Via TVNewser, New Today co-host Meredith Vieira is trying desperately to downplay the revelation that she’s an anti-war protester who thinks the case for invading Iraq was “built on lies.” Here she is in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Gail Shister:
An outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, Vieira says she’s being unfairly labeled as a raving liberal by some right-wing bloggers.
“I’m an independent. I’m not a Democrat or a Republican. I’m not particularly interested in politics, truth be told. Every time you read the paper, somebody lies about something [about the war.] I’ve been vocal about it.
“Every day there are new questions. I want to know why we are there, what the game plan is, what the discrepancies are between what we’re being told and what’s really going on. [Conservatives] can paint me as anything they want. I know what I am. I’m comfortable with the positions I’ve taken in my life.”
Whether Vieira is a Democrat, a Republican or a member of the Whig party is totally irrelevant to the question of whether she can report on Iraq in a neutral way. Considering she is an outspoken opponent of the Bush administration’s Iraq policy, it’s a legitimate question that Vieira should address directly, rather than providing us with superfluous information about her party registration.