Murtha Misquote: O’Reilly and Hume Correct the Record, Scarborough and Carlson Stay Silent
Murtha Misquote: O’Reilly and Hume Correct the Record, Scarborough and Carlson Stay Silent
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.
The story was false. Murtha was citing an international public opinion poll, not expressing his own views. On Wednesday, the Sun-Sentinel issued a correction. We urged ThinkProgress readers to contact the television outlets that pushed the innaccurate story and correct the record for their viewers.
Over the last two days O’Reilly and Hume have done so. Watch it:
According to a database search, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Tucker Carlson (who said Murtha was “in the thrall†of anti-American activists) haven’t bothered to inform their viewers that their attacks were based on a statement Murtha never made.
Email Joe Scarborough and Tucker Carlson — joe@msnbc.com, Tucker@msnbc.com — and tell them to do the right thing.
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79 Responses to “Murtha Misquote: O’Reilly and Hume Correct the Record, Scarborough and Carlson Stay Silent”
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The “Right” thing to do is to lie, and then……….lie some more.
June 30th, 2006 at 10:20 amO’Really and Humorme are just trying to score a few “fair and balanced” points since they are in an incredible deficit.
June 30th, 2006 at 10:21 amI saw this in a movie once, but the reporter was Dan Rather, and in the end he had to retire or something.
June 30th, 2006 at 10:23 amOh so Drew does that mean this is the last we will see of these lying shills Scarborough, Carlson, Hume and O’liely? Dang from your lips to Gods ears!!!
June 30th, 2006 at 10:26 am3 Drew
June 30th, 2006 at 10:28 amI remember that. But, you know the “victim” in that movie was a certified war hero while the target in this case just likes to fly around and show off his codpiece. ?? Oh, wait, maybe it’s the other way around. I forget. I’m sure some neocon with a superior memory will tell us which it is.
I think it would also be good to send letters to Bill O’Reilly and Brit Hume thanking them for correcting the story on air. Can’t hurt to encourage responsible behaviour when we see it, eh?
June 30th, 2006 at 10:30 amWell, sometimes Mr. Loofah-Falafel can surprise us with his occasional steps outside the Rethuglican Scream Machine, and try to sound sensible. Like a beaten young puppy, though, he immediately runs back to the warmth and comfort that, in his mind, comes from being surrounded by Reich-wingers who can’t do anything but shout, lie, smear, and shout some more.
June 30th, 2006 at 10:33 am6 Kriselda
June 30th, 2006 at 10:34 amWhile a big part of me is inclined to agree with you, at least in theory, my concern is whether such letters from us would be perceived as “encouraging” by them and even more uncertain is whether this is really “responsible behavior” or just selfish self protection that we would be attempting to reward.
Determined to find the law that requires Americans to pay income tax, Aaron Russo (THE ROSE, TRADING PLACES) sets out on a journey. Neither left- nor right-wing, this startling examination exposes the systematic erosion of civil liberties in America. Through interviews with US Congressmen, a former IRS Commissioner, former IRS and FBI agents, tax attorneys and authors, Russo connects the dots between money creation, federal income tax, voter fraud, the national identity card (becoming law in May 2000 and the implementation of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to track citizens. A striking case about the evolving police state in America.
http://www.freedomtofascism.com/
June 30th, 2006 at 10:39 am#9 is right on the money. The US treasury does little to nothing. If the people could get together and make a stand on Washington, we could put an end to the madness by not paying taxes and demand the treasury to do it’s job, the congress to do it’s job, and kill off the privately owned Federal Reserves bank.
June 30th, 2006 at 10:45 amWhy does Tucker hate America? I understand that he said that the American presence in Iraq is more dangerous to world peace than nuclear threats from North Korea or Iran.
Oh, he was quoting someone else, who was quoting a poll? Every journalist with any honor (stop laughing) should misquote him like that until he offers an apology.
June 30th, 2006 at 10:47 amNo more stupid wars for the rich for the lower classes to fight and water down the value of the dollar. #9 and #10.
June 30th, 2006 at 10:48 amOkay, let me get this straight - you ask for the reporters to make a correction. They do so. Then you attack them for making the correction? Come on. That’s ridiculous. I don’t care what side of the aisle you’re on, that’s just stupid. They corrected the record, on the air, on the very same programs where they had reported the news that had been published.
Never happy - They do something wrong, you bitch. They do something right, you bitch.
June 30th, 2006 at 10:50 amRight is not a very bright bulb.
If they were able to verify the statement so fast, it’s pretty clear that the talking point was a smear piece issued by karl”Fair Game” Rove the nam draft dodger.
June 30th, 2006 at 10:53 amForget calling Tucker and Joe, the don’t give a flying rat’s ass whether they are honest or accurate, they’re bad little boys who like the attention being bad gets them.
