Don't give up. Writing is important...especially when you copy an organization that could end up giving MSnbc Bad press. That's the one thing they would not want....to be part of a story instead of distorting one.
I wrote the following letter to viewerservices@msnbc.com
and copied:
Media for Democracy at tim@mediachannel.org
Joe "Blowhard" himself at joe@msnbc.com
JScarborough@msnbc.com Joe "Blowhard" other email for good measure
MSNBC's trash email address GeneralComments@feedback.msnbc.com
And Media Matters tips at mm-tips@mediamatters.org
I also went to the "contact us" site on Air America for every single show they have and sent them a copy of my letter.
If more would do the same....not just send the letter to the offending source, but copy it to those who can do something about it....like publicize this propaganda, we COULD make a difference.
MY LETTER-- SUBJECT: INACCURATE INFORMATION ON YOUR WEBSITE
Dear Viewerservice,
I must insist that the below highlighted spoken words of Joe Scarborough be removed from your website, because joe is not speaking the truth.
I am tired of the MSnbc employees distorting the words of those who appear on their programs. It is very disturbing to listen and to read misrepresentation and distortions. I, for one, have had it up to here with this kind of propaganda!
I will be contacting several organizations, such as Media Matters, Media for Democracy and various shows on Air America. By the time I am finished complaining about msnbc's lack of honesty, you will end up losing a lot of your readers and viewers and MSnbc's reputation will rate in the same category as Fox, but without Fox's large audience. I am attaching the transcript of the show which recorded Wesley Clark's spoken words when he appeared on Joe Scaroborough's earlier this week, and none of the sentiments reported by Joe below appears in that transcript.
Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX
ps: Transcript of what was actually discussed appears below the offending words needing removal from your website
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6330851/ Politics over freedom (Joe Scarborough)
REMOVE THE FOLLOWING:You would like to think that in the end, when all the political shoving and scratching is over, that Americans would come together for what is in the best interest of their country.
Sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.
Over the past week, Democrats like Ted Kennedy, Madeleine Albright, and Wesley Clark have done their best to downplay the importance of Sunday's Iraqi elections.
Why would they make such absurd statements about a process TRANSCRIPT BELOW SHOWS THAT COMMENTS MADE BY GENERAL CLARK ARE NOT REFLECTED IN THE SENTIMENTS THAT MR. JOE HAS ATTRIBUTED TO CLARK. READ CLOSELY:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6867311/SCARBOROUGH: General Clark, obviously, you‘ve been concerned from the beginning about the way the United States got into this war. A lot of Americans have shared that concern. They also have shared your concern about what the Bush administration did to bring peace to that area or their failure to bring peace to that area.
And yet, we have a poll out showing 80 percent of Iraqis are excited about this opportunity to vote. You see more and more evidence that the turnout is going to be high; 80 percent say they‘re likely to vote; 12 percent say they‘re unlikely; 4 percent say they don‘t know. And international observers say that the world‘s going to be shocked by the turnout. Is that good news?
WESLEY CLARK (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it‘s great news. And I—you know, we all welcome the election.
The question is what really happens after the election. Clearly, a lot of Iraqis are going to vote. Clearly, some won‘t vote. And after it, some won‘t accept the results. And the question is will a large turnout in and of itself invalidate those who are fighting against the idea of a democracy in Iraq?
SCARBOROUGH: Like Zarqawi?
CLARK: Like Zarqawi, will it do that? And the odds are that it will not invalidate them. The odds are they will continue to still make bombs, still attack people, and still have the passive support of large numbers of the population.
Remember, if you‘ve got 80 percent that are going to vote, that‘s five million who aren‘t sure they‘re going to vote. And why is it that there are five million who aren‘t sure they‘re going to vote? If you look at insurgencies historically, it doesn‘t take a very large insurgency to cause a great deal of difficulty for an established government.
(CROSSTALK)
CLARK: And what we‘re trying to do in Iraq is establish a government
is we‘re trying to establish a government in the face of an insurgency.
It‘s an extraordinary difficult task.
So, I‘m really happy with the good news. I hope it all works. I just hope that we‘ll approach this with a little bit of caution, because we‘ve got a long way to go in Iraq. And the administration‘s record honestly is not very good at delivering on the potential.
(CROSSTALK)
CLARK: Well, I think it‘s great news, but you‘re not going to compare Iraqi democracy with an American democracy, surely, Joe. I‘m not going to do that.
(CROSSTALK)
SCARBOROUGH: Well, if we have a higher turnout, then I think that‘s a damn positive development.
CLARK: If you look at the polling that‘s been done, you‘ll see the turnout‘s like 95 percent among the Kurds and the Shia. They think they‘ve got a lot to gain. If you look at the turnout...
SCARBOROUGH: They do.
CLARK: ... percentages projected from the Sunnis, the figures I‘ve shown show it‘s about 20 percent. Now, the Sunnis are a small part of the population. So overall it looks really good.
But if you end up after the election with a very angry, dispossessed Sunni group in the middle of Iraq, that‘s not a positive outcome. That‘s why people like Chalabi are trying to offset the idea that it‘s—the election is only about sectarianism.
