Associated Press ran a story a week or so ago that was so bizarre to me I just have to share it.

Hillary Clinton, being interviewed for a show to air on C-SPAN, said that right-wing news outlets prevent Americans from getting balanced coverage of the issues.

And I quote: "I mean, you've got a conservative and/or right-wing press presence with really nothing on the other end of the political spectrum."

And: "There's no balance there. It's difficult to get a well-argued presentation of issues that is really reflective of different points of view in the media today."

I am not making this up. The story moved on the national wire.

She did not specify which broadcasters or publications she had in mind, but I wonder which news outlet she thinks is so right wing? CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, CNN?

I'll bet Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings felt insulted after reading that little AP nugget.

But really, what must Hillary be thinking?

I can show you example after example of how the press characterizes liberals as compassionate and caring and conservatives as mean and insensitive.

I suppose you could argue that no liberal bias exists in the media. I would be happy to argue that point with anyone.

But to say that a conservative bias exists? That borders on lunacy.

A good example of media leanings can be seen in the Associated Press account of President Clinton's recent budget proposal on Medicare.

Clinton, in proposing a reduction in growth of Medicare - the very same thing he chastized Republicans for proposing a scant eight months ago - announced $138 billion in Medicare "savings."

That's right. When Clinton proposes reductions in the growth of Medicare, it's called "savings." When the Republicans propose those same reductions, they're called "cuts."

Problem is, President Clinton just can't make up his mind when it comes to Medicare funding.

Remember Hillary's health care plan? In 1993, she and President Clinton suggested "a reduction in the rate of growth" of Medicare to pay for the health care plan. "This is not a cut," the president said.

They wanted Medicare to "grow" at around 6 percent a year. That would generate enough "savings" to pay for Hillary's health care plan.

In the budget debate last year, Republicans proposed a reduction in the growth of Medicare - to around 6 percent a year.

You remember. It was the huge sticking point in budget negotiations.

Remember all the rhetoric? Remember how the press covered it? Remember, "The Republicans want to gut Medicare." Remember worlds like "decimate" and "eviscerate" used to describe the "draconian cuts" in Medicare proposed by Republicans?

How could anyone forget?

Guess what. President Clinton forgot.

Now he is proposing a reduction in the growth of Medicare to help balance the budget. It's a good thing again.

If you were a member of the Washington press corps, wouldn't you just be dying to ask the president the following question?

"Mr. President, you were for reductions in the growth of Medicare in 1993, against them in 1996 and for them again in 1997. Would you please explain your inconsistency on this issue?"

But that question will never be asked. The president pretty much gets a free ride.

Want more examples?

Chuck Colson, of Watergate fame, was dogged by the media. He eventually was sentenced to three years in prison for having ONE FBI file. President Clinton had around 900 and the media focuses, albeit briefly, on who hired the guy who actually took the files.

Nixon was hounded by media that subsequently won Pulitzer Prizes for their work. Nixon's crime was that he tried to tap phones at Democrat headquarters. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich's private phone call with his attorney and others gets illegally recorded and subsequently published in the very same press. Another Pulitzer?

Fresh in our minds is what happened to Newt Gingrich for using tax-exempt funds to teach a college course that brought him little or no personal gain.

But Dick Gephardt, the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, falsified his tax returns and an FEC report so he could deduct mortgage interest on a second home. He got a "no-no" letter from the ethics committee and very little bad press.

Democrat Rep. David Bonier, of Michigan, leader of the Newt Gingrich head hunt, bounced 79 checks at the House Bank. He also kept his girlfriend on his office payroll at a high salary until they got married. He didn't even get a letter from the ethics committee and no press at all.

The Democratic National Committee and the Clinton Legal Defense Fund accept huge donations from foreign contributors, seemingly in direct violation of federal law.

Drug dealers and Chinese arms dealers are hanging out at the White House.

But President Clinton says we need to put aside partisanship and criticism and that "No attack ever fed a starving child." And that is good enough for the media.

Where is the dogged determination to seek truth that the media displayed during Watergate or Iran-Contra? When it comes to Clinton, the media appear content to sit idly by and wait for the latest Justice Department press release.

But now the media are going to have to re-evaluate their coverage of this president. The first lady says they're being too hard on him. [[In-content Ad]]