Call MSNBC and keep reassuring them that you will never watch these shows because they are innaccurate and make no attempt to be factual. add in that they are not funny or entertaining either. Their ratings are already not good, that’s why MSNBC has put them close to Olbermann, hoping people will watch because Countdown is growing in popularity. Tell them you watch Keith then change the channel.
Then start calling Joe and Tucker’s advertisers and talk about how unpatriotic it is to lie about veterans in a time of war and ask them why they continue to support such Unamerican behavior and how you can no longer support their company as long as they do. (Look on the show’s websites for advertisers.)
Better yet, put it all in writing and email it. It can all be done in less than 10 minutes.
The way to get these guys in a market economy is to follow the money - just like the terrorists - they only survive because they are funded by someone. And it’s rare to bring them down with a big bang, the death of a thousand small cuts is much more effective, if less dramatic.
Think about a world where Tucker, Joe, and all the rest fade into disgraced oblivion because nobody wants to pay for their swill.
Strike a blow, even a small one. It feels good.
June 30th, 2006 at 10:56 amJules & PLC - Wishful thinking.
CBS has a publicly available code of ethics that binds their employees to a high standard of truthfulness: http://www.cbscorporation.com/media/pdf/conductstmt.pdf. FOX on the other hand has a marketing-dept-fabricated slogan “Fair and Balanced”.
One is absolutely, unbendingly conversative about it’s news truthfulness, the other liberally mixes news with opinions to form a reality-based entertainment stream.
I’m not saying FOX hasn’t done anything incredibly unethical, I’m just saying they haven’t done anything that offends either their corporate standard or target market.
June 30th, 2006 at 10:56 am#13 - I haven’t read all the comments, but ThinkProgress, at least, is not attacking them for making the correction. ON the contrary, they are reporting that O’Reilly and Hume did so, and linking to clips that make these two men look GOOD.
And then they are urging Carlson and Scarborough to do the same. READ THE POSTS! Good grief.
June 30th, 2006 at 11:00 amThe first spin is quite powerful, as the right wing fully well knows, and any attempt to undo the damage is always difficult. In other words, they fling the sh*t ,see what sticks and what doesn’t, when they try and take something back? a nasty stain.
June 30th, 2006 at 11:00 amI see the paid trolls from the Rendon Group and the Leadership Institute aren’t taking today off.
June 30th, 2006 at 11:03 amThe four of them are so full of hate, it’s unbelievable.
If they were given their way, they would have nuked every country in the world that disagrees with the US
June 30th, 2006 at 11:17 amThe Sun-Sentinel makes false statements about Murtha on Sunday, then waits until WEDNESDAY to make a correction.
That’s some delay time for an “oopsie.” Almost like somebody was trying to give the Bush Administration media ancillaries the opportunity to disperse propaganda about Murtha. Ya think?
June 30th, 2006 at 11:20 amRegardless of why they did it, thank you Bill and Brit for telling the truth this time and admitting you were mistaken.
June 30th, 2006 at 11:22 amNever happy - They do something wrong, you bitch. They do something right, you bitch.
Comment by Right
I agree with you, Right . I mean, don’t you just get sick and tired of the likes of the Limbaugh’s, Hannity’s, and Ingraham’s of world and their continual carping and complaining?
June 30th, 2006 at 11:22 amYour point that Fox News is, in fact, more fair and balanced in their reporting than MSNBC is well made. Thanks for the feedback.
June 30th, 2006 at 11:23 am#17 - I was commenting on the posts, not Think Progress’ official entry. You’re right to say that Think Progress does a fair reporting job. It just strikes me as wholly unreasonable to ask for something, then bitch about it when you get it.
June 30th, 2006 at 11:25 am#23 - Wouldn’t know. I don’t listen to talk radio. But I think the assessment is fair that both sides do it.
June 30th, 2006 at 11:27 amMy parents very quickly would drag to me the sink and make me wash my mouth with soap because I was caught in a lie. Learned not to lie in a hurry. This crowd, however, needs to be be put in the village square and dunked in the pond until they would finally confess that they are liars.
Frank Halse
June 30th, 2006 at 11:29 amImagine actually being worse than FOX.
This is a new low for MSRNC.
June 30th, 2006 at 11:33 amI guess BO won’t be Keith Olbermann’s “Worst Person in the World” — today, anyway.
June 30th, 2006 at 11:36 am27 - How is repeating a direct news source, and citing that source, then retracting the statement when it turns out to be false, a lie? It’s not a lie anymore than Dan Rather’s reporting was a lie. Just because the documents are false, doesn’t make the reporter a liar.
June 30th, 2006 at 11:39 am#15 — That’s exactly the right thing to do. I did it several months ago and I make sure I don’t turn on Countdown until Hardball has completely ended and I turn it off as soon as Keith mentions he’s going to pass the ball to (ugh!) Joe.
