Bill at INDCJournal has an exclusive interview with the reporter and the producer of the bogus draft piece that ran on the CBS Evening News the other night. Shockingly they’ve adopted the “fake, but accurate” defense as well. We all know how well that turned out the first time…
James Lindgren at The Volokh Conspiracy has the lowdown on MoveOn.org’s call to lobby CBS to run the phony Niger yellowcake story – the one that was canned to run the Bush TANG hit piece. He does ask an interesting question:
[H]ow does MoveOn know what CBS was going to say in their report?
Easy, CBS pre-released the piece to a variety of like minded organizations. Once the piece was killed Salon decided it was too important to not report on…
[If you’re not a subscriber you can get a Salon day pass by viewing an ad]
Allah highlights the case of CBS radio commentator Dave Ross who is a Democratic candidate for Congress. Mr. Ross gets paid to broadcast commentary of his choosing to an electorate whose votes he is soliciting. How could that be a bad thing, right?…
This is only the beginning. The MSM is obviously going to crank up their negative Bush stories in order to bring his poll numbers down. Heck, they’ve been trying to hurt him for over a year. I’ve never seen anything like it. At the same time, they will paint Kerry in a good light: for instance they’ll say he’s been consistent about issues throughout his campaign. Don’t be shocked if after the debate tonight Kerry takes the lead in the polls. The media will hammer the message tomorrow that Kerry won the debate, that his message was clear and concise, and that basically Bush still sucks.
You know there used to be something called the “Fairness Doctrine” which the Reagan administration got rid of in the ’80s. It would have required CBS to give Dave Ross’s opponent equal time.
Now it’s come around to bite the Republicans on their butts. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.
I just read the INDC piece, having missed the original CBS story, I can’t make a direct comparison, but it sounds like it was a lot like a story that was on NBC last night, i.e. there are e-mail circulating that say Bush has a plan to reinstitute the draft. On NBC the showed footage of both candidates, on the stump, stating absolutely that they would not institute a draft.
There are a lot of people out there, who have take a stand based on a belief that one or the other candidate would or wouldn’t take a specific actiion of he were elected. Any number of these beliefs are based on disinformation circulated by the opposition (all the way out to the fringe elements). It’s and American election, that’s the way it works.
Rance, the CBS version has both Bush and Kerry saying ‘not so’. This is true. But the backup and supporting bits all leave the impression that ‘Gosh, we might well have a draft under Bush 2’.
IOW, the “news piece” gives exactly the same impression as the “fringe, pyramid-scheme, email”.
Nowhere have I heard this statement:
“Every signal General interviewed thinks the draft is stupider than bullets made from cheese-whiz, and points out that a full activation of the Reserves and Guard would more than double the active military without drafting _anyone_. If we _had_ to, occupying two more countries the size of Iraq is doable without the draft. Get. Over. It.”
The media will be hypercritical of Mr. Bush after the debate and will glow about Mr. Kerry. This will serve to try and move the populace. Yet, in the end, the debates will lose their impact, as they always do, and Americans will be looking at John Kerry and saying – “No.”
Wizbang: The Salon writer is Mary Jacoby. Mary is Wesley Clark’s former press aide. She’s also a former “file clerk” from Hillary Clinton’s Rose Law Firm.
Source: American Prospect
The article also mentions that Jacoby was a writer for the New York Observer as well. It doesn’t surprise me that Salon signs her paychecks.
Below is what I sent to all CBS affiliates. If you can use it, feel free. The only part I left out was the manipulation of the transcript by CBS. I got caught up in the writing and forgot it.
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I am concerned. My ability to have access to simple unanalyzed information seems to be disappearing. No longer do I have the opportunity to make up my mind, it is made up for me by the news.
A day after Rathergate broke, I wrote to my congressmen requesting a Justice Department probe into the forged documents. To me, there had been a crime perpetrated and it was foisted upon me by CBS. And now, CBS seems to be a willing accomplice in this fraudulent attempt to influence our electoral process.
Now, the story about the re-institution of the draft has me even more concerned. The details that you left out, presumably because I didn’t need to know them, such as:
1: Beverly Cocco is an anti draft activist,
2: The referenced e-mail is a known fraud and
3: The draft bills introduced into congress were initiated by Democrats
makes me ask, why am I not to be privy to such information.
I can decide what is and is not relevant. I can decide for myself what I believe. I do not require your assistance in this.
In fact, I resent the implication that I perceive, that you will provide me with the information you think I need. This is nothing short of an attempt at manipulation of my right to think what wish.
I am finished with CBS News. I have no trust remaining in you. I have no confidence that you are even aware of how badly you have failed in your obligation of providing “the facts”.
Right now, I have no desire to taint my television by tuning into CBS, even for some old, very good reruns. I don’t trust you, I don’t believe you, I feel manipulated by you, I feel insulted by you.
I do not suggest that you attempt to restore my confidence in CBS. I am through with you. You are no longer worthy of my consideration or time.
Here’s an interesting article on the news media. One thing they say in the article is that Bill O’Reilly is a conservative and unabashed Republican. Wrong. But other parts of the article are interesting:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040930/ts_alt_afp/us_vote_media_politics_040930152951
The website http://www.boycottcbs.com has the list of advertisers for the CBS Evening “News” and the 60 Minutes II broadcast, with links to the contact pages of each company. I am writing every single company that supports CBS “News” programs, telling them that I will not use their products any more (specifically mentioning their competitor) until they withdraw their support. Then I intend to write snail-mail letters to each company, and send copies to Viacom, CBS’ parent company.
These people don’t seem to understand. If they start losing tons of money, perhaps Viacom will explain it to them.
Don’t get mad: get even.