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And not a good thing.

Blitzer, who apparently wants to prove his lack of analytical skills, took it upon himself to write a long "exclusive" story on Gore's visit to the Hsi Lai Temple in Southern California, where what was to have been a photo-op turned into a fundraiser and then a Republican-hyped scandal because monks and nuns wrote checks to the Democratic National Committee which later had to be returned as illegal contributions.

Of course, Blitzer misses the point in his pathetic attempt to paint a dark picture of Gore. The money was returned -- that's how the system works. The Vice President was not part of a "plot" to take money from nuns. The Taiwanese government wasn't funnelling money through monks.

The truth is, that these gentle Buddhists, who happen to be Chinese, are being victimized by race-baiting Republicans who look more foolish and ghoulish each day as their wild Chinese conspiracy rants go by the wayside. And Blitzer is helping them along.

Wolf Blitzer, who could have paid more attention to panning the adolescent babblings of Fred Thompson and his fellow conspiracy theorists, instead chose to write an unbalanced piece, full of innuendo and mushy language which, on the whole, pillories Gore and leaves the reader thinking the Veep may be mortally injured by the error of his overzealous staff and John Huang -- an obvious currier of favor at the White House.
What's annoying about Blitzer is his choice to focus on Buddhists rather than the system -- led by corporate America -- that they relied on to guide them in the process. Look around Wolf. What would give a bunch of religious leaders the idea that money is a reward and often a carrot for legislative and executive largesse? CNN also reported today that Insurance companies and big tobacco raised $3 million to pay off the congress and both political parties. For what?

Yet Blitzer allows himself to be sucked into the Republican muck by writing, "That fund-raiser has become perhaps the most embarrassing moment in Gore's political life. It haunts his ambitions to become president. Whatever really happened here, it lets Republicans charge that Gore was selling U.S. policy for campaign cash."

And which policy was that Wolf?

Blitzer pretends that the temple master, Hsing Yun, was part of some Taiwanese government conspiracy to influence the U.S. to support Taiwan against Chinese communist aggression.

Duh!

If Blitzer checks, he'll find that U.S. policy, protective of Taiwan, has been a cornerstone of our Asian foreign policy for several decades and that Master Yun, of all people, was certainly in no position to influence Bill Clinton or Al Gore let alone pay them off for sending U.S. warships to the Straits of Taiwan after China did some saber-rattling last year.

Blitzer writes: "The campaign season was in full swing. The Democrats had lost control of Congress and were desperate for money to win it back, so much so that some party fund-raisers were willing to bend, perhaps even break, the law. Gore had been scheduled to visit the temple to do what he called "community outreach." But party organizers turned the event into a fund-raiser, something prohibited at a nonprofit religious institution. Gore went despite warnings to his staff from the National Security Council that "great caution" be used, because the temple "may have a hidden agenda" to display U.S. support for Taiwan. Only the month before, the Clinton Administration had sent warships to the straits of Taiwan after China threatened a missile attack."

Is he serious? In a couple of sentences Blitzer anoints the National Security Council as the see all and know all group that warned the Vice President's staff that a bunch of nuns may be out to compromise national security. I wouldn't blame Gore's staff for laughing in their faces inasmuch as the NSC and the CIA didn't even have a clue that the Soviet Union was falling apart at the seams until it happened. And what is this "hidden agenda" to display U.S. support for Taiwan? I think that support is very clear and fairly substantial.

Yun told Blitzer, "In Taiwan we often benefited from U.S. aid. We thought to ourselves, 'One day we will do some good to American society. We'll give them some help.' There was no objective. We did not seek any favors in return."

Sure, the campaign contributions made by the nuns were illegal. They were a part of a non-profit religious group, and they were reimbursed by the temple. That's not legal. It's also not legal for American executives to have their teenage children write $5,000 checks to the Republican National Committee -- but it happens every day.

Blitzer makes a big deal out of the fact that "federal investigators" want to know why the nuns made the illegal contributions.

"Why would nuns who are supporters and followers of Hsing Yun be interested in getting involved in politics and writing $5,000 checks to the Democratic Party?," he writes."But the Justice Department believes there was something very wrong," he adds.
Blitzer moves on to the tired story of John Huang, an obvious courtier to the Clinton White House who dazzled the DNC with his own self-serving attempts to use the Clinton's and anyone else he thought might be for sale in Washington. Blitzer knows full well that Washington is filled with John Huangs. The only difference is that they are white, where button down shirts, went to the right prep schools, and represent the Fortune 500. Huang, on the other hand, was an Asian.

Mr. Blitzer then calls Maria Hsia, a temple advisor, a long-time friend of Al Gore. A "long time friend." What does that mean? Did Al call her every week to check up on her health? Did he and Maria party together, grow up in the same neighborhood. Long time friends. Really? Blitzer ties Hsia to Gore because she is "under investigation." But Blitzer doesn't tell us for what.

He then launches into a story that the DNC was not happy they day of the temple event because not enough money had been raised so everyone got out their checkbooks.

Blitzer calls the temple abbess, Suh-Jen Wu a "key figure" in the story, but then he quotes her...

"We believe that a good human being should do good in society," she said through an interpreter. "Therefore we thought this was the right thing to do. To me, it's like what I always do: giving alms, donations, and relief." She goes on, "I did it on my own. Nobody asked me to do it. We were good friends with Gore in the past," she said. "We like him. Now, he's coming out to campaign. It's our duty to help him any way we can."

Wow - what an indictment!

Blitzer ices his cake telling readers that the FBI and Justice Department lawyers were at the temple the day before his interviews looking for a "criminal conspiracy." Well, that's their job and Blitzer knows that they were also looking for a lack thereof.

"Sources say this is what investigators believe really happened: Huang and Hsia were upset that the Gore fund-raiser had fallen far short of their quota. Fearing embarrassment for themselves and the temple, Hsia called the temple the next day and said Huang needed $55,000 fast. Within the next few hours, nuns wrote personal checks, most for $5,000. Huang and Hsia returned that evening to collect the money," pens Blitzer.

When the temple immediately reimbursed the nuns for the campaign contributions, it violated the law. That's money laundering. But it's unclear that temple leaders knew this. Giving gifts and money to those who lead and have supported your cause is nothing unusual in the Buddhist culture. The fact that John Huang may have abused this tradition and mislead the Temple is clear.

But there's nothing unusual about political event organizers being frazzled that the money flow is short. It happens every week in Washington and state capitols across the country. Calls go out. Checks are written. Employees are reimbursed.

The only difference is that the people aren't Chinese.

Wolf Blitzer represents everything wrong with journalism today. He chooses to jump on the anti-Asian bandwagon, painting a picture of yellow-peril, engaging in innuendo and manipulating facts. Mr. Blitzer wants you to think he has the inside story, but his own story tells the truth. He found nothing. Nothing but a bunch of nuns and monks who had been led down the garden path by the power-monger Huang. Blitzer knows you can't buy the Vice President or the White House for $55,000. If there is a price, it's much higher.

Readers and viewers might look at Blitzer's own career, rumored to be in trouble, before taking him too seriously. Like Matt Drudge, Mr. Blitzer just wants to be noticed -- any way he can.

© 1998, 1997, American Politics Journal Publications Inc.