Neither Joe nor Tucker will apologize or make a correction. Joe will attempt to ignore it and just claim later that he said and believes something else. Tucker will pull it out of his ass for several years even though he knows it’s a lie. It’s what he did with his false John Edwards “Jacuzzi” story. Neither cares about truth or ethics, although both like to loudly proclaim they possess more than anyone else.
June 30th, 2006 at 11:44 amWhy doesn’t Mr. Murtha sue them for defamation, false light, misrepresentation? Although Congressman Murtha is a public figure, these people are professionals and have a legal imperative to check their facts before they make false and misleading statements. They have damaged Mr. Murtha’s reputation. Apologizing on air or in print every day for six months is not too much to ask. All publishers should review the Times v. Sullivan case. Just because someone is a public figure does not grant a right to disparage or make false claims against that public figure.
June 30th, 2006 at 11:53 am#23 - Wouldn’t know. I don’t listen to talk radio. But I think the assessment is fair that both sides do it.
Comment by Right
If you are refering to mainstream TV, then who on the left are you refering to? Larry King?
June 30th, 2006 at 11:53 amIt’s not a lie anymore than Dan Rather’s reporting was a lie. Just because the documents are false, doesn’t make the reporter a liar.
Comment by Right
Dan Rather was forced off the air after weeks of rightwing attacks by conservatives who were not interesed in a public apology. Funny that I don’t hear those same calls from the left for O’Rielly’s tired ass.
June 30th, 2006 at 11:58 amO’Reilly the ‘regressive’, pulled the dildo out of his mouth/ass long enough to correct the statement. Amazing
June 30th, 2006 at 11:59 am“Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.” - FDR
June 30th, 2006 at 12:00 pmDildO’Reilly
June 30th, 2006 at 12:01 pmTuck and Joe will be gone when MSNBC puts taped reports of headliners and legends
June 30th, 2006 at 12:05 pmAnyone notice that Olbermann lambasted O’Reilly and Hume for this, and not Carlson and Scarborough, from his own network?
June 30th, 2006 at 12:06 pmThey won’t apologize. They’ll be cancelled soon. I can’t wait.
June 30th, 2006 at 12:08 pmThis is how the sky is falling globall warming group get their messages wrong
June 30th, 2006 at 12:12 pmRep. Murtha drives the Republicans into complete madness > bravo to Murtha!
June 30th, 2006 at 12:15 pmUmmm Does anyone even WATCH TUCKER?
Last I heard there were about 9 people watching him and they were all family members forced to watch him out of family loyalty.
Bill probably actually heard from some of his viewers who as brain dead as they are saw right through that one. Don’t watch any of them anyway so I could only hope their viewrs are waking up which might be happening judging by the falling ratings of Fakenews.
June 30th, 2006 at 12:19 pmExpecting Tucker Carlson to be honest about anything is asking a lot. But don’t worry - last I checked, he had very few viewers to inform about his missstatement.
June 30th, 2006 at 12:24 pmThen start calling Joe and Tucker’s advertisers and talk about how unpatriotic it is to lie about veterans in a time of war and ask them why they continue to support such Unamerican behavior and how you can no longer support their company as long as they do. (Look on the show’s websites for advertisers.)
Exactly, nail the advertisers and I’ll bet you start seeing a bit more accountability.
June 30th, 2006 at 12:24 pmAnyone notice that Olbermann lambasted O’Reilly and Hume for this, and not Carlson and Scarborough, from his own network? Comment by Joel
Tough shit, my man. Sauce for the goose.
June 30th, 2006 at 12:34 pmIf any apology is to be made, you can be sure that it won’t be until Friday evening when regular viewers aren’t around to see it. Tucker Carlson is still on? Wait, MSNBC is still on?
June 30th, 2006 at 12:35 pmBut Hume did little more than acknowledge that the Sun Sentiinal retracted their story. A true retraction on his part would have been to then acknowledge that he made comments based on this, and that there were now inappropriate and he retracts them as well. Her made no such statement.
It’s like the Bush admin saying their intelligence was faulty, but never really repenting all the things they used it for. And like the Budh admin, Hume will continue to slam Murtha and let this half ass half fact Zombie news item continue to acculate moss. He may never bring it up again, but I’ll refrain from giving him credit until I hear him preclude a few of his future broadsides against Murtha with additional context on this thing. And I ain’t holding my motherfuckin breath.
I didn’t hear that O’Reilly “retraction”. But when it comes to apologies that aren’t… the man is a master. Do doubt I really need to.
June 30th, 2006 at 12:41 pmoh MAN how much fun! Even big fat Loofah Bill had to apologize! I just wonder if it’s a start… Will Fox News start apologizing for the rest of their mistakes, like transmitting comedy 24 hours a day instead of news?
