Bush "no casualties" story disappearing into the mist?

[npincus]

I did not hear a peep about it this morning on The Today Show, though ample air time was devoted to the Teresa-Laura non-story. Has anybody seen this story TODAY anywhere? A conflict between the founder of the Christrian Coalition and the President with regard to the veracity of bizzare statements allegedly made by Bush is certainly headline news. I know the WH has been busy threatening media outlets if they run it.

Why didn't Joe Lockhart bring it up in his on-air debate with daughter-of-Dracula, Liz Cheney, this morning?

Kerry needs to rush out an ad with the Robertson clip, followed by the WH press conference clip where Bush can't think of even ONE mistake he's made. THAT would be DEVASTATING.

[jezebel]

1. The morning shows have made me sick this morning. They are giving the

Republican's exactly what they want and focusing on the THK remark. And somehow it is being twisted to THK dissing stay at home Mom's. With guidance from the Republican's the media is working to cost Kerry many stay at home Mom's votes.

[liberal_in_GA]

2. What shows have you seen the THK coverage on?

I'll compile an email list--maybe we can at least do some media blasting about this.

[jezebel]

6. ABC led off with the story with Diane Sawyer asking why THK hadn't

mentioned stay at home Mom's being important in her apology. They are actually parsing her apology and spinning it.
Carol Lin was subbing on CNN's show this morning and she couldn't stop talking about it. She had Ron Bronstein on the phone and said that THK is an immigrant who married a billionaire so how could people not be angry at what she had said. And I don't even need to mention the vile pieces of crap on Fox and Friends do I?

[booksenkatz]

15. WTF? She didn't need to mention SAHMs as being important in her

apology because he had mentioned their importance in her original damned statement! Why is everyone taking what she said completely out of context, even people here at DU? I don't recall Teresa's exact words off the top of my head (I got zero sleep last night), but it was something like SAHMs have something different, BUT IMPORTANT, to offer.

IMPORTANT.
IMPORTANT.
IMPORTANT.

Suck on it, Diane Sawyer.

(From a SAHM who had a great career at one time and plans on having another one again someday and who was not offended in the least by anything THK said.)

[The Chronicler]

46. 'Fox and Friends' is ridiculous.

The other day they were on there saying that Kerry's reference to Cheney's daughter was basically the end of his campaign. They compared it to the 'Dean scream.'

[PA Democrat]

14. ABC's Good Morning America had Teresa's remark as their "TOP" story

Here's what I sent them:

GMA today provided a perfect example of the deplorable quality of what passes for "news" these days, and explains why we have such an uninformed populace.

Your top "news" story was another brouhaha of indignation manufactured by the Republican party over Teresa Heinz Kerry's remark about the First Lady. In a campaign that has become nothing more than ugly partisan attacks which are fueled by the media coverage (which does almost NOTHING to determine the accuracy of those attacks), how ironic that somehow Teresa Heinz Kerry is held to a higher standard than even the candidates themselves.

Does the media believe that women should be silently compliant doormats? How sad that Mrs. Kerry's remarks are constantly parsed and exaggerated and taken completely out of context. How sad that the media has never focused on the tremendous amount of good work that she has done through the Heinz foundations. As a resident of western PA I have seen firsthand the wonderful results of Teresa's philanthropy.

The situation in Iraq is out of control, we have NO answers as to how and why we were misled into going to war in the first place, we do not know who outed a CIA agent or who attended secret energy task force meetings with Dick Cheney. Our troops keep dying and coming home horribly maimed and we hear ad nauseam the fabricated outrage over Kerry's remark about Mary Cheney, a woman who has been very public about her sexual orientation for YEARS.

I think that if ABC and other "news" organizations had been paying as much attention to the Bush administration's "justifications" for their rush to war, we would not see the tragedy that has unfolded in Iraq. There are so many more important stories that you have failed miserably to cover. I equate your performance to journalistic fiddling while Rome burns.