(CROSSTALK)
CLARK: What we haven‘t heard from the administration is what the real strategy is.
There‘s an excessive focus here on the turnout as the measure of success in election. I‘d suggest that here‘s the way you should look at this. The election is productive if it leads to the creation of a legitimate Iraqi political body that can take away from all elements of Iraqi society the idea they have something to fight against, that can take away the idea that they‘re being occupied by the Americans, the idea that the Sunnis are dispossessed. That‘s the standard, not the percentage of turnout.
(CROSSTALK)
HITCHENS: Well, I agree with you about the percentage, because it is important, above all, that an election is taking place at all, as it was among the Palestinians going forward, and as it has been in Afghanistan.
CLARK: Furthermore, there‘s another thing here, Christopher, we ought to talk about. What we really haven‘t seen from the administration yet is, what is the real strategy? Of course we‘re going to have an election. But the strategy, what is the end state we‘re after in Iraq? We‘ve never laid out the end state.
(CROSSTALK)
HITCHENS: Well, the administration has put all its egg in the Allawi basket.
SCARBOROUGH: Hold on a second.
General, you speak tonight as if an election is a footnote.
CLARK: That‘s right.
SCARBOROUGH: That a democratic election in a totalitarian state is a footnote. I think that‘s a good place to start.
And, Christopher Hitchens...
(CROSSTALK)
CLARK: I think an election is a great place to start, but what is end state we‘re after.
SCARBOROUGH: What I‘m hearing from soldiers that e-mail me day in and day out, it‘s the same thing, that mainstream media keeps burying the lead on the Iraqi vote.
I want you all to look at this headline. And this was the day after George Bush delivered his address. “Washington Post,” above the fold, A-1, “Arabs Say U.S. Rhetoric Rings Hollow.” Now, of course, they don‘t quote a single person on the first page. But buried on page A-13 under the headline “At Unity Against Violence, Not on Vote,” this came from a Shiite leader—quote—“Whatever they do, it will not change the outcome, because there are only 10 days separating us from the day when we will say no to dictatorship.” And the article went on to say that worshipers chanted inside this bombed-out mosque, “We will go to ballot boxes even if we have to crawl.” This is historic.
HITCHENS: Yes, it‘s very inspiring.
SCARBOROUGH: And, Christopher Hitchens, the story is not being told on A-1, like it should be.
CLARK: I think it‘s being told in many newspapers, Joe. I‘ve seen it in every newspaper in America.
(CROSSTALK)
SCARBOROUGH: General, will you let somebody else talk? I know you don‘t like the good news getting out there. We‘re getting it out there tonight.
(CROSSTALK)
CLARK: I do like the good news. I‘ve been in favor of our troops and in favor of the success of this mission from the beginning, Joe.
SCARBOROUGH: Christopher Hitchens, talk.
HITCHENS: The question was to me.
CLARK: So I‘m not going to be painted in the other corner.
HITCHENS: The question was to me. The question was to me. Thank you.
CLARK: No, it was personal to me, Chris. And I don‘t like the idea...
HITCHENS: Christopher.
CLARK: Look, I‘ve been in favor of the mission, the success of the mission from the beginning, Joe.
HITCHENS: The question was to me. The question was to me.
CLARK: I want like to see...
(CROSSTALK)
CLARK: ... make a success.
HITCHENS: The question was to me.
SCARBOROUGH: General, you were filibustering, General. Let Christopher Hitchens respond.
HITCHENS: The question was to me.
Look, the administration doesn‘t come too brilliantly out of this. If, through the CIA, installed a man, Mr. Allawi, a very dubious character indeed, who has been smuggling U.S. dollars out of the country that don‘t belong to him, who has been using the media in Iraq as if they belong to him personally, and who has been acting in a generally all-around thuggish way, the CIA has never got anything right in Iraq and continues to get things wrong on our dime, in our name and at our expense.
SCARBOROUGH: General, I‘ll give you the last word.
CLARK: All Americans want this election to succeed. We want our troops to be safe. We want the mission to be accomplished. We want our troops home safely.
And this election is part of the process of getting them there. But I think we also have to look realistically at the election. The point is not just the level of participation, but who is participating and what happens next. And what I‘d like to hear a little more of is what the administration‘s strategy is. What‘s next? Are we going to let the Iraqis invite us to leave after the election? Are we going to stay there for a long time? What are the standards for the success of this mission?
SCARBOROUGH: All right.
CLARK: I don‘t think it‘s asking too much to ask the administration to lay that out. That‘s what our soldiers and their families need to hear, and I‘m speaking up for them.
SCARBOROUGH: All right, General, I‘ll meet you halfway on it. I still agree this administration doesn‘t have an exit plan. That‘s a terrible mistake.
But regarding who votes, I don‘t give a damn whether the Sunnis vote or not. They‘ve oppressed this nation since 1934. If they don‘t want to vote because they‘re finally going to have to live in a representational democracy, tough luck.
We‘ll be right back.
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