NY: TV stations reject sex hotline ad in congressional campaign (w/ video)

[Newsjock]

http://www.uticaod.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061020/NEWS/61020019

Three Central New York television stations have chosen not to run an advertisement from the National Republican Congressional Committee that alleges Michael Arcuri made calls to a sex hotline while at a conference in New York City.

... Documents provided by both the NRCC and the Arcuri campaign show a call lasting less than a minute to an 800 number that is now a sex line.

Arcuri said that number was dialed by accident by Sean Byrne, the executive director of the New York Prosecutor Training Institute, who was meeting with him and others in the hotel room. Byrne also said that was the case, and records show immediately following the call to the sex line, he called the same seven digits, but with a 518 area code, not an 800 prefix.

... To view the ad, go to http://web1.nrcc.org/multimedia/communications/NY-24NRCC7ForwardCalling.mov

[babylonsister]

1. Smooches to NY, Dems, and the truth! nt

[davidinalameda]

2. they're stooping this low

:rofl:

[BootinUp]

3. These pukes are all goin down scratchin and clawin

its a joy to observe.

[hpot]

4. Republicans have repressed sexual desires

Their obsession with little kids, reproduction, and all things sex related should not be surprising.

GOP: Grand Old Perverts

[redphish]

5. What do you expect?

They treat human sexuality as if it was something evil and organized slaughter (for their goals) as something noble. Good is evil, evil is good. Shades of Orwell me thinks.

[Bozita]

6. Why am I thinking that Bushco is monitoring Dem phones?

Actually, my tinfoil hat it so damned tight that I believe it's been going on since W took office.

[KingFlorez]

7. It's a lie

They know what happened, but they deliberately want to misled people

[patrick t. cakes]

8. it would almost be funny

if it wasnt so sick, and sad.

whats happening to our country?

(glad my tv is dvd compatable only, these adds get so tiresome)

[Mojorabbit]

9. I want to know

how they got the phone records in the first place.

[Judi Lynn]

12. That should trigger an investigation by a reporter.

How did the Republican Party get access to hotel phone records. It needs to be explained. It's underhanded, and, you'd think, illegal.

[Canuckistanian]

26. Absolutely right

The fact that the RNC knew this information raises a lot more questions than someone's call to a sex line.

[HuffleClaw]

10. lord, that is sooooo LOW

and really desperate too. 'LOOK, a democrat dialed a WRONG NUMBER!!!!'

[Renew Deal]

11. The add is hysterical

Even the Daily Show can't make shit like this up.

[Richard Steele]

13. So, clear proof of whose phones the Repubs are tapping. DEMOCRATS.

How else do they have such detailed info on a wrong-number call
that lasted less than a minute?

What other POSSIBLE explanation is there?

[merwin]

14. Republican hotel employee maybe?

Not everything is a conspiracy :)

[Bonescrat]

15. That in itself would be a conspiracy... nt

[merwin]

16. Or it was a rabid neocon eager to prove himself.

Conspiracy implies multiple people were involved in the planning and execution. there's no proof of that.

[Richard Steele]

28. Actually, it turns out a legal FOIA request would be sufficient.

As he was there on Official Business, the phone logs
would be considered a public record.

I got excited about NOTHING, as it turns out.

Sorry.

[zreosumgame]

35. only takes two to conspire

actually you alone can conspire to comit an act

[never cry wolf]

18. From the ad, the hotel room was used for official business

and the bill, which included the phone charges, was paid by the county. Therefore it would be public record.

[Richard Steele]

27. Yes, that does seem to be the case. No "tapping" needed. eom

[Bill McBlueState]

17. This has huge implications

I'm not personally concerned about the particulars of this case, but it makes an important point with broad applications:

Under certain circumstances, TV stations *will* reject campaign ads. They're admitting that they don't have to blindly accept whatever lies and distortions the campaigns feed them.

[rodeodance]

19. good for the stations. It gives me hope that their is SOME integrity

left in this the good us of a.

[zalinda]

20. To add a little more to the story

My local news covered this story and said that this happened 5 years ago. The 800 number was changed to the sex line 2 years ago, and that they have no idea who had the number when the incident happened.

The repubs are really reaching here, AND not telling you that they are repubs in their ads. To be fair this ad was put out by the repub party and not the candidate.

zalinda

[54anickel]

22. The candidate even tried to get the NRCC to pull it.

From the OP

A Meier spokeswoman said Meier had called the NRCC and demanded that they not run the ad. NRCC spokesman Ed Patru said his organization is not allowed to coordinate with candidates.

IMO, that just screams out the need for campaign reform.

[spooky3]

thank goodness you have real journalists on your local news

They seem to be in short supply.

www.mediamatters.org

[spooky3]

21. The "morals" party

I guess knowingly lying in order to harm someone doesn't violate Republicans' standards of "morality."

Any idiot would know that if he were really calling a sex line, that call would have lasted longer than a minute! Oh wait, we are dealing with Republicans here.

[54anickel]

24. Just a quickie - "Quick like a bunny" as they say 'round these parts. n/t

[papau]

23. At least those NSA wiretaps are proving useful to someone n/t

n/t

[hedgehog]

25. What kind of people are they? and what kind of money is behind them?

When someone is going through a five year old phone bill to dig up dirt, that smacks both of desperation and an organization that borders on criminal.

The ad does lie, by the way. How could the Oneida County tax payers been charged for a call to an 800 number?

Here's the real question: how did they recognize the number as belonging to a sex hot line?

[hedgehog]

29. It occurred to me when I was telling someone about this,

Mike Acuri has got to be the cleanest politician in the entire country. Think about it. The Rethugs spent enough money investigating him to track down an 800 number called from his hotel suite 5 years ago, yet they found nothing worthwhile to tar him with!


Also, how did the Rethugs know the 800 number was to a sex line? Is it one they use frequently themselves, perhaps?

[Orangepeel]

31. Jeez, you're right. He's gotta be practically a saint (n/t)

[Festivito]

30. "National Republican Congressional Committee" ? Who else do they fund?

The ONE-MINUTE phone call makes a good story.

[hedgehog]

32. Our favorite congressman, Reynolds, was running that committee

when he wasn't busy collecting money from Foley!

[Kber]

33. Brazilions of dollars and much effort spent on trying to dig up dirt

on the Democrats and this is the best they can do? A mis-dailed phone number?

Either the dems are actually saints or their intellegence gathering capabilities are truly awful.

[NoodleyAppendage]

34. Question: How did Repukes get phone records without a warrant?

It's a bogus charge, but now I want to know how the NRCC was able to obtain call records for a US citizen without a warrant.

Could this be prima facie evidence of the NSA domestic Eschelon program used for political purposes?

J