Murtha Attacked by the Right For Quote Falsely Attributed to Him
Murtha Attacked by the Right For Quote Falsely Attributed to Him
UPDATE: Multiple ThinkProgress readers report that Gail Bulfin of the Sun-Sentinel admits the paper’s report was inaccurate and says a correction will be printed tomorrow.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported on Sunday that Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) had claimed that the United States is the greatest threat to peace in the world:
American presence in Iraq is more dangerous to world peace than nuclear threats from North Korea or Iran, U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said to a crowd of more than 200 in North Miami Saturday afternoon.
Though the Sun-Sentinel never provided a direct quote of Murtha, the story was featured on the Drudge Report and Murtha immediately came under attack from conservative pundits:
Bill O’Reilly, Fox News, 6/26:
Murtha has lost all perspective and did months ago, but his message is firmly entrenched in America’s far-left precincts. … [T]hat kind of extreme thinking, based on little evidence, by the way, is putting all Americans in danger.
Tucker Carlson, MSNBC, 6/26:
What is really going on here, and you know it as well as I, is that Jack Murtha has been intoxicated by the amount of publicity that he has gotten from his anti-war crusade, and he has become progressively more unreasonable, progressively more left-wing as the days go on, and he is in the thrall of people who, I think, have hostility towards the United States.
Newt Gingrich, Fox News, 6/26:
For an American congressman to say that is beyond any acceptable behavior, and I would hope the Congress would move to censure him.
One problem: Murtha apparently never said anything of the sort. What he did was cite a Pew poll released two weeks ago showing that people around the world, including in closely-allied countries like Great Britain, believe the U.S. is the greatest threat to peace.
A statement released by Murtha’s office today quotes an email from Melissa Sanchez of the Miami Herald, who also attended the speech, saying of the purported Murtha “quote”: “That was in reference to international polls. It was not so much his own conjecture, but a conclusion drawn from polls in various countries.” ThinkProgress confirmed with Murtha’s office that the email accurately reflects the views of reporters at the Miami Herald.
Email the Sun-Sentinel’s reader liason Gail Bulfin — gbulfin@sun-sentinel.com — and ask that the paper print a retraction. See update above.
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Boy the GOP is after Rep. Murtha a lot lately > he must be telling the truth, which requires massive Karl Rove inspired smearing of him apparently!
June 27th, 2006 at 6:14 pmLOL why would the right miss a chance to smear Murtha though? I mean cmon do you expect any less?
June 27th, 2006 at 6:15 pmI love to read these limpwristed right wing fascist’s statements which claim Amurika for their own. It’s mine.You are the traitors…… 31%.
June 27th, 2006 at 6:17 pmWhat Murtha says is not what’s wrong with this quagmire of a conflict Bush and his clowns have rushed to get us in. The more the GOP can talk about ANYTHING but the mess they made in Iraq, the less they have to talk about the abject failures they have been with everything they have “governed.” The GOP will be a tough brand to sell in November.
June 27th, 2006 at 6:17 pmSpeaking of the GOP brand, there are only 3 days left to enter the “What Does ‘GOP’ Stand For?” Contest.
Say what you think the acronym “GOP” stands for, and you could win an iPod, an Amazon.com gift certificate and other great swag.
June 27th, 2006 at 6:20 pmI guess we’ll need the audio to know the truth. Now I await Think Progress to report that Murtha was one of the people in Congress who warned the New York Times to not publish the story about the financial tracking program.
June 27th, 2006 at 6:20 pmAmerican presence in Iraq is more dangerous to world peace than nuclear threats from North Korea or Iran, U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said to a crowd of more than 200 in North Miami Saturday afternoon
June 27th, 2006 at 6:22 pmWell, if he did, he wasnt too far from truth.
Rep Murtha is tough enough to withstand “Swiftboating” by weenies like Falafel BO, Propeller Neck Carlson, and Love ‘em & Leave ‘em Sick Gingrich. Wimps.
June 27th, 2006 at 6:22 pmWell, it’s not like that they have anything but lies to lean on.
There must be 50 Ways To Dump The Dubya
June 27th, 2006 at 6:29 pmIts all part of the plan.
June 27th, 2006 at 6:39 pmanother in a long line of incovenient truths?
June 27th, 2006 at 6:40 pmSun-Sentinel’s Reply
Brent,
Yes, we know. We will be publishing a correction in tomorrow’s paper.
Thank you for pointing this out.
Gail Bulfin, Editor for News Research, Training and Readership
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 6:42 PM
To: Bulfin, Gail
Subject: Retraction needed
To whom it may concern:
Last Sunday, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel made an error in reporting Rep. John Murtha’s comment about American presence being the most dangerous to world peace.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-ctownhall25jun25,0,7119684.story
In Elizabeth Baier’s opening sentence she states:
“American presence in Iraq is more dangerous to world peace than nuclear threats from North Korea or Iran, U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said to a crowd of more than 200 in North Miami Saturday afternoon.”
