UPDATE: Email Contradicts Pentagon Spin on Schultz Cancellation
UPDATE: Email Contradicts Pentagon Spin on Schultz Cancellation
I called the Pentagon this afternoon to get an explanation for why Ed Schultz’s debut on Armed Forces Radio was canceled. I eventually got a call back from Bryan Whitman, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. Mr. Whitman repeatedly told me that there was “no decision made with respect to expanding the programming.”
I asked him why, if no decision had been made, Barber called Schultz’s producer to cancel. Whitman said Barber was out of the country and he didn’t know why she called.
Whitman’s spin is also contradicted by this email, sent by the Armed Forces Radio to Schultz’s syndication company:
—–Original Message—–
From: Levy, Manny
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 9:42 PM
To: Donna Harrison
Cc: Crawford, Ric
Subject: Confirming Schultz; Moving C. Howard; C. Howard minutesDonna: I wanted to confirm the conversation we had this morning. AFN Radio has squared away everything on our end to begin carrying the first hour of “The Ed Schultz Show” each day, beginning Monday, October 17, 2005 at noon PT/3 ET. Of course, this means shifting “The Clark Howard Show” to 1 PM PT/4 PM ET.
I also promised to find the best e-mail addresses to send the Clark Howard minutes. It’s: news@dodmedia.osd.mil.
Thank you for all your help–dating back many months now–preparing the way to make all this happen. I’m sorry that there were so many panicked, “I need an answer soon” calls, false starts and unexpected delays on our end. An awful lot of people in the government had (or tried to have) a hand in program selection process that ended with the decision to add “The Ed Schultz Show.”
Manny Levy
Chief, Radio Division
American Forces Network Broadcast Center
23755 Z Street Riverside, CA 92518
Seems to me like they made a decision.
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can “Schultzgate” be far off?
October 17th, 2005 at 5:07 pmLot’s of people conveniently “out-of-the-country” these days.
October 17th, 2005 at 5:22 pmYou would think they consider all liberals/progressives to be “the enemy”.
I know quite a few career military (current) people and they are mostly middle of the road democrats in my experience. Now I realize that as a genralization, that statement isn’t completely true, but…….
October 17th, 2005 at 5:26 pmNext we will hear that Manny Levy will be reassigned to Siberia for confirming a deal that was obviously still being fought by the Pentagon.
October 17th, 2005 at 5:30 pmMeanwhile, AFR radio will continue to air the hate-filled words of druggie, draft-dodging, anti-feminine, extreme propagandist, Rush Limbaugh.
Bored with this one. Rove? Feed me grapes and cheese, will ya puddin’?
October 17th, 2005 at 5:42 pmWell, they had to say something: baseless as it may be. What did ‘ya expect? The truth?
October 17th, 2005 at 5:57 pmA pox on your computer buckfush. Copy & pasting….& trying to make money off blog patrons. That would be fine if you SET UP YOUR OWN DAMN BLOG!
October 17th, 2005 at 6:21 pmJust report him. If enough people do, maybe they’ll ban his email address.
October 17th, 2005 at 6:57 pmContact Armed Forces Radio and Telivsion Plans and Programs yourself. Their e-mail address is:
afrtpln@hq.afis.osd.mil
October 17th, 2005 at 7:10 pmYeah well schultzgate would be here if there was ever any pressure on political leaders anymore. But with the media as lame as it is, anyone can get away with anything, other than if they are gay or democrat.
R2000
October 17th, 2005 at 7:20 pm“We will put conservative Republican economics on the same ash heap of history as we did Communism.” – buckfush
And you EXPECT people to take you seriously??? HA!HA!!!
October 17th, 2005 at 8:18 pmWhat did liberals do to help put Communism on the “ash heap” – NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!
#12. Uhh…I think we helped pay for it. And we still are. But luckily, we have this fiscally responsible president and Congress now that balances our budgets and keeps porkbarrel spending in check and ….wait a minute…
And for the record, I wish Buckfush would shut the fvck up and go spend some his/her money on popup ads instead of hijacking every thread. You don’t speak for me.
October 17th, 2005 at 8:39 pmRebuilding and Rewriting
Big laptop meltdown today. Slowly recovering. Enjoy a few select quotes from the blogs. We’ll be back in fine shape tomorrow.