June 30th, 2006 at 1:02 pmThe depressing thing is that instead of actually stopping to think about the statement: “American presence in Iraq is more dangerous to world peace than nuclear threats from North Korea or Iran.†everyone is just bickering about what “he said… no he didn’t/ he retracted… he didn’t”. And while I don’t know whether American presence in Iraq is more dangerous than North Korea or Iran (although most evidence suggests that it is), that is what we should be focusing on. That is the world opinion. The other stuff is just navel gazing.
June 30th, 2006 at 1:03 pmWell, good ole’ Rita “we’re making news, we’re breaking news” Cosby won’t be around much longer. One more Hotshot bites the dust. Who’s gonna track all of the killers of blonde chicks around the globe?
Tucker has misspoken so many times w/o corrections it’s pathetic. On or about March 20th in a debate with Rachel Maddow (from the transcript):
CARLSON: Wait, wait, wait. Just for the record, for one thing, I opposed the invasion of Iraq.
However, from LibertyPost.org on May 12, 2004, in an interview with Joe Hagan, it was written and Tucker was quoted as saying::
While he’s still a staunch conservative—he’s anti-abortion, married with four kids—he’s changed his mind about the war in Iraq. “I think it’s a total nightmare and disaster, and I’m ashamed that I went against my own instincts in supporting it,” he said. “It’s something I’ll never do again. Never. I got convinced by a friend of mine who’s smarter than I am, and I shouldn’t have done that. No. I want things to work out, but I’m enraged by it, actually.”
So, do you really expect Tucker to retract? He doesn’t answer e-mail (well, you get a generic “thank you”) and cherry-picks phone calls to answer on-air.
No, Tucker isn’t going to retract. Just like Scarborough will not answer questions about deceased aides in his office.
June 30th, 2006 at 1:45 pmRight you ARE - - Prog whiners complain when “radical right wingers” put out incorrect information. (You were curiously silent, though when it came to Dan Blather.) Then the whiners get wound up when some people correct the mistake and others do not. Then angst sets in with “While a big part of me is inclined to agree with you, at least in theory, my concern is whether such letters from us would be perceived as “encouraging†by them and even more uncertain is whether this is really “responsible behavior†or just selfish self protection that we would be attempting to reward.” PLC
I guess Fox is more “fair and balanced”…..tee-hee…..
June 30th, 2006 at 2:12 pmYour readers seem to think O’Reilly is some kind of party-line GOP hack. That’s just not true. He’s a panderer who tries to sound tough on national security but simultaneously in touch with the populist issues. That’s why he harps on oil companies (who are NOT the enemy) and pretends calls himself a “green” who has “always said global warming is a serious problem”…
I’m no Republican, mind you, but gimme a break…what are you people so scared of? Can’t take hearing an opinion other than your own once in a while? I’m a libertarian, but I still read Huffington Post and Bushflash.com every single day. I check the Drudge Report and Daily Kos, and yes, I watch Fox News and MSNBC religiously. Keith Olbermann and Neil Cavuto are my two favorite anchors. Hell, sometimes I even read James Dobson’s Focus on the Family website, even though I hope to see him on the road to Hell one day.
This animus towards Fox News is based on nothing more than resentment; resentment of the fact that you can no longer turn on the cable news channels and hear a drumbeat of “rich people - bad, religious people - all abortion clinic bombers who worship Jerry Falwell, global warming - we all die” You long for the days of lemming-style news coverage where everybody fixates on a stupid, and usually wrong, aspect of a story and then just runs head-long over the cliff of idiocy.
Take away John Gibson, Bill O’Reilly, and Sean Hannity - the “analysts” or “commentators” - and I submit to you that Fox’s news is every bit as fair as CNN (syrupy mushpot news) or MSNBC (which for some stupid reason runs the Abrams Report and Hardball twice a day, with only an hour between replays). Fox is cleaning house in the ratings, so their competitors pretend that they’re not really news.
I would also point out that UNLIKE their competitors, Fox has never had to retract a single story, fire a single reporter or producer, apologize for something that went out on air, or had a reporter fabricate a story (Jason Blair, anyone?) I do find it a little disappointing that Fox chooses to put their right-wing pundits in prime-time, where the news shows should be, but what are they supposed to do when O’Reilly’s ratings are through the roof?
In short, if you get all your news from one place, then you deserve to be misinformed, whether you’re a misinformed redneck who thinks George Bush is God’s gift to mankind or a misinformed left-wing lunatic who thinks rich people are America’s biggest problem rather than it’s biggest benefactors. And if you get yourself worked up into a fury when you hear a cable channel promoting an idea you disagree with, then you’re probably too weak-minded to be worth arguing with.