No wonder I watch less and less TV "news" and turn more to the Internet for access to better journalism.

[bear425]

32. Excellent letter - thank you! n/t

[crickets]

44. Superb letter, PA Democrat! (nt)

:toast:

[democrat_patriot]

48. Doesn't emailing shows tell them we're watching?

They throw this crap out there, knowing we will watch to see what they do next.

Why would they stop? We keep saying "I'll never watch again" and than 2 days later "I was watching earlier today and you...."

If we're going to do this do it right. STOP WATCHING!!!!!! Period.

Does it help? We've been bitching about this for years, it isn't helping.

Go volunteer. Turn off the Television!!!!

[Wright Patman]

3. Stay-at-home moms

were very unlikely to vote for Kerry to begin with. They are either married to guys who want to keep their tax cuts or don't work for fundy religious reasons.

[jezebel]

7. Hey, I'm stay at home right now with a 4 month old. Trust me, I'm voting

for Kerry. My fear is the media is working to piss off the stay at home Mom's who aren't as smart as me. ;)

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. Ditto :^)

I work a bit from home, but not enough to support anyone. Just supplement the family income a teensy tad.

[npincus]

10. not true! I am a stay-at-home Mom and all the ones I know are voting

Kerry. I don't like the way the media lumps us all into one group- we are a diverse crowd covering all regions of the US. A Stay-at-Home Mom is mosre likely to be a Bush voter if she is from Kansas than if she's from Hoboken, NJ (where I'm from). My Mommy-firends are Dems and Liberals who think a Bush 2nd term would be disastrous.

I don't give a rat's ass what Teresa said- and I don't think it was a dis to non-working Moms. I worked for 13 years, and will likely go back to work soon (my daughter is 2) and having lived both lifestyles, recognize being a Mom is probably more difficult and rewarding (for me personally) but respect other views on the matter.

[RaleighNCDUer]

33. Agree. The only people who are spinning it as a dis to

non-working (if I can use that term) moms are those who are already biased against Teresa and liberals in general. This isn't even a good wedge. This isn't something that is going to convince anyone one way or ther other. What it does is distract the press from real issues and since the repugs are losing ground on real issues, that is important to them.

[fugop]

40. Completely agree

I, too, am a stay-at-home mom and there is no freakin' way I'd vote for Bush. Frankly, I believe the media is once again trying to lump all women into one category, which is a crock of shit. The moms who were going to vote Bush will still vote Bush. The smart ones (like those posting here!) will vote Kerry. This latest crock of manufactured outrage isn't going to swing any votes that weren't already swung.

But the media, once again, should be ashamed. And the Kerry spokespeople should go on shows and address every inane question like this with, "What will affect more lives: a comment by THK (a completely distorted one at that) or the war? A lesbian daughter or job losses? Give me a freakin' break!"

I'd love to see them do that, but they don't seem willing. Just keep mocking the right for the ridiculous shit they try to focus on and bring it right on back to the issues.

In the meantime, take hope. Next week I imagine the news cycle will be about nothing but Bill!!! ON the trail for JK! WOOHOO!!

[expatriate]

21. Wrong!

I'm a stay at home wife (my kid is grown and gone). I have a very small business, but I'm not at home for the tax cuts or because I'm a fundie. I voted for Kerry.

That's a very negative and incorrect stereotype.

[mcar]

30. Here we go again!

Didn't we have a thread here yesterday that degenerated into insulting stay at home moms? Can we stay on topic and quit condemning entire groups of people?

Feminism is about choice -- remember? Who are you to denigrate another woman's choice?

Yes, most moms have to work, but some of us have made the decision, and have the ability, to stay home and just get by for a while. We are not all fundies or married to rich guys who want to keep their tax cuts.

You are showing bigotry and making some repuke-like generalizations.