October 17th, 2005 at 8:39 pmWhy can’t they agree to show a censored show with long passages bleeped out?
October 17th, 2005 at 8:45 pm“Mr. Aphrodite and I appreciate the wonderful job our military is doing in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world!!!
Comment by mighty aphrodite ”
Last time I checked, not only did democrats agree to and grant the fight against communists in North Korea and Vietnam – but wasn’t it a REPUBLICAN who withdrew from Vietnam?
What selective memory you have oh mighty windbag. But then again, facts are your enemy – you’re a fvcked up propagandist!
October 17th, 2005 at 9:10 pmIn order to make it even they should broadcast Ed Schultz for 3 hours a day against Rush’s 1 for about 5 years. Then the accumulated airtime would be about equal.
October 17th, 2005 at 9:18 pm#12 – Besides; what’s so bad about Communism? We have our great Democracy (the US) creating a Islamic Theocracy (Iraq), deficit-funded by the Communists (China).
October 17th, 2005 at 9:22 pmWe liberals ARE THE ENEMY to these crackers. I am very proud to be their enemy. I just wish I could corner a few of them and bite their worthless arses off. In the meantime I am happy to repose in glee as one by one right after another these worthless bastrds fall by the wayside. Actually, I wish them all the same or worse than Atwater who cried and begged his worthless God for life when he learned about his inoperable brain tumor. Fact is, that sick disgorged brain was used to annilate people. Then it came back and annilated him. Grate. I hope he is twisting like the ferocious winds of the solar system forever.
October 17th, 2005 at 9:22 pmThe Pentagon just boosted Ed’s ratings by 100%.
Eddie wont be needing many advertising dollars as the pukes just handed him a ton of free publicity.
I dissed O’Scumbag on my show today. Dave challenged him, I hope O’Scumbag comes after us soon. We would love the free publicity.
October 17th, 2005 at 9:25 pmThinkprogress.org Terms of Use
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October 17th, 2005 at 10:02 pmIs anyone suprised by this?? I’m not
October 17th, 2005 at 10:11 pmEd Schultz AFR Axing Makes Wires As Govt Denial Contradicts Letter
Once again it seems as if an official government explanation is at variance with something that came before…this time an letter indicating that the nation…
October 18th, 2005 at 12:13 amRyan, Democracy in Iraq is doomed anyway. They exclude freedom of religion by allowing Islam to dictate policy.
Yes, they learned it all from BushCo. Iraq is about oil and has nothing to do with democracy.
October 18th, 2005 at 12:31 amSusan,
October 18th, 2005 at 1:58 amLast time I checked a large number of Islams live in Iraq. A real liberal would be understanding and tolerant of their culture. So you are a bigot. What a RETARD! So much for home schooling. Facts are your enemy – you’re a fvcked up propagandist.
Oh, what an idiot I am. Its getting late and I didn’t read all of my stupid link where the blogger writes,
“Now, contrasting points that prove I don’t know what I’m talking about”
“Mosul was a lot more violent in January, keeping the vote there down. Perhaps now, with less violence, more Kurds — perhaps half of the total increase — were able to come out and vote.” (duh, moron. Mosul was a major victory for us and the Iraqiis love us there and they love freedom and they hate the terrorists that moved in last year and they hate that mass-murderer facist Saddam. One thing I know is my facts are always right because I’m rYAN nEAT, master of all blogs).
“The AP numbers are so preliminary, they’re flat-out wrong.”
But I know Susan will accept this fvcking propaganda. She’s home schooled. Hows weight watchers going?
October 18th, 2005 at 2:17 amI always love it when the propagandist liberals accuse OTHERS of propaganda. It’s JUST SO AMUSING!!! And SO EASY TO DISMISS!! BAhahaah retarded liberals – you’re easily debunked stupid putz! Godd I really need to get a life. Now I’m arguing with myself. But it’s getting late and I wasn’t paying attention when I read this in the report:
“The Electoral Commission made no mention of fraud, and an official with knowledge of the election process cautioned that it was too early to say whether the unusual numbers were incorrect or if they would affect the outcome.
October 18th, 2005 at 2:57 am“Irregularities in Shiite and Kurdish areas, expected to vote strongly “yes,” may not affect the outcome.”
