TPM totally annihilates the AP's Solomon story about Reid.

[trumad]

This wanker Solomon tried this shit before with Reid and now he's at it again....

"If at first you don't succeed...

Back in February, the AP's John Solomon ran a lengthy piece detailing alleged contacts between Jack Abramoff's team at Greenberg Traurig and Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV). As Josh pointed out, although the article concentrated on the fact that Team Abramoff was lobbying Reid on behalf of sweatshop owners in the Northern Marianas, Solomon failed to note that Reid actually voted against the legislation Abramoff was pushing.

Well, Solomon has written a new piece purporting to illustrate still more of Reid's ethical improprieties. He's managed to actually make a weaker case than in his last story.

More: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/000772.php

[sutz12]

1. They are throwing turds at the wall hoping something will stick.

:evilgrin:

They are trying to make the scandals "bi-partisan."

[Pirate Smile]

2. Americablog has a some info on it too.

Monday, May 29, 2006

Three more AP John Solomon articles faulted for taking pot-shots at Dems, leaving out key facts
by John in DC - 5/29/2006 10:10:00 PM


It seems AP's John Solomon has a history of writing anti-Democrat hit pieces that don't really hold water:

1. John Solomon's AP story about Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan leaves out key information. From Media Matters:
A November 29 Associated Press article by John Solomon and Sharon Theimer omitted a key claim by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) that could undermine allegations that he received a political contribution arranged by lobbyist Jack Abramoff "shortly after" writing a letter in support of a tribal school program that would benefit the American Indian tribes that Abramoff represented.
2. John Solomon's February AP story attacking Harry Reid was exposed as having unfairly slanted the story by not noting the not-insignificant fact that Harry Reid never took any action on behalf of the folks who AP claims bought him. This time from Josh Marshall:
In this case, despite the AP story's narrative of lobbyist contacts, there doesn't seem to be any evidence whatsoever that Reid ever took any action on behalf of Abramoff's Marianas clients. Wasn't that worth a mention?
3. After being shown to have written a sloppy story attacking Harry Reid (point 2 above), AP's John Solomon writes a third story again refusing to include key information favorable to Reid. More from Josh Marshall:
Nowhere in the new article can the AP writers bring themselves to note that Reid never adopted Abramoff's clients' position on the issue. So whatever quids Abramoff's folks were offering up, Reid never gave them a quo. From start to finish he was the co-sponsor of the bill Abramoff's clients wanted to defeat.

That's key information -- arguably, the central piece of information in the whole case. But the AP keeps pressing their misleading narrative while omitting this key point.

This is a good example of what happens when getting (or in this case, not losing the story) becomes more important than getting the story right.
And more from Media Matters about Solomon's second poorly-written hit piece on Harry Reid.

AP, is there something you'd like to tell us?
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/05/three-more-ap-john-solomon-articles.html

More on John Solomon, the Associated Press writer who wrote the bogus hit piece on Harry Reid today
by John in DC - 5/29/2006 09:25:00 PM


You might recall that this isn't Mr. Solomon's first brush with truthiness. From AMERICAblog last July, 2005 we learn of John Solomon's untrue reporting about Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson:
The Associated Press totally botched a rather significant part of the Rove-Plame story today.

Basically, AP is now supposedly quoting Wilson as saying his wife was NOT an undercover agent when Rove outed her. Here's what AP wrote today:
But at the same time, Wilson acknowledged his wife was no longer in an undercover job at the time Novak's column first identified her. "My wife was not a clandestine officer the day that Bob Novak blew her identity," he said.
NO, AP, that's not what Wilson said - I watched the interview live. What he said was that the day Bob Novak outed his wife she ceased to be an undercover operative. Not that she wasn't an undercover operative on that day, but rather that she sure wasn't undercover anymore once Rove and Novak outed here. Big difference there.

At the very most, one can argue that Wilson's comments were confusing - that it wasn't clear which interpretation he meant. But AP simply quoting this as fact, that's simply factually wrong on its face. (It sounds to me like the GOP fed that quote to AP and no one thought twice about what it really meant - haven't you guys learned yet about trusting this administration on this stuff?) And you know that AP line is going to be used by the wingnuts to "prove" that Plame wasn't an undercover agent.

And as Atrios notes, Wilson can't come right out and say his wife was an undercover operative, because legally he probably can't. That's why he wasn't clear. But for AP to just presume that Wilson meant his wife wasn't undercover at the time, there is simply no basis in fact - that's a rather big screw-up.

