CBS's love for the Kennedy family surfaced again on Monday night as Evening News journalists hyped the opening of a new institute in Massachusetts that is named after Ted Kennedy. Anchor Scott Pelley swooned, "Another New England superstar was honored today. Politics was his game and we'll have his story next."
The Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston will encourage students to get involved in government. Pelley nostalgically lamented, "The United States Senate has been called the world's greatest deliberative body and one of the most dysfunctional. Well, today a new institute opened showing the Senate as it was meant to be."
Reporter Chip Reid allowed, "Yes, Kennedy was a fierce partisan...But he was also one of the most productive Senators in U.S. history..." However, the journalist never once used the word liberal in the story. As for bipartisan, Kennedy's lifetime American Conservative Union score was two.
Yet, Reid imagined, "...Business often comes to a grinding halt in the real Senate, but here in the model Senate there's hope for a bipartisan future."
Kennedy love is common in the mainstream media, but very fierce at CBS. On August 26, 2009, Douglas Brinkley told journalist Michelle Gielan that Ted Kennedy was a "martyr" for ObamaCare.
On the August 30, 2009 Face the Nation, anchor Bob Schieffer enthused that Kennedy "was the classic American hero."
A transcript of the March 30 Evening News segment is below:
6:53
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: Honoring Kennedy]
PELLEY: Another New England superstar was honored today. Politics was his game and we'll have his story next.
(....)
6:56
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: Honoring a Kennedy]
PELLEY: The United States Senate has been called the world’s greatest deliberative body and one of the most dysfunctional. Well, today a new institute opened showing the Senate as it was meant to be. It was inspired by Senator Ted Kennedy, who died in 2009. Here’s Chip Reid.
CHIP REID: On the floor of the Senate today, Vice President Joe Biden called on a politician who hasn't been heard from in a long time.
VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: The first President of the United States Senate, John Adams.
REID: As you might have guessed, it wasn’t the real John Adams and this isn’t the real Senate. The speakers were high-school students and the Senate is a full-sized replica at the brand-new Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate in Boston. With the help of President Obama, it was dedicated today.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: And no one made the Senate come alive like Ted Kennedy.
REID: Making the Senate come alive is exactly what Kennedy had in mind when he proposed building a model of the Senate where up to 100 students at a time can write, debate and vote on legislation. Jean McCormack is the Institute’s president. [TO MCCORMACK] Are you inspiring future voters or future senators?
JEAN MCCORMACK: We hope we’re inspiring both.
REID: They also want to inspire the students to reach across the aisle. Yes, Kennedy was a fierce partisan.
DEMOCRATIC SENATOR TED KENNEDY (Mass.): This is special interest legislation. This is political payoff, make no mistake about it.
REID: But he was also one of the most productive Senators in U.S. history because he knew his bills wouldn't pass without Republican support. Some of his former Republican partners were here today including John McCain and Trent Lott.
FORMER SENATOR TRENT LOTT (Miss.): Yes, a Republican from Mississippi.
REID: Across the hall from the Senate chamber is a replica of Kennedy's office full of family photos and mementos. Kennedy’s son, former Congressman Patrick Kennedy, told us how his father would use the office to connect with colleagues in both parties.
DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN PATRICK KENNEDY (Mass.): People were intimidated by him, but when they saw that he loved dogs, when he had kids around, when he was around his family, it immediately softened them up and allowed my father really to do the business of this nation.
REID: Today, that business often comes to a grinding halt in the real Senate, but here in the model Senate there's hope for a bipartisan future.
BIDEN: The Senate stands adjourned.
REID: Chip Reid, CBS News, Boston.