This statement is completely false. Rep. Murtha mentioned American presence in terms of an international poll. This was not Murtha’s thought, but the results of polling done in other countries.
Journalistic propriety demands a retraction.
Thank you,
June 27th, 2006 at 6:42 pmBrent M White
Tampa, FL
I just wrote Gail Bulfin(citing the misquoting of Murtha as reported by ThinkProgress) and got the following reply regarding Murtha’s statements:
Suzanne,
Yes, we know. We will be publishing a correction in tomorrow’s paper.
Thank you for pointing this out.
Gail Bulfin, Editor for News Research, Training and Readership
June 27th, 2006 at 6:45 pmSouth Florida Sun-Sentinel
Either the way the statements true.
The most dangerous threat to world peace right now is the US under the warmongering Republican rule.
June 27th, 2006 at 6:57 pmdo you think that retraction will be on page one?
June 27th, 2006 at 7:03 pmSickening lieing scum.
June 27th, 2006 at 7:06 pmThere really needs to be something that smears their lies right in their faces on national tv.
Put that ‘news’ on an endless loop.
I wonder how many of these consertivitive pundits have put on a uniform and put thier ass on the line? Like all Chicken…..Hawks, all they can do is cluck. Talk the talk but sure as won’t walk the walk.
June 27th, 2006 at 7:09 pmWhat I’m not happy about is the fact that Murtha and a couple others are lone wolf Democrats on this. Why is it that the Republicans are focusing on what Murtha might or might not have said on this issue. Shouldn’t there be concern that the rest of the world is increasingly looking at the US as a loose canoon? How is that good for Democracy and Freedom? Bush’s idea of Freedom is that you are free do do what Bush wants.
It’s clear to me that Bush/Chaney/Rumsfield dearly miss the cold war and will do anything to start a new one, including constructing elaborate straw-men. It’s time to boot these clowns out.
June 27th, 2006 at 7:13 pmMurtha Post…
MurthaLied.com
June 27th, 2006 at 7:15 pmMurthaLied.com
MurthaLied.com
MurthaLied.com
MurthaLied.com
MurthaLied.com
MurthaLied.com
MurthaLied.com
MurthaLied.com
Actually, it was they who lied about Murtha.
…
# 22 re: update. yes, I have an email from Sun to prove it.
June 27th, 2006 at 7:36 pmfunny how all these errors and mistakes ALWAYS smear democrats.
And O’lielly, Schmuker, and Grinchnick will be issuing their prime time corrections and appologies when?
June 27th, 2006 at 8:00 pm.
With the “cut and run” mantra spouted automaton-like by every card-carrying conservative Republican, and now this scripted (and inaccurate) attack on Jack Murtha, Republicans prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are incapable of original thought. Or any thought, for that matter, only slavish repetition of sound bites dictated by their craven leadership.
June 27th, 2006 at 8:06 pmWhether Murtha said it or not,
it’s true – the United States IS the biggest threat to world peace.
Only masters of war, those who build the big guns, and build the big bombs, would say otherwise. War is money. Follow the money.
If Murtha said it, more power to him. I don’t think he has it in him.
June 27th, 2006 at 8:23 pmWhile Rove was sitting in the hot seat, Bush and the neocons backed off ever so slightly and began to listen to opposing voices – again, ever so slightly. Listening and communicating are the requirements of Democracy. We will, after all, never completely agree on anything in this country. Now that Rove has been told he will not be prosecuted for leaking Plame’s name, we see vicious and proposterous attacks on Murtha and the New York Times by shameless, lying spokespeople for the Conservative press. Coincidence?
June 27th, 2006 at 8:34 pmThis lie is just another example of the REPUBLICAN SISSY SYNDROME (RSS).
My hope is that every time a republican uses, ” cut and run”, a Democrat will counter with:
Republican Sissy Syndrome (RSS),
Please feel free to pass it on.
June 27th, 2006 at 8:35 pmlol, is that all they got is one quote?
June 27th, 2006 at 8:39 pmWhy he hasn’t even begun to catch up with the Bush Folks.
“Attacked” so did a rabid brotherhood of the nationale in ohio pummel upon this mans head and cause him injury that required medical assistance?
I mean WTF? Really. This media crisis thing is getting old and tedious…sensationalism is like the ‘wet head’ is dead thing.
Pundits are like yesteryear.
The battle for different world views is heating up. The neocons will stop at nothing to promote their view. Don’t get used to it in the sense that we have be very vocal about every act of fraud, misdirection and dysinformation. The pukes are very good at these but now we should take the attack to them.