June 30th, 2006 at 2:20 pm“Rep. Murtha drives the Republicans into complete madness > bravo to Murtha!”
Comment by Jay Randal
******Actually Jay, WE are using Jack Murtha to demonstrate to the American people that sweet, kindly, old Progs REALLY don’t have what it takes anymore to deal with our enemies. (He must have had a moment of conscience when he asked the NYT not to run with the international bank tracing story. I applaud him for THAT.)
I haven’t decided if a depiction of him will be as advantageous as Mike Dukakis in the tank but we apprecite EVERYTHING John Murtha is doing for the Repulican Party at this time. Could you please team him up with Dennis Kucinich, John Kerry, and Nancy Pelosi for a “Tour around America”??
June 30th, 2006 at 2:24 pmBy the way - I realized that my statement that Fox has never had to retract a story left itself wide open to criticism - because this page is actually ABOUT a story that Fox retracted - except not really.
While O’Reilly did act like Murtha definitely said that quote, Brit Hume did not. O’Reilly makes things up every night, so what’s the big surprise there?
Hume made it clear in his initial news-cast that this quote was “according to this newspaper” - and also pointed out that it may very well be a misquote.
Just thought I’d clear that up before I get bashed.
June 30th, 2006 at 2:26 pmI’m not going to bash you sparky I thought it was a well thought out and written post. I disagree with you statements, about the news being anti-rich etc. I believe that this is far less of a liberal bias then most republicans think there is. I am glad that you recognize the need for several sources of news.
June 30th, 2006 at 2:41 pmMighty Aphrodite, his cheeto-smeared fingers heroically tap on Freedom’s keyboard. Another afternoon spent shaming liberals and plotting and calibrating their future humiliation. Hmmm, what will it be this time…a Dukakis reference or a jibe at 80-year-old Helen Thomas’ looks? So much ridicule, so little time. Thank the gods Mommy went shopping for more yummy snacks! Maybe later, Aphro, after defending America from her true enemy, Americans you disagree with, you can have some “me” time and play a little Warcraft!
Another Keyboard Komando. So brave. So strong. So fearless. Islamofascists and timid liberals everywhere tremble in your wake, which is, undoubtedly, enormous.
June 30th, 2006 at 2:52 pmYou know the news really isn’t so anti-rich anymore. And I also agree with Krazny that the “liberal bias” is not nearly as bad as the GOP would like to make it seem - but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I also don’t think the bias is deliberate, it simply reflects the beliefs of the people making the news who can’t figure out that their beliefs aren’t necessarily fact. Even so, note the difference between the treatment of the issue of taxes between Fox and CNN or MSNBC. There is one. Same with the estate tax - to listen to MSNBC you would think that anyone favoring tax cuts is a greedy rich bastard.
Part of the reason that the one-sidedness of the media is abating is precisely BECAUSE of Fox News. In an effort to get back some of the ratings points that they hemhorraged to Fox, the other channels are cleaning up their act. Incidentally, it appears that this strategy is working, as their ratings are indeed gaining (if only slightly) on FNC.
June 30th, 2006 at 3:26 pmPerhaps Scarborough and Carlson are more concerned with their own asses -which are on the line at MSNBC - than they are about straightening the record for truth.
June 30th, 2006 at 4:06 pm# 54 Sparky,
June 30th, 2006 at 4:13 pmApparently you read the very same sites I read every day to keep myself informed. It is important to try to get the full story of events. Welcome.
I take issue with one or two of your comments, however. When you say Fox never had to retract a story, that’s not quite accurate — they simply don’t retract.
Liberals are not lemmings who have eyes and ears for only one side of an issue — in fact, that’s one of the faults of liberals; they can’t all get together because they see various merits to all sides of issues.
It is however, the Fox viewer who limits himself to one point of view and takes it on faith as being the truth, which I think you properly criticize in your post.
I would NEVER trust these right-wing liars. They are just like the “Swift Boat Vets Fro Truth”..Nothing but liars, and they call themselves “Christian”. Shame on them!
June 30th, 2006 at 5:38 pmIt is sickening to see these right-wingers preaching morality, and they are the biggest liars that I have ever seen.
June 30th, 2006 at 5:41 pmNo integrity, no honesty, and no sense—that describes these jerks.
I would NEVER trust these right-wing liars. They are just like the “Swift Boat Vets Fro Truth”..Nothing but liars, and they call themselves “Christian”. Shame on them!
June 30th, 2006 at 5:43 pmSparky: “UNLIKE their competitors, Fox has never had…a reporter fabricate a story…”
Two posts later:
Sparky: “O’Reilly makes things up every night, so what’s the big surprise there?”
June 30th, 2006 at 6:06 pmFox has run out of moral capital, like CNN and the MSNBC!
