The changed ABCNEWS title STILL isn't good enough.

[LoZoccolo]

Matter fact it's worse.

Before it was "Did Kerry lie" and now it's "Why did Kerry change story"! Now they're saying he did change the story! But he said, and it's in the article:

He also said he — and the military — didn't make a distinction between medals and ribbons. "We threw away the symbols of what our country gave us for what we had gone through," he said.

So there's still a question about whether or not he did change the story - they can't say that he changed his story based on that!

So let's write 'em again - but be sure to include why.

http://abcnews.go.com/index.html

Here's the contact form:

http://abcnews.go.com/service/Help/abccontactform.html

[sandnsea]

1. Right Wing - DID NOT SERVE

Here's mine, I didn't see the earlier "lie" stuff on the web site, so just sent in response to the new and "better" words.

"Why did Kerry change story about Vietnam medals?"

What is this??? What has happened to this country when bold-faced lies from political operatives pass as journalism? Do you people have absolutely NO PRIDE at all?

A medal comes with an associated ribbon. Not all ribbons have medals, but ALL medals have ribbons. Throwing the ribbons is, in essence, throwing the medals. How freaking hard is that to figure out?

Kerry and others threw an assortment of items. He spoke for all veterans at the time who had thrown these items, mostly medals. There are news clips of that AS WELL. Why don't you spend your time digging those up so you can have an HONEST debate on this supposed "issue".

This is what he has ALWAYS said. He's proud of protesting the war. But he's also proud of his bravery in saving a man's life. Who wouldn't be?

I cannot remotely believe we are actually engaged in degrading a war veteran. You helped do it to McCain and Cleland. Now Kerry. Don't you get it YET??

How about reporting THIS. THIS is what they're trying to hide:

Military service by prominent Democrats:

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle - 1st Lt., U.S. Air Force SAC 1969-72 .
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) - Lt., U.S. Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74. (1, 2)
Senator Fritz Hollings (D-SC) - served as a U.S. Army officer in World War II, receiving the Bronze Star and seven campaign ribbons.
Senator Daniel Inouye, US Army 1943-'47; Medal of Honor, World War Two.
Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) - U.S. Army, 1951-1953. o
Senator John Kerry, Lt., U.S. Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V, and three awards of the Purple Heart for his service in combat.
Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) - U.S. Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91 (1)
Max Cleland, Former Senator, Captain, U.S. Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam
Bob Kerrey, Former Senator, Lt. j.g., U.S. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam.
Rep. Richard Gephardt, former House Minority Leader - Missouri Air National Guard, 1965-71.
Rep. David Bonior, Representative, (D-MI) - Former House Minority Whip - Staff Sgt., Air Force, 1968-72
Rep. Mike Thompson, D-CA: Staff sergeant/platoon leader with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, U.S. Army; was wounded and received a Purple Heart.
Rep. Pete Stark, D-CA, served in the Air Force 1955-57
Wesley Clark, General, US Army.
Al Gore, Former Vice President - enlisted August 1969; sent to Vietnam January 1971.
Bill Clinton, did not serve.

Military service by prominent Republicans attacked by the right wing

John McCain, US Senator (AZ) - McCain's naval honors include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross. (Attacked by Bush Campaign for President as having become mentally unstable while a POW.)
Colin Powell. Secretary of State, General. US Army, Attacked by many on Radical Right for being an appeaser, soft on Saddam and other enemies.

Prominent right-wing Republicans and military service

George W. Bush - National Guard back when service there meant you did not see combat. Even so, went AWOL for a year.
Dick Cheney - did not serve.
John Ashcroft, Attorney General - did not serve.
Don Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense - served in the U.S. Navy (1954-57) as an aviator and flight instructor.
Rep. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House - avoided the draft, did not serve.
Rep. Tom Delay, House Majority Leader - avoided the draft, did not serve.
Rep. Roy Blunt, House Majority Whip (MO) - did not serve
Dick Armey, Former House Majority Leader - avoided the draft, did not serve.
Sen. Bill Frist , Senate Majority Leader (TN) - did not serve.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, Majority Whip, (KY) - did not serve.
Sen. Rick Santorum, (PA), third ranking Republican in the Senate - did not serve. (1)
Trent Lott, Former Senate Majority Leader (MS) - avoided the draft, did not serve.
Jeb Bush, Florida Governor - did not serve.
Karl Rove - avoided the draft, did not serve.
Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the House - avoided the draft, did not serve.
Bill Bennett, (author of Why We Fight), did not serve.
Antonin Scalia, Supreme Court Justice, did not serve.
Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Justice, did not serve.
Phil Gramm, former Senator. Did not serve.
Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense, did not serve.
Spencer Abraham, Secretary of Energy, did not serve.
Rep. Henry Hyde, (IL) did not serve.
Jack Kemp, did not serve.
Sen. Don Nickles, (OK) did not serve.
J. C. Watts, Former Congressman, (OK), did not serve.
Bill Simon, did not serve.
Saxby Chambliss, did not serve.
Marc Racicot, avoided the draft despite a lottery number of 23. see http://www.billingsnews.com/story?storyid=3182&issue=98