I quit a very responsible job 3 years ago to stay home with my kids. My husband is a high school math teacher. I do freelance writing from home to make a little extra money. We're just getting by, but we feel this is best for us right now.

Oh, and by the way, I have been a registered Democrat and have voted Democratic, since 1980.

[fugop]

41. Stay at home moms

Are NOT all the same. I think the point is that the stay at home moms who are going to be offended by THK and vote Bush were already voting Bush. The others know that THIS IS NOT what one bases a smart vote on.

[npincus]

4. we can't f*cking win- K wins the debate, the media talks about "lesbian"

comment, Bush makes a delusional statement which undermines his grip with reality on THE campaign issue this season and the media talks about a thoughtless mistake, and apology given, by Kerry's wife, for G-d's sake.

The media is trying so hard to write the narrative in the final days of this election to swing it to Bush, it is anti-democratic and un-American.

[sunnybrook]

11. My sentiments exactly

The major news stories of the last week should have been Bush's bold faced lie at debate 3 (I never said that about Osama Bin Laden) and this extremely damning story from Robertson. Been watching the today show. This is such bullshit!

[SammyWinstonJack]

24. Shades of 2000

[ksoze]

5. Gone...news story lead is with THK - Laura bash

Today news segment this am - no mention of Robertson, THK story one of top three stories.

[jefferson_dem]

8. It's out there but not the political firestorm that we would like, and it

deserves.

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&tab=nn&ie=UTF-8&ncl=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002068714_iraqdig21.html

[Shopaholic]

13. Here's what we need to do--

E-mail the Today Show & GMA and the CBS Morning Show and tell them that you think it's far more important that they talk about the Robertson comment rather than this BS about THK. That we want them to talk about real issues and that as far as we were aware, THK nor Laura Bush are running for President--their husbands are and it's far more important that we hear about THEM, not all this side BS like Cheney's lesbian daughter.

[e-mail]

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=158076

[e-mail]

So get busy and let them know how we feel NOW!

[popstalin]

18. Done! Here's my email

I was quite disappointed this morning when I heard you going on about Teresa Heinz Kerry's remark on the First Lady's employment status. Mrs. Kerry forgetting whether or not Laura Bush had a job is not news that effects the outcome of our nation. Here's an example of what is news: Pat Robertson claims that President Bush said "There would be no casualties in Iraq." This little tidbit of information does effect the nation and it certainly effects the 1100+ soldiers who have died in Iraq.

It would be nice to tune into your program and see news that matters discussed again and not something that is more suited for Access Hollywood.

Thank you for your time.

[sunnybrook]

23. I just sent this email to the Today Show

Hello,
I tuned in this morning hoping to see some coverage of the remark made by our President to Pat Robertson that he did not expect any causualties from the Iraq War. As Rev. Robertson is the founder of the Christian Coalition and a huge figure in conservative politics this remark is disturbing at the very least and deserving to be a major news story. Although Karen Hughes has denied the President made the statement, as far as I can tell none of our "journalists" have even asked the President to respond to this statement. Your top news was a sports story, followed by a remark made by Teresa Heinz Kerry that was since retracted and the all important report on Prince Harry and Martha Stewart. Do you really claim to be covering news? With over 1,000 dead U.S. Soldiers and 8,000 injuries, is it not bizarre and outrageous that our President would have made such a statement? This does not seem to be motivated by partisanship as Rev. Robertson is still endorsing Bush. Exactly why is such an important story that would be a service to the American people totally left out of your news? I would really like to understand media priorities.
Thank You,
A Deeply Concerned American Viewer,
Rebecca Dorrill

[kostya]

39. Thanks for the e-mail links, letters sent! EOM

[npincus]

45. excellent! Will follow suit.

[Hubert Flottz]

12. I'll bet you the Bible thumpers saw the story!

And I think Bush hold on the 'Christian Coalition' is starting to crack! We have seen that Bush does not do well with Coalitions! Rat Robertson and the rest of the Rat Wingers are starting to jump ship! I don't think the story went unnoticed!