June 30th, 2006 at 6:22 pmNow they are trying to use PBS who has some Moral Capital still available
The threat posted to world peace and stability is certainly much greater then a nuclear threat from Iran, which does not possess nuclear weapons (we do).
June 30th, 2006 at 8:19 pmFoxNews needs a beat down. Can we get their ratings as low as GW’s?
June 30th, 2006 at 8:59 pmJune 30th, 2006 at 9:13 pm
Let us see how O’Lielly swifdtboated John Murtha and ther gallant 82nd airborne division. In order to pimp for his Bush whore, this lying scumbag lied about every facet of the infamous massacre in Malmedy, Belguim in 1944. The purpose of these scurvy lies was to try and soften criticism of thde atrocity committed by the Marines in Haditha.
His shopworn trick is to convince the boobs that “everybody does it so we really didn’t do anything bad” The facts vs the lies. The liar says that Malmedy was in Normandy June 1944. Malmedy was in Belgium, Dec 1944 (Battle of the bulge) The outrageious investion facts follows. Liar says that the gallant 82nd Airborne troops, massacred SS German troops who were prisoners. hat a crock! The prisoners were American GI’s who were overrun due to the German breakthru. *4 Americans were killed with their hands in the air. Why did ther liar completely reverse the time, place, and criminals? The never served chicken hawk Reslimeican cowards show no shame in Swiftboating the gallant 82nd Airborne which fought so bravely and list a lot of men during the Normandy invasion.
Furthermore, lair completely skips over or pretends that he hever heard of My Lai where 500 men, women, and children were massacred. I guess he thinks that it is a figment of the liberal left’s imagination! Where is the outrage from the American Legion, VFW, the Public and the vets of that crack outfit? This pseudo-patriotic swiftboating of America’s true heros must be stopped.
Sadly, the SS Nazi murderering war criminals were never prosecuted for their atrocities. Guess who got them out of jair free? None other than another lying Reslimeican, “Fighting Joe McCarthy!” This drunken right wing stumblebum tore the country asunder for ten years in the fifties with his Ludicrious Witch Hunt. He ruined countless lies, and never unearthed a single communist which was his schtick!
He mis-used his Senate office to block the prosecution of the Nazi War Criminals. This is spelled out in minute detail in the book “The Nightmare Decade” Author Fred J. Cook. Evwery American should read this welkl written account of “Tailgunner Joe” and his right wing treachery.
Meantime, how about a complete retraction of his lies about the phony never happened “American massacre of SS Troops”?
The true face of Swiftboat pseudopatriotism must be exposed!
Charlie KarafotiasWW2 Korea Viet Nam.
June 30th, 2006 at 9:39 pm35 years U. S. Merchant Marine (ret)
39 months U. S. Army
i
Fox News issuing a retraction, especially with something a *gasp* Democrat like Murtha said? Am I still asleep and dreaming? Pinch me. This can’t be real.
June 30th, 2006 at 11:36 pmA retraction from Joe Scarborough? Is this is the same Joe Scarborough whose “panel” visit on Bill Maher this season was so shockingly awesome in laying bare the mind of a NeoCon that he made the Dems and the rest of his party (you know, the ones who want their party back) want to run the other way from him as fast as possible? Download it somewhere on one of the P2P networks. It would be funny if it weren’t absolutely frightening. Watch it and then you’ll understand why you’ll never get a retraction from him.
He was so well-behaved: shouting down the other guests constantly, foaming at the mouth frothily, being condescending & rude to Bill Maher, who (mistakenly) decided to try to balance the panel with MSNBC’s New and Improved! Ãœber-tan NeoCon with the Kung-Fu Gripâ„¢ in the first place. I hope Bill’s learned his lesson: don’t ever have this jackass on the panel again.
July 1st, 2006 at 12:01 amO’Reilly sometimes does make corrections. That moronic nobody Sean “vanity insanity” Hannity NEVER does.
July 1st, 2006 at 12:36 amThe Treason 2006 campaign by Bush and Karl Rove is in full swing. Just as in their Treason 2004 campaign, where they flipped the treason label from WHERE IT BELONGED, on Bush himself, to Kerry. Now in 2006, they flip the 2006 “TREASON ” label onto the Democrats for NOT WHOLEHEARTEDLY EMBRACING BUSH’S FAILED WAR IN IRAQ.
THE REALITY: the U.S. Constitution defines treason as adhering to the U.S.’s enemies, giving them aid and comfort. By defintion, Bush and his gang have comitted treason by adhering to China and Al Qaeda, giving China and Al Qaeda aid and comfort. Bush has done this by attacking Iraq and killing 100,000 people there, for no true reason. Our enemies laugh about this every day, for they know that this has financially weakened America greatly and added many new recruits to Al Qaeda. Bush has also transferred massive amounts of American cash and American high technology to China. Since Bush entered office in 2001, he has transferred $1 trillion to Communist China via his destructive failed trade policy. He allowed the Chinese military to steal our secrets from the disabled spy plane that landed in China in 2001, and yet BUSH APOLOGIZED TO CHINA! China also CHOPPED UP THE PLANE AND DELIVERED IT IN PIECES BACK TO THE AMERICANS! Bush kisses their asses, lets them steal our secrets, destroy the plane, and still Bush exacted no price from them for what they did.