Ed Shultz Stonewalled by the Pentagon
In another low blow to free speech, here are the straight deets with help from Think Progress:
October 18th, 2005 at 3:09 amWASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (UPI) — A talk radio host says his program, slated to debut on a Pentagon radio station Monday, was pulled to punish him for airi…
[...] In another low blow to free speech, here are the straight deets with help from Think Progress: [...]
October 18th, 2005 at 3:13 am.
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October 18th, 2005 at 9:24 am.
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Ed Makes the Early Bird!
In today’s edition of the DoD’s Early Bird, listed as “a daily concise compilation of current published news articles and commentary concerning the most significant defense and defense-related national security issues”, an article appears on this growing controversy. Howard Kurt’z article from today’s Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/17/AR2005101701666.html) in listed in it’s ‘Defense Department’ section (other stories in this area include recruiting, weapons cuts, and upcoming legislative priorities).
On the website (access restricted to DoD-associated personnel), the EB boasts the following mission statement:
The publications aim to represent how the public, Congress and the press see military and defense programs and issues. They are internal management tools intended to serve the informational needs of senior DoD officials in the continuing assessment of defense policies, programs and actions.
In this advanced information age, the EB still ‘chugs along’ to provide DoD members a concise review of stateside news. Stories are broken down by general or specific topics (’Top Stories’, ‘Iraq’, ‘Asia/Pacific’) and, from time-to-time, includes eclectic news (’Guantanamo’, ‘War Protests/Rallies’). It does feature a daily ‘Opinion’ section and its tone is normally balanced (today’s ‘Opinion’ section boasts columns from the WP, International Herald Tribune, NYT, LA Times, WSJ & USA Today).
After saying all of this, I cannot guarantee that there aren’t specific agendas being acted upon (editors can ‘cherry pick’ articles from all across the country to suit their point-of-view); however, from my perspective I feel that this service and other DoD-related media/entertainment outlets (Stars & Stripes newspapers, American Forces Radio) do a fair job of being impartial and balanced to their military audiences. I hope Ed can take some measure of satisfaction of this topic being featured in this publication.
October 18th, 2005 at 10:03 amMy Economics prof was crowing about this. Way to convince a third of the country that they don’t matter. The Rs are cheating to help vichy France, I mean Iraq. One more thing like this and its gonna be civil war!
October 18th, 2005 at 10:30 amThe reason Ed Schultz was cancelled is because our military doesn’t want an enemy of our armed forces on its airwaves. Schultz is just another American hating, military loathing freak from the left whose only mission is to destroy all morale when comes to our fighting men and women. Liberals are a disgrace to this country and should be treated as the enemy within because that is truly what they are.
October 18th, 2005 at 11:52 am“The reason Ed Schultz was cancelled is because our military doesn’t want an enemy of our armed forces on its airwaves. ”
Then they should remove Limbaugh, as his lies have already killed 2000 of them, and injured 10s of thousands more! Fabricating an excuse to have an oil grab is not supporting our troops, but it sure does fatten up Cheney’s bank account!
Get a clue you treasonous bastard!
October 18th, 2005 at 12:17 pmDear ‘Liberals’,
Military men & women are not required to pledge loyalty to a particular party or politician when they enlist (or upon commissioning). They swear/affirm to follow the LAWFUL orders from their chain of command.
Military men & women have MANY options other than AFN for news and information. Streaming audio allows anyone with a computer and modem to listen via the Internet. English programming broadcasts via shortwave (BBC, Radio Canada International) are a refreshing change of pace from the pre-packaged American varieties.
This will make you worry even more about our troops who (in your opinion) can’t handle anything except what the Pentagon wants…AFN television shows ‘The Daily Show’ and news channels that begin with letters other than ‘F’…here’s a link to their schedule to let you peruse this ‘threat’ to their morale…(http://myafn.dodmedia.osd.mil/tv/schedule/index.asp)…
October 18th, 2005 at 12:36 pmOne of the things not mentioned is that AFN was established for individuals in an overseas environment. We (the US) places our military/state department personnel in many parts of the world and radio/television service is normally one of the ‘quality of life’ issues afforded to them and their families to make them feel less detached from back home.