June 27th, 2006 at 8:47 pmHeck bush has misspoke a zillion times maybe, has he been “attacked” for it? Me? Why, I just laugh, yet the whole media expounds upon an opinion and then they have all the pro-bush and the not-bush folks filling hundreds, thousands, millions of lines of data barreling across the internet….I think you think he said she said
June 27th, 2006 at 8:48 pmWhen Theives Fall Out
The US government has been taken over by a pin-stripped mafia family centered on Wall Street that includes among others the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld cabal, Republican members of Congress, Democratic members of Congress, arms dealers, bankers, Saudi royal family, oil companies, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
The only thing in our (the people’s) favor is that when thieves fall out, they attack each other. Thus we witness the attack on the NYTimes by BUshCo.
The NYTimes has been a strong voice of propaganda for Bush mafioso, and now the thieves attack each other.
And when there’s blood in the water, the sharks turn on each other.
June 27th, 2006 at 8:55 pmGee Seixon I wonder who be paying your bills
June 27th, 2006 at 8:58 pmThis is NOT a he said , she said , issue. Though it has that appearance. There truly is treason going on and it is on the neocon side. Are you simply are trying to minimize the issue? If so, I think that is disingenuous.
June 27th, 2006 at 8:58 pmBeware the Trotsky-cons
http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/Chronicles/January2004/0104Raimondo.html
Are Right-wing Trotskyites driving US foreign policy?
Christopher Hitchens and Paul Wolfowitz, two neo-con brothers-in-arms, were, in former incarnations, Trotskyites`
“The yoking together of Paul Wolf-owitz and Leon Trotsky sounds odd,†writes Heer, “but a long and tortuous history explains the link between the Bolshevik left and the Republican right.â€
Defending his remarks in the National Post, Schwartz proudly proclaimed his Trotskyite heritage on National Review Online and even coined a term for this growing grouplet: Trotsky-cons!
Re Christopher Hitchens
As Hitchens retreated, someone remarked to him, “So your glorious war has turned out to be a total disaster, hasn’t it?”
Hitchens Hails “Glorious War” http://www.counterpunch.org/
“It is glorious,” the sodden scrivener blared, “and it is my war because it needed Paul Wolfowitz and myself to go and convince the President to go to war.”
As mourners digested this megalomanic outburst, Hitchens continued, “And we are going to kill every Al Qaida terrist and Baathist in the country and that’s a good thing. They need to be killed and we will kill them.”
June 27th, 2006 at 9:07 pm“I wouldn’t call it fascism exactly, but a political system nominally controlled by an irresponsible, dumbed down electorate who are manipulated by dishonest, cynical, controlled mass media that dispense the propaganda of a corrupt political establishment can hardly be described as democracy either.” — Edward Zehr – (1936-2001) Columnist
June 27th, 2006 at 9:10 pmNo-one should be surprised by the blatant attempts by the right to vilify Murtha, or anyone else who stands up to the transgressions of this administration.
June 27th, 2006 at 9:11 pmHow Bush’s grandfather helped Hitler’s rise to power
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1312540,00.html
The pin-striped mafia beginnings
June 27th, 2006 at 9:14 pmwhat can you say? as we all know if the republican party cant handle the truth they will just make it up… ask sadam
June 27th, 2006 at 9:19 pmExperience a courageous meaningful July 4th – fast to bring the troops home
http://www.troopshomefast.org/article.php?list=type&type=144
June 27th, 2006 at 9:22 pm“They lie to us then,
June 27th, 2006 at 9:24 pmThey lie to themselves
About lying to us.”
John Trudell
Usually when people spew venom it’s because they are unhappy and have nothing to offer to a serious debate. So it is in the case of the rightwing repuglicans. No end in sight to the war, 47 million(and counting) americans uninsured, wage stagnation, interest rates rising, and all they can do is appeal to their base. It’s such bs.
June 27th, 2006 at 9:25 pmI wish Murtha had said what he supposedly said.
If only he had the guts to speak the truth then he wouldn’t be a liar.
Anyone who refuses to speak the truth about this war and refuses to acknowledge that the US is the biggest threat to peace, is a liar.
June 27th, 2006 at 9:28 pmLet’s all email Murtha and encourage him to say what he supposedly said, which some dispute he actually said, but which if he did say would be a powerful truth that needs to be said
June 27th, 2006 at 9:30 pm#6 Now I await Think Progress to report that Murtha was one of the people in Congress who warned the New York Times to not publish the story about the financial tracking program.
That’s really reaching. Dontcha think?
What’s that smell? Smells like GOP desperation.
June 27th, 2006 at 9:31 pmIntentional? I think yes. And the swiftboating has begun
June 27th, 2006 at 9:56 pmagain?
does a month go by when something like this DOES’NT happen?
you think they’ll stop repeating it now that they know it’s not true?
and maybe John Gibson will dance the Macarena?