Ok, I admit it, I can’t keep up with all of this…. Whatever happened to murthalied.com? I was expecting to see more whining about how mean everyone was to Amanda, but the site can longer be found…
July 1st, 2006 at 1:36 amUp to five soldiers are being investigated in the March killings, the fifth pending case involving alleged slayings of Iraqi civilians by U.S. troops.
The Americans entered the Sunni Arab’s family home, separated three males from the woman, raped her and burned her body using a flammable liquid in a cover-up attempt, a military official close to the investigation said. The three males were also slain.
The soldiers had studied their victims for about a week and the attack was “totally premeditated,†the official said on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. The family had just moved into the home in the insurgent-riddled area around Mahmoudiya, 20 miles south of Baghdad.
July 1st, 2006 at 8:34 amO’Reilly is not a reporter. Just like Fox and Friends is not a news show. It doesn’t matter whether the hosts of blocks like those demonstrate bias. It’s not supposed to be journalistic, it’s supposed to hold the attention of old ladies puttering around with their bowls of Total in the morning, or in O’Reilly’s case, it’s meant to sell books, t-shirts, and mugs. So when I say they’ve never had a REPORTER make up a story, O’Reilly is not included in that. He’s a talking head.
Not all, but many liberals are lemmings. Just try to suggest in a crowd of liberals that just maybe a progressive income tax is a bad idea and see where that gets you. Instantly you must be rich, greedy, hate poor people, racist, etc. Too many liberals (again, not all) treat you like the Inquisition treated heretics if you dare to question the sanctity of medicare, welfare, affirmative action, social security, or the government monopoly on schools. Just like too many conservatives will ignore you if you dare to question the “sanctity” of marriage or the “right-to-life”…
And on the subject of PBS - maybe there was a point to it back in the day when there were only three choices for information, but we really don’t need this thing anymore. Sesame Street already plays on numerous cable channels, and you can always find classical music on the AM band if that’s what gets you tickled.
People always say, “We need PBS because we need a source of news and information that’s not beholden to special interests and big corporations.” Yeah, except for the fact that it’s run by the government, which is more beholden to those things than any other entity on earth. It’s a state-run television station - you know, like the ones they have in Iran and Saudi Arabia? We don’t need it, and the liberals who defend it so vehemently might agree now that Bush’s crony has “decided to implement the evil conservative agenda - Bwah hah hah!!” Whoever runs the government controls the Propaganda Broadcasting Service - meanwhile, the cable news channels are beholden primarily to the AUDIENCE.
Forgive me for preferring Fox or MSNBC over PBS. We don’t need it.
July 1st, 2006 at 11:49 amFrom one who served for 4 years, to two who did not, you need to apologize to the great American, John Murtha. The only difference in you two sissies is Tucker wears a bowtie.
Rich Engle
July 1st, 2006 at 2:19 pmWow a retraction!!! The New York Times contractions are far and few between (Jason Blair) and when they do.. you have to look for it.
July 5th, 2006 at 1:58 pmI am sickened by the way this country is treating it’s military, and ashamed of how it is treating its veterans, decorated or not. These men risked life and limb because some President said they had to.
This President chose this war for a reason. He must have had Madison Avenue managing the build up. They cooked the books and sold the American people lies and obfuscation. And, aparently we sucked it up like a Hoover Delux. We didn’t elect a President, we sufferd a Dictator (Decider).
As with VietNam, the troops are doing a remarkable job, given how badly managed this war has been. I spent my Forth with THEM in my heart.
Tucker Carlson, Joe Scarborough, Chris Mathews, O’Reilly, I could go on…….are not fit to lick the boots of John Murtha. Or any other Veteran. Their constant lies and accusations of Veterans pisses me off a whole lot more than flag burning.
I used to watch all CNN, then they ( Tucker primarily) began to piss me off, so I started watching MSNBC, where, the obsequious Mathews got on my nerves and that pissy guy,,,I can never remember his name….the legal Dude who made the Duke Rape case mimic the O.J. trial, I developed what I think of my system, I watch CNN when the aforementioned people are NOT present, when the hacks are ALL thereor at MSNBC, I watch C span. Mostly I listen.
C span has really poor sound quality. Bless their hearts. It is frequently mind numbingly boring, but it is REAL. The people you see there are Real people talking about , well since the Shrub……..gay marriage and flag burning…………..?????????