The most unflattering aspect of this arrangement is that local nationals who live just outside these bases are exposed to our political ‘dirty laundry’ by tuning in to AFN radio (though not the official language, English is very popular in many host countries). This electronic ‘ambassador’ is what the majority of those folks will form their impressions on Americans, our country, and our way of life. Could you imagine stepping off of a plane in NYC and having ‘el Rushbo’ in your face as a tour guide? It’s the same thing as airing his program on AFN…
Rush Limbaugh can be categorized as a ‘WMD’–a Windbag of Mass Distortion.
October 18th, 2005 at 12:55 pm# 40 – Anyone who calls someone American-hating because they dissent from the administration is truly an American-hater themselves. Dissent is a BEAUTIFUL thing – without it, there would be no progress. We shouldn’t all just follow and believe the Bush administration simply because they’re in power (for now) – the American people are slowly waking up to the lies and deceit and the blood on their hands, and the tide will turn and the truth will be told.
And before you kick out something about the lies of the last democratic administration, I’ll pre-emptively respond (since I know a lot of righties are really keen on that kind of pre-emptive strike thing) here’s the difference between the lies of a democratic pres & a republican pres:
- Clinton – lied about a blow job
- Bush – lied about EVERYTHING leading up to and after the Iraq war: WMD’s! Wait, I mean, TERRA, they’re terrarists! Oh, uh, did I say that? I mean, freedom! Yeah, that’s why we’re there! Um…noble cause?
Republican LIES are what will destroy this country, not liberals exercising their right to free speech.
October 18th, 2005 at 1:25 pm– AFRN Direct contact page –
http://myafn.dodmedia.osd.mil//contact_us.asp
This opens a comment page with a review/edit option before your final submission. It will be interesting to see how soon they either take this link offline, or do an about-face on the Ed Schultz show.
October 18th, 2005 at 3:56 pm“The reason Ed Schultz was cancelled is because our military doesn’t want an enemy of our armed forces on its airwaves. Schultz is just another American hating, military loathing freak from the left whose only mission is to destroy all morale when comes to our fighting men and women. Liberals are a disgrace to this country and should be treated as the enemy within because that is truly what they are.
Comment by Liberals are Cowards”
Really? Is that how you felt when Limbaugh was criticizing Clinton during Kosovo? Or does your dissent only function when it’s your party that provides it.
Last time I checked the liberals stood for civil rights, civil liberties, social justice, NO TORTURE, use of military force to defend america – and not just for oil exploitation, free speech and the constitution – whereas republicans seem to be about restricting or destroying all of those american ideals. You’re correct there’s an american enemy within – and it is YOU! You are probably so psychotic that you either don’t remember or are incapable of reconciling that it was LIMBAUGH who said exactly the same things about Clinton. The difference between now and then? Clinton was EFFECTIVE as commander and chief and the military was RESPECTED instead of being treated as ill equipped cannon fodder! YOU ARE THE TRAITOR YOU LOSER!
October 18th, 2005 at 7:36 pmAnd Republicans are cowards, eat your own words! I can post days worth of this DRIBBLE from republicans – and yet you call democrats who question unpatriotic? You are SLIME AND DISGUSTING HYPOCRITES you sleazy republicans!
“You can support the troops but not the president”
-Representative Tom Delay (R-TX)
Bombing a sovereign nation for ill-defined reasons with vague objectives undermines the American stature in the world. The international respect and trust for America has diminished every time we casually let the bombs fly.”
-Representative Tom Delay (R-TX)
“Clinton’s bombing campaign has caused all of these problems to explode”
-Representative Tom Delay (R-TX)
“These international war criminals were led by Gen. Wesley Clark … who clicked his shiny heels for the commander-in-grief, Bill Clinton.”
-Michael Savage
“It is a remarkable spectacle to see the Clinton Administration and NATO taking over from the Soviet Union the role of sponsoring “wars of national liberation.”
-Representative Helen Chenoweth (R-ID)
“America has no vital interest in whose flag flies over Kosovo’s capital, and no right to attack and kill Serb soldiers fighting on their own soil to preserve the territorial integrity of their own country”
-Pat Buchanan (R)
“I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now. The President began this mission with very vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later, these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our overextended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan today”
October 18th, 2005 at 7:42 pm-Representative Tom Delay (R-TX)
You go, Ryan!
October 18th, 2005 at 8:18 pm“This is a heads up for:” Comment by Liberals are Cowards,
YOU SIR/MADAM ARE A COMPLETE IDIOT.