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/05/more-on-john-solomon-associated-press.html

He had another one too. He had a very Harry Reid weekend.


Democratic Senator from Nevada attended Nevada event as guest of the state of Nevada along with Nevada constituents. Oh the humanity!
by John in DC - 5/29/2006 06:23:00 PM


What kind of world do we live in when the Senator from Nevada is the guest of the state of Nevada at a Nevada event with his Nevada constituents.

I mean, really now - what does ANY of that have to do with Nevada?

Yes, this is the big scoop of a story just breaking from the Associated Press. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) attended three boxing matches in Nevada as the guest of the Nevada Athletic Commission, the state agency that regulates boxing. Even though this appears on its face to be permitted under Senate ethics rules (it's okay to accept gifts from the federal, state, or local governments), the AP apparently thinks they pulled a "gotcha" on Harry Reid.

Perhaps my favorite part of the article:
Reid, D-Nev., took the free seats for Las Vegas fights between 2003 and 2005 as he was pressing legislation to increase government oversight of the sport, including the creation of a federal boxing commission that Nevada's agency feared might usurp its authority.
Wow, so you mean Harry Reid accepted tickets from a state agency that he had no intent on helping - an agency, in fact, that Reid was actually working to undercut (in the agency's view). Wow, hell of a conflict of, uh, conflict of, uh, well, it's not really a conflict of anything when you accept tickets from somebody for which you're doing the exact opposite of what they want. That's like "unbribery" - give me the money and I'll screw you over. If anything, this proves Reid's independence - it ain't a bribe when you take the tickets with no intent whatosever to help.

more at http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/05/democratic-senator-from-nevada.html

[spanone]

3. The Reid story is FUCKING FRONT PAGE in my local rag.

Gannett paper of course.

[Cha]

4. bush would be Nothing

without the fascist mediawhores.

[grasswire]

7. send the editor the TPM story and demand ...

...that it be printed. If they refuse to do so, buy ad space and have it printed in the newspaper yourself. (If you can.) Be polite, but furious. If you want others to write the editor, put the name of the newspaper here.

[Jane Austin]

9. Hope you can fire off a quick LTTE on this.

We need to nip this crap in the bud, where possible.

[Kagemusha]

5. Reid seems to have this game of playing lobbyists for suckers.

Basically, make an appearance of giving a hearing to whatever he's being lobbied over, then turning around and doing whatever he was going to do anyway.

I don't have a problem with THAT - that's the way he does his politics, he's allowed. I'm being very critical of Reid with the free boxing tickets issue but, I consider that completely 100% separate from this Abramoff deal. While in a perfect world, it'd be nice if Reid hadn't even played Team Abramoff to the extent he had, his not voting the way he'd been lobbied to vote is indeed a very large piece of context this John Solomon doesn't seem to want to appreciate. Quid pro quo does not translate into "something for nothing". Which is what unsuccessful lobbying is.

[ContraBass Black]

6. It's front page of CNN.com, with the word "Democratic" in the headline.

But if you go past the link and look inside, you'll find out that not only is it unconfirmed, but in the picture of him at the boxing match he supposedly took free tickets for, McCain is sitting in the seat beside him.

[Vinnie From Indy]

8. AP is a BushCo and GOP mouthpiece - Tell everyone you know!

The AP story is running in hundreds of newspapers across the country. It has been picked up and run FRONT PAGE here in Indy by Gannett's Indy Star. This article is a perfect example of the complicity between the large media outlets and the GOP. The vast right wing conspiracy is on display AGAIN!

[drm604]

10. Aarrrgh! How do we fight this?

:mad:

[symbolman]

11. Simple soundbite for the Dems on this, pass it on..

"The Democrats took donations from the Tribes, not BRIBES like the Republicans did.."

Free of charge, something joe sixpack can easily remember..

Thanks for the info, great thread!

[KharmaTrain]

12. C-SPAN Ran With It This Morning

Cited the Washington Moonie Times and read it as though it was gospel. You could see the glee in the host's eyes as it sounded like the GOOP found a "smoking gun" on Reid.

I smelled another Rovian astroturf here...as the Repugnicans are desperate to drag as many Democrats...rightly or wrongly...into their continuing corruption and ethical messes.

This latest smear...just like the ones on Hillary Clinton, Al Gore and others is part of the Repugnican demonizing process...one that's worked so well in the past where you start a rumor...almost always based on some wingnut smear job in a right wing rag...it's then picked up by hate radio and surely will be the major topic tonight on Faux noise. Fact be damned...truth be trampled...this is more CYA by Rove and his henchmen.