June 27th, 2006 at 10:09 pmWhat Keller said was unclear.
CNN:
KELLER: To the best of my knowledge, three people outside of the administration were asked by the administration to call us. I spoke to one of them. One of them spoke to our Washington bureau chief. One of them spoke to Jill Abramson, our managing editor. All of them spoke, they thought, in confidence, and I don’t think I will breach the confidence of what they said, although I will say that not all of them urged us not to publish.
BLITZER: Because in the letter from the treasury secretary, he specifically refers to former Democratic Congressman Lee Hamilton, who, together with the chairman of the 9/11 Commission, Governor Tom Kean of New Jersey, appealed to you not to print this information. I assume you can confirm Lee Hamilton, since the treasury secretary has disclosed his name.
KELLER: I am happy to tell you who we spoke to. I think I’ll leave it to them to tell you what they actually said, but I will say that…
BLITZER: Who were the three people outside of the administration that asked you not to report this information?
KELLER: Tom Kean, Lee Hamilton and Congressman Jack Murtha.
June 27th, 2006 at 10:18 pmJeez. Look at these unhinged wingnuts trying to carve Murtha into a thousand pieces for something he didn’t even say. And then broadcasting it to millions of people over and over.
Yet Joel Siegel at TNR has bigger problems with knee jerk reactions from bloggers.
June 27th, 2006 at 10:26 pmsEiXXON claims to be a moderate. he must be right.
because all moderates regularly attack liberals on practically a daily basis. he’s just following those “moderate talking points”. damn those moderate bastards and their moderate-wing noise machine.
June 27th, 2006 at 10:38 pmSmear gone bad. LOL.
June 27th, 2006 at 11:04 pm[...] Think Progress has all the details. I’m sure the apologies will be front page, and top of the hour. Conservatives have no shame. Murtha Attacked by the Right For Quote Falsely Attributed to Him [...]
June 27th, 2006 at 11:34 pmThe Right Wing Fascist Zombie Patrol is on the loose again! They don’t eat flesh but character and truth. They are hungry and shameless and relentless. They look for any weakness, whether real or imagined. and then spew their acid to soften and confuse you, and then they devour you whole. They’re not from outer space but from here – homegrown, goosestepping, rabid and irrational syncophants who harken back to the good ol’ days when men were men and women were men, too (like Ms. Coulter). So be on the look out. This is an election year and they travel in packs like wolves and rats and evil bug-eyed munchkins. No stake in the heart, no silver bullet, nor poison or a swift kick in the nuts (they have none) will do these suckers in. There’s only one way to kill them – VOTE! And then pray like hell your vote isn’t stolen or shanghied or overturned or lost.
June 27th, 2006 at 11:39 pmNext thing ya know, Tucker Carlson and friends will be reporting Murtha said he invented the internet! People will continue to repeat it, years later, even after the assertion has been proven to have been a HUGE LIE… (remind you of anything?)
June 27th, 2006 at 11:45 pmTypical Republican tactic: When you don’t like the message, attack the messenger. Don’t you just LOVE these war-drum thumpers, Cheney, et.al., who not only never wore a uniform more grown-up than a cub scout’s togs, but went out of their way to dodge the draft, and, even worse than that, follow a leader who went one up on that trick by going AWOL !
June 27th, 2006 at 11:49 pmDidn’t Dan Rather get kicked off the air for something like this?
June 28th, 2006 at 12:05 amRepublican sleazoids. Character means something; too bad they don’t have any.
June 28th, 2006 at 12:24 amBack to AvengingAngel’s comment at #5, above: “What does GOP stand for”? …I thought it was just the sound made when one stepped in something vile. As an acronym, it has proved to be Greedy Old Pricks.
June 28th, 2006 at 1:28 amThis is a common tactic of these destructive people on the far right; they issue a false statement and the damage is done because most people won’t read the retraction and will believe the lies. Very Rovian and VERY dangerous.
June 28th, 2006 at 2:14 amI don’t see why Murtha (and all the others who’ve been smeared) don’t begin to take on the smearers, case by case, to keep them from lying, libeling, distorting the truth.
June 28th, 2006 at 2:36 amIt doesn’t matter that Murtha didn’t say it. The Lie Machine has gone into motion and will succeed in making people believe he did, which is all that really matters. So, the facsists win again! Goebbels would be pleased. Is this a great country, or what!
June 28th, 2006 at 2:57 amthe nazi republic party–so renamed as they have changed the name of the democratic party to the democrat party–are up to their usual gestapo tactics and are in the midst of another nazi styled campaign that will smear anyone as they did with tne nazis of the swift boat smear two years ago. how they do this all is astounding to me, since they have to constantly use the left hand and arm to keep the right one from salulting all the way up!
