of the Bush defenders, Fleischer told Politico, “We’re invited to comment on the events of the day and along the way, we remind people that there was, indeed, good news under President Bush.”
As part of his supposed effort to stay out of “the public spotlight” since leaving the White House in 2003, Fleischer also released a memoir about his White House days in 2005.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
… he e-mailed recently asking The Post to “correct the record” on a comment he made nearly eight years ago.
“Here I am! Over here! Look at me! Listen closely!”
- Ari, on his return to ‘publicity’…
sumpin’s up.
May 26th, 2009 at 4:52 pmFull court press to avoid going to court….
May 26th, 2009 at 4:53 pmSure, and grass is red!
May 26th, 2009 at 4:53 pmDid anyone look in Cheney’s bunker? Who knows who is hiding in that creepy crawl space. Word around the neocon campfire is that they’re getting the PNAC “band back together” just like the Blues Bros. only without the jokes, music, and relevance.
May 26th, 2009 at 4:54 pmWishful thinking on the WP’s part.
May 26th, 2009 at 4:55 pmAri Fleischer hasn’t been seen much since he stepped down as White House press secretary in 2003 and moved out of the public spotlight.
I beg to differ…..Fleischer was famously slit open and gutted on Hardball by both Chris Matthews and, I believe, Lawrence O’Donnell. The subject was the taking of the nation to war with Iraq on lies, and he lied and flailed about like a drowning man in his attempt to support the “WMDs were there” issue. And to his “sudden” return to the airwaves? He must have a book to sell.
May 26th, 2009 at 4:57 pmThere are only two reasons a former Bush hack is out on the airwaves:
1) They have a book to peddle, or
May 26th, 2009 at 5:03 pm2) They are working the possible jury pool who will decide if they go to jail for war crimes or not.
OilyPunk
You stupid worthless sewer rat. You punkass troll. Just STFU
May 26th, 2009 at 5:07 pmWhat is it with the media being butt buddies with the Bushies? The wingnuts have lost the last two elections, they are irrelevant and the media is still sucking up to the scumbags like they are still in charge. Let me remind you wingnuts, you do not matter, you are losers, you are on the bench you insignificant wingnuts.
May 26th, 2009 at 5:21 pmWhy doesn’t someone give all the dregs of the BushCheney admin little plastic bags and tell ‘em to go pick up dogshit? There really is something they could learn from Lil George, and it’s about time they do something worthwhile.
PEACE
May 26th, 2009 at 5:23 pmLooks like the newsmen don’t read their own newspapers.
As pointed out here, Ari Fleischer has not been out of the news at all.
When reporters demonstrate just how poorly informed they are, is it no wonder that the public suffers for lack of knowledge on so many issues?
May 26th, 2009 at 5:26 pmMr Alexander,
Do try to keep up.
May 26th, 2009 at 5:34 pmHow can you forget Freedom’s Watch, the conservative answer to MoveOn.org? That was Ari’s baby.
May 26th, 2009 at 5:47 pmIndeed. For a while, when Ari first left the White House, I thought he might be relieved to be away from the lying hell-hole. Instead, he came back to defend, publicly, the neo-cons and their criminal activities- what a jerk.
May 26th, 2009 at 9:55 pmwho the hell cares what that shill is doing?
May 27th, 2009 at 4:04 amWho’s kidding who? Ari Fleischer hasn’t been seen much because he’s ashamed to show his face in public.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:20 amMr Alexander, Do try to keep up.web tasarımı l Tabldot Yemek l yüz estetiği l burun estetiği
May 27th, 2009 at 5:22 amThe less we see of Ari, much less hear, the world is a better place because of it.
May 27th, 2009 at 2:06 pmThank you…
seslisohbet seslichat sesli sohbet sesli chat
May 27th, 2009 at 9:42 pm