[Stephanie]

16. Just heard it on All Things Considered

They listed several contretemps, including THK's remark. They mentioned the "no casualties" remark. And, they played Bush taking two words of Kerry's out of context (q: did 9/11 change you? a: not really) and then put them in context to show what he actually said (not really, I already believed bin Laden was a threat etc). Brief segment but kudos for the reporter from me.

[secular_warrior]

17. Our side sucks at working the news cycle

Our people shouldn't constantly be on the defense. They should go out there with sensational slime of their own to throw out there, like this Robertson story. Modern politics is all about winning the news cycle and getting out your talking points.

All the media cares about is soap opera bullshit, which is why they tried to make so much of JK's "outing" of Mary Cheney, and now this fake "duel" between THK and Pickles. I can't wait to break the corporate media into a thousand pieces.

[demokatgurrl]

19. It's up to us- write some letters to editors TODAY. n/t

[NicRic]

20. How about ad w/soud bite pictures ?

A sound bite of Pat Roberson saying what bush said to him about the war ! While showing the list of the dead Americans with their name and age also listed. At the very end of the add we should show pictures of any Iraqie children dead or missing limbs ,from bushes stupid $ war !

[Lerkfish]

22. page A17 of the Dayton Daily News.

less than a 3 inch story.

[Mike Daniels]

25. Probably because there's no proof outside of Pat's statement?

Jeez, you people constantly claim Robertson is a crackpot and now you're actually going to believe something he said because it serves your purpose?

Show me a case of Bush actually saying to the "people" that there would be no casualties and I'll concede you have a reason to be outraged.

As stupid as the hoopla is over T.K.'s remark, there's proof that she said it.

[ScreamingMeemie]

26. Hey, if they can use unsubstatiated "proof" against Kerry, why not?

Mike, it really would be nice to see positive statements posted by you. It always seems to be the negative. Cheer Up! Find a thread that makes you happy! :hi:

[Dawgs]

28. The point is not it's true...

The point is that it should just as much of a news story, if not more, than the THK story.

[popstalin]

29. However...

It's not that I believe him but it's something to be investigated and is more newsworthy than THK. It's also the media's job to investigate this and try to figure out if it's true.

[The Magistrate]

37. Robertson, Mr. Daniels

Has been saying this all summer long. There is no particular reason to doubt his word in the matter.

Nor is the fact that Hughes and Rove have called him a liar without usefulness....

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[surrounded]

27. Pat Robertson

The way to keep this in the news is to call the right-wing talk shows and demand that Pat Robertson apologize for betraying the president.

[newyawker99]

35. Hi surrounded!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Goldmund]

43. That's actually a great idea.

[TheDonkey]

31. Who cares about that. BUT DID YOU HEAR ABOUT TERESA!!! *gasp*

LIKE OMG!!!! CAT FIGHT!!

*as reported by MSRNC*

[lasttrip]

36. same here. first thing thrown at me at work this am.

how many more days?

:crazy:

[leftofthedial]

34. every negative story about the little bushturd (thousands of them)

have disappeared into the mist for the last four years.

[DrFunkenstein]

38. It Is In this Morning's NYTImes

Not front page, but then again, their 3-part series on Bush's "catastrophic success" is far more damning.

[nolabels]

42. You can't argue delusional people who believe in fairy tales

They will simply make up more fantasy's for their ill conceived wishes. You need to go around them and take enough people with you on your way to the truth so they really are left behind

[Generator]

47. The problem is

they don't have a clip from Bush actually saying it. The lesbian and stay at home mom thing came from their own mouth and the have the video or the interview.

The Robertson thing is hearsay. And unfortunately, all the Bush slimeballs have to say is he didn't say it. It's a he/said, he/said.

Oh yeah and my husband supports me to stay at home,we make above average income, and we already voted for Kerry. :P