June 28th, 2006 at 3:16 amThe right-wingers have done it again, managed to implant a lie in the minds of some portion of our poorly-informed electorate that no amount of newspaper retractions will correct. I expect many of my Republican friends will be quoting this nonsense attributed in error to Jack Murtha to me on the eve of the Novrmber elections.
June 28th, 2006 at 5:36 amDoesn’t Gingrich have a intern to screw around with?,he’s such yesterday’s bad news!
June 28th, 2006 at 5:36 amI found it interesting that a Democrat outtalked Jack Burkeman? (not sire if the name is correct even after Burkeman consistently tried to overtalk the Democrat. The coup d’ gras was the Democrat telling Burkeman? (name)? instead of talking about the sacrifices our brave troops are making in Iraq, he, Burkeman, was young enough to join our troops and serve there. I don’t suspect Burkeman rushed to the nearest recruiting center though.
June 28th, 2006 at 6:23 amIt is ridiculous that this sort of thing can go on and nobody is out there to call these Repugs on what they say or print in the media. Just like Santorum, he put the lie out there because he knew his right wing shills were going to run with it and when confronted by it, he’d scream “liberal media”. It doesn’t matter that it was a lie, just that he was able to put it out there and the yahoos would scream WE TOLD YOU THERE WERE WMD! Now you have a smear of John Murtha and the damage has already been done even though he never even said the quote. Something should be done, because the “liberal media” sure won’t be doing anything about it.
June 28th, 2006 at 6:36 amAs of 6/28, they have not updated/correctedthe text in the online article, nor made any mention in the online “Corrections” – wonder if, and where, they will acknowledge the error….
June 28th, 2006 at 6:38 amDon’t be shocked by this. It’s the same shit they pulled on John Kerry, saying that in congressional testimony he called the American soldiers in Viet Nam war criminals when in fact he was reading from a transcript from a meeting of the winter soldiers, an anti-war group of the times. I hope to God people get fed up with being taken for chumps by these cretins.
June 28th, 2006 at 8:11 amGood Ol’ Propaganda
June 28th, 2006 at 8:34 amThere has been NO correction to this story. Murtha said it. Of course, you are lying to your loyal followers, trying your best to convince them to harass a reporter from a newspaper to force her to retract a story that’s true.
Murtha said this. It’s in print. Isn’t freedom of the press wonderful?
June 28th, 2006 at 8:51 amJanice,
June 28th, 2006 at 9:03 amThe newspaper is correcting the story. Murtha was referring to the poll- he has done it several times already the last week or so. You should pull your head out.
Murtha is on the wrong side of most issues and should go back to the back of the hall where he has spent his quiet career. he’s killing us
June 28th, 2006 at 9:09 amSo you folks seem to really think Murtha is a honest guy to be respected. Well then I assume you also agree with him on the New York Times leak situation. Of course you “well informed” folks here on the net are aware that he along with the two top investigators on the 9/11 commission begged the Times to not report the story on terror finance tracking. Oh but wait of course that would put you against the liberal rag so in this case I’m sure Murtha is wrong right…..Oh sweeeeet irony.
June 28th, 2006 at 9:14 amIf more representatives were doing their job… the NYT wouldn’t have to leak information…
June 28th, 2006 at 9:21 amNo, no, no–you don’t understand. It doesn’t matter whether Murtha actually made either statement–they are responding to the statement they wished he made. These guys live in a fantasy world, don’t forget.
June 28th, 2006 at 9:21 amHeatherfan,
Don’t be absurd. Many of us liberals can like a politician’s stands on issue A and dislike a stand on issue B. We don’t assume that because the person disagrees with us on one or two issues out of dozens of issues that the person is deranged or not to be trusted. The Democratic party does not think and speak in lockstep like many in the GOP do. We actually have constructive controversy about issues instead of simply rubberstamping the leader’s policies.
The real irony comes from you rightwingnuts who declare to bring freedom to the Iraqis while diminishing freedom here at home.
June 28th, 2006 at 9:25 amArlen Specter and Republicans have allowed the executive branch to get out of control… where is the oversight, instead of the sucking up to the executive branch.
June 28th, 2006 at 9:25 amRedleg, no the real irony is people like you who assume to know how I feel about an issue of which I did not speak of. And your comments about democrats not walking lock step….well I guess it’s one of those things were if your able to say that then no one could possibly educate you to the truth. I can only assume you have been living in a cave for most of your life and have never looked at congressional votes. See I have and I don’t recall seeing democrats doing anything but voting in lockstep, just as the Republicans do.
June 28th, 2006 at 9:32 amOversight? Oversight is for constitutional republics. Dictatorships don’t use oversight- just rubberstamps.