The whole Immigration thing is a truly mindless quagmire. It has been clear for several years that our “Emporer” will do whatever he likes, with the occasionally grudging (token) resistance (Photo op’s). We need to stop kidding ourselves we are being ruled by Corporate Greed on steroids, and possibly other substances. Viagra certainly comes to mind.
They had a blue dress, we have a blue pill, and the “kiss”. I love the power of the blogs.
KEEP THE INTERNET FREE OF THE GOVERNMENT, IT IS OUR LAST BEST HOPE.
I will write what I believe until I can no longer type or hold a pen. It is my job, Im a citizen.
Email has spell check.
Now is the time for all good men (and women) to come to the aid of their COUNTRY.
I rarely miss Olberman. He should be the Anchor. Better yet, put him in charge of editorial policy. Bout time someone with a sense of humor had some actual input.
I plan to let the two networks know precisely how I feel. Then I may just stick to blogs and C span and major doses of the History channel.
America has come to the rape and pilliage part of war. We have to get out Now and we have to prepare for and epidemic of PTSD.
July 7th, 2006 at 2:26 amWhether O’Reilly got his Malmedy massacre mixed up with another (which he did) shouldn’t be the issue, since his essential point was correct. Anyone who thinks American troops did NOT kill unarmed, surrendering troops or prisoners simply knows nothing about military history. There are plenty of documented incidents, and reams of published testimony just for WW2, both in the European and Pacific Theaters, of killings by U.S. — and other Allied — troops. Anyone who disputes that is simply too ill-informed to even be part of the discussion, and obviously too lazy to even use Google.
Most of these incidents (some due to legitimate tactical reasons, some due to just retribution against a bestial enemy) would most likely be classified as war crimes by today’s standards, especially as applied by an ignorant press and an even more ignorant civilian audience who confuses combat with police work. Any reasonable observer (and there were plenty of them around) classified 99% of these incidents as understandable, fairly routine combat events, and most times even necessities.
In unconventional warfare such as Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq (after their regular Army ran off), trying to play by gentlemanly rules or the Geneva Conventions (which do not apply, by the way) is even more stupid, and no rational person will unless forced … and maybe not even then.
The real problem with these discussions is that too many of the participants have not only no combat experience, but not even a decent knowledge of past military practice to even be discussing the subject. This is not some f***ing Hollywood script written by a 24-yr-old bimbo with a Fine Arts degree.
One real-life example, which I’ll simplify a bit: a commando team, headed by someone whose name you’d recognize, sneaked deep into a VC-held area to confirm that a high-level meeting of VC leaders was taking place in a certain mostly-abandoned village — a few huts, basically. After confirming it, they began to sneak out to meet up with their exfiltration team, a very silent and scary time since an accidental sound would bring down overwhelming force and cost their lives, and probably those on the other team. While silently ducking into one of the apparently empty huts, they found a Vietnamese family. Now, YOU make the choice.
They instantly cut the throats of the elderly woman, the young woman, and the teenager (all apparently unarmed) before they could react or cry out. Whether the infant was killed or just gagged with duct tape is unclear and accounts differ, not that it makes any real difference. This generally horrifies civilians, though they can never come up with any real alternatives that don’t involve almost certain death for the soldiers, their escape boat crew, and, indirectly, all the lives that were probably saved because we called in an air strike that killed a dozen or so of the top area VC leaders, along with nearly a hundred of their guards & travel escorts.
No, these decisions don’t happen every day, but in this type of warfare they are all too routine, and pretending that this shit always has some ideal Hollywood solution is just bullshit, and doubly so when the enemy is perfectly willing to sacrifice himself, or even his family, to kill you. Remember all those pictures of surrendering Japs wearing loincloths? And those are just the family-friendly photos, since we usually made them strip before they approached, since their favorite stunt was to wedge a grenade between their legs, pin pulled, which would blow up a couple of Americans when the little bastards would squat, releasing the pin.
At its very best, wear is a nasty, brutish thing, and it’s very seldom at its best. What do you think happened to the surrendering, unarmed Jap soldiers who didn’t understand our commands to stop, or strip, but kept approaching our troops? And if you think you’d do anything different you’re either an idiot, or you’ve confused Okinawa and Baghdad with Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
I won’t even participate in a discussion of Abu Ghraib as ‘torture,’ or with those who believe there is never any excuse for creative violence, but I will point out one very obvious fact: when Achmed is in front of you, and you know that HE knows where the dirty bomb is hidden in your kid’s school, or where Mohammed is hiding while he cultures the rest of the Plague bacilli, you’ll be the first one to reach for the Vise-grips and the jumper cables, and the only question in your mind will be: Is it Red positive and Black negative , or ….?
August 11th, 2006 at 7:20 pm