You have been brain washed by the Rush’s & Shawn’s on the right who wouldn’t know a true patriot if one came up and smacked them in the face. “Note a bad idea when I think about it.” When this government starts trying to prevent an alternate view point from being heard by the brave men and women of “OUR†I repeat “OUR†armed services; then how far are we from burning books, and then people? That may sound extreme in this day and time, but who thought that when the German government started preventing an alternate view point that we were a few short years from the Holocaust.
This country is being cruelly divided by the current administration. If you are not 100 % for them then you must be 100 % against them. That is such BS. I spent 20 years in the Army so that every American: Right, Left, Middle, could have the right to say what was on their mind and be heard by their fellow citizens. Are you saying that our military men and women can’t be told a different point of view, the exact thing they have sworn to uphold, that being the United States Constitution.
However, you in your narrow view point may see the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as another Liberal conspiracy to be tossed in the ditch so you can walk over it with your jack boots.
October 18th, 2005 at 10:44 pmEd Shultz radio show pulled from AFR before Starti
That is, however, until someone at the Pentagon noticed that Ed was actually awake and breathing, and able to notice that when the Bush White House tried to build a “Potemkin village” using the U.S. troops in Iraq when Bush recently made a “conferen…
October 19th, 2005 at 7:45 pmThe Pentagon just boosted Ed’s ratings by 100%.
Eddie wont be needing many advertising dollars as the pukes just handed him a ton of free publicity.
I dissed O’Scumbag on my show today. Dave challenged him, I hope O’Scumbag comes after us soon. We would love the free publicity.
————–
Give it time, Susan. Bill O’Lielly will attack you whenever he decides to suspend his attacks on Media Matters for America because MMFA has busted him on all of the lies that he continues to tell.
Air America’s Randi Rhodes, Sam Cedar, Janine Garofolo, Robert Kennedy Junior, Mike Malloy, and Laura Flanders have also attacked O’Lielly and/or other right wing liars. O’Lielly and one of his right wing racist of color female hate hag friends, Liar Michelle Malkin, carried out a pathetic double-team on Rhodes. It was even MORE pathetic than Janet Parshall’s disgraceful and embarassing debate loss to Randi on C-Span.
Also, XM 169/THE POWER’s “Black Eagle” Joe Madison, Bernie McCain, Barbara Reynolds, and Mark Thompson have also blasted O’Lielly at one time or another. Madison called Flush Drugbaugh a “punk.” I hope O’Lielly and/or some other right wing lying scum goes after them, too.
FYI, THE POWER’s a progressive black talk radio network that’s broadcast on XM 169.
October 22nd, 2005 at 5:58 pmThe reason Ed Schultz was cancelled is because our military doesn’t want an enemy of our armed forces on its airwaves. Schultz is just another American hating, military loathing freak from the left whose only mission is to destroy all morale when comes to our fighting men and women. Liberals are a disgrace to this country and should be treated as the enemy within because that is truly what they are.
Liar Ryan, you are an evil, hateful, lying, fascist, racist, oligarchic, propagandistic scumbag! Just like Liar Drugbaugh, Liar Hannity, Liar Melanie Morgan, Liar Glenn Beck, Liar Armshill Bagman Williams, Liar Oliver North, Liar Mark Williams, Liar Laura Ingraham, Liar Dr. Laura Schlessinger, and the rest of the lying hateful evil criminal chickenhawk scum that you listen to!
You and your lying conservative Republican scum politicians and/or lying right wing talk radio propagandists have advocated and/or supported and/or proposed cutting Veterans’ Benefits to these same troops that you all lie about supporting, you all favor cuts in these same troops health care, you oppose giving them pay raises, while Ed Schultz has supported raising veterans’ benefits, supported pay raises for the troops.
You and the right wing Republipunk lying scum are all flag-waving chickenhawk lying maggots! You hate the troops! You all want other people than yourselves and your Republipunk friends risking their lives, and you think that the lying right wing corporations’ rights are more important than these troops’ lives! Liar Ryan, you likely favor the cuts in Veterans’ Benefits!
Quoting the words of ANOTHER progressive talk radio host that scum like you hate, “The Black Eagle” Joe Madison on XM 169/THE POWER, you, Drugbaugh, and the rest of the right wing liars are all “just talkin’ lies and sayin’ nothin.”
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