June 28th, 2006 at 9:38 amif Newt thinks that congress such censure Murtha because of his comments, then what the hell should they do with Bush. These republicans really are brainless twits!!!!!
June 28th, 2006 at 9:42 amHeatherfan,
How condescending- acting as though you have to educate me to the “truth.” You wingers have played pretty f-ing loose and fast with the truth. Look at Bush and Cheney and their very selective use of intelligence to “justify” war with Iraq. Look at Santorum’s recent stupidity about the so-called WMDs found in Iraq. Look at the continuing GOP lies about Iraq, Social Security, health care, and many other major issues.
Take another look at my comments to you- in no place do I tell you what you personally think. I discuss what some wingnuts think but I do not attribute those thoughts to you. Perhaps you need to learn to read before you get pissy with me.
June 28th, 2006 at 9:46 amRedleg,
June 28th, 2006 at 10:18 amWhen you directly comment on something I posted and include all sorts of dribble about Republicans how else would one take that. I never commented on the things you used to refute me. I don’t take any offense though just as with your #83 comment you completely deviate from the actual topic and start on the tired talking points of the left. See I don’t belong to either party. I happen to think they are both a bunch of spineless wastes of oxygen. I just get so tired of you folks who cannot see the truth if it were a mack truck running you down. Instead of actually trying to defend the insanse comments you made about democrats not walking lock step you get off on some silly tangent about Santorum. It’s ok though when someone makes a factual error it’s very common to divert attention from their error. I still love you as my fellow American though. I just wish you could find a healthy way to deal with your anger and lack of information. Heres hoping you get well.
As far as I can tell, there is NO retraction, or correction, in the June 28 online edition of the South Florida Sun-Sentinal.
June 28th, 2006 at 10:54 amIs “pundit” a synonym for liar.
June 28th, 2006 at 10:56 am“Of course you “well informed†folks here on the net are aware that he along with the two top investigators on the 9/11 commission begged the Times to not report the story on terror finance tracking. Oh but wait of course that would put you against the liberal rag so in this case I’m sure Murtha is wrong right…..Oh sweeeeet irony. ”
Comment by Heatherfan
I, for one, think that the Times was WRONG to run that story and that Murtha was RIGHT to warn them not to.
There’s a hekuva lot more “sweet irony” in the Bush Administration’s actions, starting with the fact that by invading Iraq, we did Osama bin Laden a favor, created a terrorist haven, degraded the US military, provoked Iran and North Korea, and turned the whole World against the US.
I’ll let you form your own opinion on the impact this is having on world peace.
June 28th, 2006 at 11:00 amSo what if he had said it. He’d be correct.
Why do we continue to concern ourselves about
what a bunch of chicken shit, bow tie wearing, racist
crap for brains fools say.
Murtha and the rest of us should say we agree with
that poll. AMERICA BECAUSE OF THIS CRIMINAL ADMINISTRATION ARE THE BIGGEST THREAT TO WORLD PEACE.
June 28th, 2006 at 11:41 am“Of course you “well informed†folks here on the net are aware that he along with the two top investigators on the 9/11 commission begged the Times to not report the story on terror finance tracking. Oh but wait of course that would put you against the liberal rag so in this case I’m sure Murtha is wrong right…..Oh sweeeeet irony. â€
Comment by Heatherfan
This is a classical rightwingisim. Nuance of any kind simply short circuits the rightwing brain. Murtha is welcome to his opinion in this as in everything else. Much of what he says I agree with, some of it I don’t.
Murtha was right to give as forthright an input to the NYT as possible. They also have the right to disagree. The key point issue is that the press cannot, and must not allow the government to dictate what it can and cannot print. That is utter madness.
Maybe this should be tried in court, the NYT can afford it and it is a dead cert that the government would loose. No court is going to hand this administration another blank cheque.
June 28th, 2006 at 12:04 pmIt doesn,t matter what Murtha said. The lie has been put out there and none of these true american war suppoorters will retract their statements on national television or make a big deal of the misquote because they don’t have to, it doesn’t fit in with their propaganda. Let the lie fester in the minds of the folks, no retraction necessary. Its called swiftboating.
June 28th, 2006 at 12:11 pmIt’s interesting that we hold our newspapers to a higher standard than our clueless President.
June 28th, 2006 at 12:12 pmI guess we’ll need the audio to know the truth. Now I await Think Progress to report that Murtha was one of the people in Congress who warned the New York Times to not publish the story about the financial tracking program.
Hot damn!! Another one! Why is this so surprising? Murtha is a long established hawk who generally takes the military view. That’s why his call to brings to troops home is so compelling!!!
