The conservative blogosphere and Rightish talk radio hosts were all in a lather this morning: according to Matt Drudge’s “Drudge Report,” President Obama’s physicians “recommended” “moderation of alcohol intake”! What could that mean, they asked breathlessly, then with a snicker or two, except that “Mr. Perfect” has been hitting the sauce, raiding the liquor cabinet, and having one-too-many snorts of the ol’ hooch? After all, the doctors were telling the President to “moderate” his drinking habits, like you tell a hot-head to moderate his temper. Scoop! The President drinks too much!
But that wasn’t what was in the report, as anyone, including the radio hosts, could read for themselves. The President’s health report said that the President should continue “moderation IN alcohol intake,” as in “drinking a little alcohol like you have been is fine, but not too much.” While “of” together with Drudge’s inaccurate “recommend” implies that the doctors are suggesting Obama “moderate” his current drinking habits (and that they needed moderating), the actual section using “in” is simply a prescription for future alcohol consumption consistent with his current habits.
Why did Drudge misrepresent the wording of the report so that it falsely suggested a Presidential drinking problem? The Drudge Report did take the erroneous words down later in the day, and since there was no news item without the mistaken wording, nothing took its place. Maybe it was only inexcusably irresponsible carelessness—as in”be damn certain of your facts before suggesting that the President is a drunk”—so let us give Matt Drudge the benefit of the doubt. I suppose.
But what excuse does Laura Ingraham and the rest have for taking Drudge’s excerpt as accurate, when the report itself was available? None. The ethical offense is called “failure of due diligence,” with a dash of disrespect, a twist of unfairness, and a pinch of incompetence.
The Angry Left did sort of thing to George W. Bush for eight years, and conservatives howled. Apparently it wasn’t the tactic they objected to, but the target.
Let me know if anyone apologizes.
Ethics Alarms 
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I get the same thing every single time I go to the doctor. It’s total boilerplate.
The right and left should stop trying to sensationalize the trivial. It is one of the things that makes people loathe politics and conclude that all politicians are crooked.
The thing that really drives me nuts is the hypocrisy. Is somebody going to tell me that all these people making a big deal about this have not heard the same boilerplate from their own physician?
They knew it was B.S., and yet Drudge et. al. still treated it like news. Weak.
Weak…and ineffective and petty. I have to wonder if this one wasn’t subconscious payback for some of the more despicable Bush slander, like the “expert” who surmised that Bush was secretly drinking based on his policy decisions, or another one I read who “diagnosed” him with some form of mental retardation. But Laura Ingraham, for one, went on and on with snickering innuendos—“I mean…I don’t know…when they say you need to moderate something…doesn’t that mean you’re NOT doing it moderately? Hey, that’s a tough job for sure—but I thought President Obama was so composed and everything…well, it’s between him and his doctor, I guess…but” on and on like this. All based on a “typo.”
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