Right-wing preachers and pundits

P. J. O'Rourke (author of Give War a Chance), did not serve.
Bill Kristol, editor The Weekly Standard, did not serve.
Bill O'Reilly, Fox News celebrity, did not serve.
Sean Hannity, Fox News celebrity, did not serve.
Wolf Blitzer, CNN Newsman. Did not serve.
David Horowitz, Right Wing media hit man. Did not serve.
Mike Savage, Right Wing media hit man, did not serve.
George Will, columnist, did not serve.
Pat Robertson, politician/preacher, His US Senator daddy got him out of Korea when war began.
Ralph Reed, did not serve.
Jerry Falwell, preacher/politician, did not serve.
Ken Starr, did not serve.
Gary Bauer, politician/preacher, did not serve.
Alan Keyes, did not serve.
Roger Ailes, Fox News President, did not serve.

[LittleApple81]

3. Do you mind if I copy yours and send it? It is most excellent. n/t

[sandnsea]

16. Sure, thanks! n/t

[rkc3]

10. These guys...

are just plain despicable. What amazes me is an article I was forced to read before Easter from the Weekly Standard - it explained why Bush is such a better choice than Kerry.

The reason - Bush gets it on terrorism. Sure Kerry has lived his life with a goal and Bush has been a screw up. Kerry served and Bush got a free pass to TANG. But Bush understands terrorism - McCain doesn't, Cleland doesn't, Kerry doesn't.

These guys have seen combat - they understand the mess involved. They understand how it changes your life. And yet, these fucks have the balls to attack Kerry over his record - and - keep in mind anything prior to 1990 is off limits for Bush - he was just young and carefree back then.

If Kerry does not begin to strike back, it's all over for him. Bush is positioning Kerry and Kerry's letting him get away with it.

[maggrwaggr]

15. Wow! Good stuff!

that bears repeating!!

[silverlib]

2. Help me out here!

I tried to email them when I read your initial post, but for the life of me can't find the link to email them from their site. I am registered and have emailed them in the past. Please direct me!

Thanks

...and apparently email has had an impact, although you are correct. It's not good enough!

[nonconformist]

4. Contact link

http://www.abcnews.go.com/service/Help/abcmail_news.html

[silverlib]

13. Thanks - I've done my part

I thanked them for changing the original title, gave them the "DU list" of topics where Bush has changed his mind and told them I looked forward to their in-depth reporting on those subjects, as I really appreciated their fair and balanced approach to the news.

[LoZoccolo]

5. My letter.

I noticed you had changed the title of the "Did John Kerry Lie?" story to "Why did Kerry change story?" This is a disingenuous title because even in the story, you print that he claimed that there was no change in the story:

He also said he — and the military — didn't make a distinction between medals and ribbons. "We threw away the symbols of what our country gave us for what we had gone through," he said.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/Politics/Investigation/kerry_vietnam_medals_040425-1.html

The claim that he changed his story is still controversial, and taking a side as you do with this headline is irresponsible.

[liveoaktx]

6. I notice they have a non-inflammatory title INSIDE another link

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/Politics/Investigation/kerry_vietnam_medals_040425-3.html
EXCLUSIVE: Did John Kerry Discard Vietnam Medals?

SO it's not that they don't know HOW to write a NEUTRAL topic

Going at it again.

[DemMother]

7. Also ask why RW hack Chris Vlasto is behind this story...

I know I'm obsessed with this today, but it really makes me angry that people like Vlasto get away with this crap.

From counterspin:

"Vlasto, not coincidentally, was also the stooge who broke that "story" about Howard Dean and the Vermont State Trooper on his staff who was accused of domestic violence."

scroll down for story and links to other sources about Vlasto
http://counterspin.blogspot.com

[heidiho]

8. Done - thanks

n/t

[tishaLA]

9. Thanks for the alert

I'll email these fuckers a hundred times today if I have to.

[nonconformist]

11. I wrote again

I forgot to copy it before it was sent, but basically I complained that while they had changed the title of the story, it was still very misleading and I also used the list of Dems that have served vs. Repub chickenhawks and asked them why don't they do a story on that.

[Robbien]

12. Done. Changed question of a lie to a statement of something not proven

That was the theme of my email this time

[maggrwaggr]

14. Here's the number for abc.com -- call them and be nice, they'll be nice

Phone number for ABC.com

212 556 0300


I talked to a very nice lady there, as long as I was nice, she was too. So be nice. She said it was "important" that they hear from people! It was very encouraging.

(she wouldn't give me her name, however)


You can write the head of ABC News here:

David Westin
ABCNews
7 WEST 66th Street
New York, NY 10023

[PsN2Wind]

17. I wish Kerry

had asked Gibson what his draft status was during the VietNam time period. Anyone here know HIS (Gibsons) lottery number?