Given all the effort devoted to demolishing him, I find your citing of Murtha more bizarre than liberals ignoring his comments on this issue. Are you saying you agree with him on troop withdrawals, timetables and the like? You can’t have it both ways!!!
Except of course you can:-)
June 28th, 2006 at 12:12 pmHeatherfan,
Thanks for the cogent psychoanalysis. I didn’t realize how angry I was but you showed me the light. You and Charles Krauthammer must have studied psychiatry at the same university.
You may not be a right-winger but you sure love to use Ann Coulter’s favorite ad hominem attack: questioning the sanity of a person because you disagree with them. I made several cogent points which you sneeringly ignored in your response to me. If you didn’t understand why I included the information about the pattern of GOP lies then you must be obtuse or willfully ignorant. Perhaps you’re delusional- how’s that for cheap psychoanalysis?
Perhaps I do have some anger, but it is not misplaced or pathological. We should all be angry that Bush and his cronies have made a mess of things and that the GOP lackies have greased the wheels and helped all this happen.
I have read a number of your comments on this thread and others. You claim to be independent of either party but I have discerned a clear pattern of bias against lefties in your posts. Perhaps I am wrong in judging you this way but given your personal attacks against me, I doubt it.
June 28th, 2006 at 12:22 pm# 86-American Patriot:
Long time,no see.Good to have you back.
June 28th, 2006 at 12:31 pmThe GOP stands for:
G reed
O ppression
P ropaganda
I don’t know why the Dems are not asking everyday why the President thinks he can disobey laws at will. He has signed over 750 signing statements stating just that. Is the President above the law? The founders didn’t think so!!
June 28th, 2006 at 12:41 pmHere is the “Correction” published today by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:
Corrections and clarifications for June 28
Correction: An article in Sunday’s editions misinterpreted a comment from U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., at a town hall meeting in North Miami on Saturday. In his speech, Murtha said U.S. credibility was suffering because of continued U.S. military presence in Iraq ,and the perception that the U.S. is an occupying force. Murtha was citing a recent poll, by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, that indicates a greater percentage of people in 10 of 14 foreign countries consider the U.S. in Iraq a greater danger to world peace than any threats posed by Iran or North Korea.
Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
June 28th, 2006 at 12:42 pmOh sweeeeet irony. â€
Comment by Heatherfan
This is a classical rightwingisim. Nuance of any kind simply short circuits the rightwing brain. Murtha is welcome to his opinion in this as in everything else. Much of what he says I agree with, some of it I don’t.
Perhaps I was overly harsh, the tone of your comment pushed the ol’ hot buttons, I may have been too quick to judge. Now that the record has been set straight regarding Murtha’s comments, can you address my comment about nuance?
Where you really suprised by Murtha’s stance on the “national security” issue? Do you genuinely think that “liberals” would be suprised by his stance on this issue? Also are you aware Murtha is anti-abortion?
Oh yes, he’s quite the conservative really. Looking forward to reading your responses.
June 28th, 2006 at 12:54 pmRepugs seem to think that just because Murtha may have asked the NY Times to sit on the financial records story that it is alright to lie about what Murtha said in a speech. Whasup with that?
I also wonder why the Repugs aren’t up in arms against the Wall Street Journal for its reportage regarding the same illegal action. I guess they don’t want to stifle the mouthpiece.
June 28th, 2006 at 1:08 pmBrian,
June 28th, 2006 at 1:13 pmI agree with what you say about Murtha but have to add- many Democrats are “anti-abortion.” We would like to see abortions become very rare. It so happens that we also support the woman’s right to choose whether to use birth control and whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. The right-wing uses the term “pro-abortion” to incorrectly frame the Democratic position.
Brian,
June 28th, 2006 at 1:40 pmI completely agree with your comments about nuance. It does not surprise me that Murtha would take the military side of this issue. I don’t agree with HIS plan for troop withdrawls. I personally think that relocating them to another area in the middle east is not the best plan. Now I’m not a military expert and I respect his opinion. I don’t claim to have the answer to this situation. Getting back to the New York Times story though. I agree that the press should be very aggresive in telling us what the government is up to. I really think this is an important debate. Obviously there is a line, if they had reported the details of troop movements during a war we would all agree that they should face serious consequences. Now I’m not saying what they did is on par with that, what I am saying is there is a line and we need to establish what that line is. I don’t want them prosecuted, although I do think there needs to be some sort of forum for determining what is appropriate for the media to publish and what right the government has to protect it’s operations. So many on the left salivated for over a year at the Valerie Plame leak, yet this time they seem to be taking the side of the Times. I’m not saying everyone has or even that you feel that way. It’s just ironic that the Plame leak was not nearly as serious as this leak and yet because it’s the Times they seem to get a free pass. Of course the person in the Government who leaked this should also be held accountable.
comment 93; redleg:
You said, “We should all be angry that Bush and his cronies have made a mess of things and that the GOP lackies have greased the wheels and helped all this happen.”
