News search reveals one mention of Conyers' "The Constitution in Crisis"

[ProSense]

August 07, 2006

If a report falls in a forest…

Posted 10:10 am | Printer Friendly

To update an item from late last week, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee issued a sweeping indictment Friday of the Bush White House's casual approach to law-breaking in a report called, "The Constitution in Crisis." Carpetbagger regular Hark emailed me with a question about the media's reaction to the report so far. Needless to say, it's not inspiring.

Using Lexis-Nexis and Google News, it appears that the only mainstream media outlet — literally, the only one — to even mention the release of the report was CNN, when Jack Cafferty devoted 200 words to the subject on Thursday.

"Well, somebody has finally worked up the nerve to say it out loud. We have a constitutional crisis in this country. So says Congressman John Conyers of Michigan. He's the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. And in an upcoming report, he describes what he calls an alarming pattern by the Bush administration of operating outside the law and with no meaningful oversight by Congress.

"Conyers says the Bush administration may have broken a total of 26 separate laws and regulations, including misleading Congress and the American people about the decision to go to war in Iraq; manipulating intelligence about the justification for the war; encouraging torture and degrading treatment of prisoners in Iraq; allowing inappropriate retaliation against critics; and approving unlawful domestic surveillance."

Snip...

Regardless, this is a well-documented, thoroughly-researches report from congressional Democrats about the Bush administration possibly violating over two dozen federal laws and regulations — some of them multiple times. And yet, nothing in the AP; nothing in any of the major dailies; nothing on ABC, CBS, or NBC. Not one word.

Two quick thoughts: one, many of us frequently feel like congressional Democrats need to be aggressive and go on the offensive more, but let's not forget, even when they do, much the media blows off what Dems have to say. Over the weekend, the AP ran a 1,000-word puff piece on how the GOP base considers Dick Cheney "a rock star," but the AP managed to blow off the Conyers document entirely. It's an extra challenge for the party when Dems are aggressive but the public never hears about it.

more...

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/8135.html#more-8135

[blm]

1. Same tactic media used on Kerry's speech to the Firefighters Convention

when he attacked the swifts and their BushInc enablers.

If they didn't cover it, it never happened.....right?

[concerned citizen23]

2. I am not surprised...blitz the press and senators folks!

This is also similar to the lawsuit Robert F. Kenndy Jr. recently filed against Deibold, hardly a mention in the press...

I sent the Conyers article posted at Huffington Post to numerous newspapers over the weekend, NY Times, Washington Post, etc ...plus sent it to many Senators in Washington....

[rhett o rick]

3. How can I get a copy of the report? Everyone needs a copy. nm

[acmejack]

4. Download it from the link the OP provided.

It is cleverly disguised as the "Constitution in Crisis". Enjoy the read :)

[rhett o rick]

6. Thanks, but I was hoping to buy a copy. nm

[chill_wind]

10. I believe you can. We had a thread and a link Friday

to media actions and I think there was a link to purchasing it.
I'll try to find that. It all fell by the way of a Friday news dump in the MSM. Fridays are not good for getting things seen and aired in the MSM. Don't know why they did it that way.

[chill_wind]

11. Here it is. (link)

thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2757527

davidswanson Fri Aug-04-06 04:31 PM

___________________

(...)

Now, Take Action!

1. Ask the media to cover Conyers' report:
http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=89552...

2. Ask your Congress Member to sponsor H. Res. 635 to start an investigation.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/635

3. Buy this report as a book. Pre-order, and ask your friends to do so, and get it on the best-seller lists. Buy it here.

http://www.academychicago.com/GeorgeWBush.html

http://www.davidswanson.org

About:

George W. Bush Versus the U.S. Constitution:
The Downing Street Memos and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution, Coverups in the Iraq War and Illegal Spying
Compiled by the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff

Introduction by Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson
Edited by Anita Miller

Category: Politics
Format: Trade paperback, 260pp, 6 x 9
ISBN: 0-89733-550-3 / 978-0-89733-550-8
Price: $15.95

[rhett o rick]

13. Thanks very much. I plan on doing just as you suggest. nm

[Rageneau]

5. Imagine how little we'd know if not for the Internet.

The corrupt corporate MSM can still keep busy rank-and-file Americans in the dark by censoring what they see and hear. But thanks to the Internet, at least those of us who want to know the whole story have a way of finding it out. Too bad our electorate is so poorly and partially informed.

[rhett o rick]

7. Yes, but wouldn't we be happier in our ignorance? nm

[LincolnMcGrath]

8. K + R Front Page

:kick:

[glitch]

9. And they wonder why people stop reading their rags, or stop watching their

airholes on tv.

Watch and learn, if you can, corporate media.

[chill_wind]

12. Thank you ProSense. K/R nt

[Smarmie Doofus]

14. The word 'constitutional' has 5 syllables. By the time....

he/she gets to the last, the average reader has forgotten what the first was.

Seriously, Conyers and Co. should have called it something else as the phraseology is a bit hackneyed by now.

What were we talking about again?

[Reckon]

15. I'm surprised this OP didn't get more attention here at DU.

The "The Constitution in Crisis" report is very important for two reasons.

1. The M$M not covering this report is total proof the media is totally bias toward the Repubs. We can use this "Proof" in our argument against the claims of a "Liberal media".

2. It shows how little support "True Democrats" are getting from the Democratic party.

ProSense, please repost this and let's see if we can get the word out. We have to support the Dems that are trying hard to take a stand against the NeoCon agenda -- A stand for THE PEOPLE!


We must get the word out!

[blm]

16. We saw this exact same thing happen during the campaign and again with DSM

and the call for an investigation into those memos.