Sure, but we should be even ANGRIER that our Democratic congressmen let it happen as well, under the guise of WMD. I sat and watched this whole debacle unfold on my TV screen, and knew it was BS, why didn’t the Dem senators? The answer is, they DID know, but were afraid to appear “unpatriotic”, or, they had alterior motives of their own. The only senator who really protested was Senator Byrd from West Virginia; little old hillbilly, coal producing West Virginia. So let’s take a look at the bigger picture, shall we? About 99.9% of our politicians, Repubs and Dems alike, are in someone’s pocket. The remaining .1% are senators like Byrd and Murtha. Period.
June 28th, 2006 at 2:07 pm[...] ThinkProgress [...]
June 28th, 2006 at 4:21 pmIt constantly amazes me how easily Americans are duped (by those who have NEVER served in the military) into believing that those who HAVE served in the military are unpatriotic.
As an extension of that problem, it constantly amazes me that veterans don’t stick together to defend their own against such slander.
That’s what our soldiers have to look forward to 20 years down the road (if they survive Iraq) — that they will be called unpatriotic because of their politics???? What a sad legacy from this “new” Republican Party.
June 28th, 2006 at 4:29 pmNikolai,
True the Dems were way too passive prior to the Iraq war resolution. I am still more angry at Bushco than the Dems because Bush is the one who decided to invade. The Dems merely gave him the authorization (although I believe many Dems hoped Bush would use more restraint).
You did hit the nail on the head- many Democrats probably were afraid to oppose Bush because they were concerned about being painted as unpatriotic in the aftermath of 9-11. Bush, Cheney, and Rove effectively used 9-11 to pistolwhip all congressmen and women into supporting the get touch policy re: Iraq.
June 28th, 2006 at 5:40 pmgail bulfin, you really ought to resign. Get your propaganda machine and move to KStreet with the rest of the facists. You people (Liars and Crooks) make me sick
June 29th, 2006 at 12:44 pm[...] Last Sunday, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that Rep. John Murtha said he believed the “American presence in Iraq is more dangerous to world peace than nuclear threats from North Korea or Iran.” The report was quickly seized on by conservative media — including Brit Hume, Bill O’Reilly, Joe Scarborough and Tucker Carlson — to attack Murtha. [...]
June 30th, 2006 at 10:17 amThe Infozone has updated this morning (June 30th, 2006) featuring Revisionist Journalism
TIZ
June 30th, 2006 at 11:08 amHow John Murtha was ‘Framed’
TIZ
July 3rd, 2006 at 12:12 pmDespite an email warning to Mr. Pasco to contact Sharon Rosenhause, Managing Editor at the Sun-Sentinel, irey.com continues to maintain this page.
“Is Murtha channeling Marty McFly? Congressman’s June 27 press release magically includes information from … June 28?”
http://www.irey.com/news/Read.aspx?Id=61
In my email exchange with Mr. Pasco yesterday he attempted to float this clever headline with me in an email. I responded to him with this:
—————————————————————————-
If you really want to follow this “rapid crash journalism” course of action of yours, let me assist you in doing so properly. This is John Murtha’s original press release issued by Cindy Abram on June 27th.
http://theinfozone.net/PDFfiles/MurthaPressRelease.pdf
…
You can understand why Cindy Abram updated Mr. Murtha’s press release from the 27th now, I presume. After all, most would conclude that the Sun-Sentinel, who created this mess to start with, was in a better position to fix what Elizabeth Baier broke than theinfozone.net.
Please note: Ms. Baier as well as her editor Ms. Rosenhause are recipients of this email.
Mr Pasco(sic), perhaps they will be gracious enough to assist you towards a more lucid understanding of your “Marty McFly” insight.
—————————————————————————-
Apparently Mr. Bill Pascoe puts more faith in continuing his slander strategy than makes sense.
Ms Rosenhause has her own special part in this. The Sun-Sentinel has removed their retraction … the correction that rewrote the “the shot heard around the world” first paragraph. The Sun-Sentinel has suddenly placed it in their paid archives, removing it from public domain. The only way you will find the unethical rewrite (still in public domain) is through google cache. You may wish to contact her as well.
For the sake of clarity, inquiries regarding THIS turn of events should include the Subject Line: Mr. Bill
Bill Pascoe
bill@irey.com
phone: (724) 258-2300
Sharon Rosenhause
srosenhause@sun-sentinel.com
phone: (954) 425-1200
Cliff Hancuff
July 12th, 2006 at 2:16 pmThe World of Journalism Is Flat, Too
Bes plan?
Redeploy Mullah Murtha to Okinawa!
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