Twin Towers Group for Truth ?
Posted : August 22, 2004 at 10:52 am [America/Los_Angeles]
I like to watch the Sunday morning News shows. Shows like NBC’s Meet the Press, CBS’s Face the Nation or sometimes ABC’s This Week. I tend to stay away from cable news channels for obvious reasons. This morning was no different as I decided to watch George Stephanopoulos’ “This Week”. The result: I just finished sending George (not, George W. but George S.) this email as I really had no other productive means of venting my frustrations.
Here’s what I wrote (actually, I have made a few modifications and fixed a few typos since sending him the email). Enjoy!
George:
I luv your show. However, I must say that I am deeply disturbed by your coverage today (08/22/2004) of John O’Neil, spokesman for the “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” and their side of the Vietnam story, especially after the spate of recent news stories in NY Times, Chicago Tribune and Washington Post essentially debunked most of their allegations.
Here are the two things that I am worried about with regards to your show today:
a. Allow me to take a hypothetical situation in order to explain my first point:
What if 30 years from now a group called “Twin Towers Group for Truth” came forward and challenged Rudy Guliani’s role during 9/11’s recovery effort in New York by saying “Mr. Guliani, you were not the hero that you were made out to be as Mayor of New York city during the 9/11 tragedy.” Rudy, like any other person, in his defense would try to bring forth all kinds of documents, TV footage and accounts of personal friends (assuming they’re still alive) to defend himself. Despite the sheer ludicrous nature of these charges, all that this group would have to do to tarnish everything that Rudy rightfully earned is to sow the seeds of doubt by bandying around statements like “I was there when the building fell and Rudy took 7 mins. to decide what to do” or “Mr. John Doe and Mr. Jack Smith will corroborate my statement that Rudy did not help a dying fire-fighter..” And there is a good chance that this group would be successful. Why? Cause, while it is much difficult for an individual to go back 30 years in time and prove everything that he/she ever did or said, it takes absolutely nothing to concoct allegations and sow the seeds of doubt.
Coming back to our current issue at hand, I realize that the analogy above might not be a very good one, but it does explain the sheer ludicrous nature of this accusation. All Mr. O’Neil wants today is what Karl Rove and his Republican PR machinery would like, not that I am insinuating that the two are in cahoots. I will leave that upto you and your journalistic imagination as an exercise
Just sow the seeds of doubt about John Kerry and his statements. Let’s start with allegations that covers every single aspect of John Kerry’s Vietnam war and post-war record. If we can make even one of these charges stick, even if by a long shot, we’ve done our bit. Mr. Kerry would be mired in trying to explain this one allegation, and any faux pas in doing this would cast a shadow over all the other allegations. Case Closed. John Kerry is finished!
b. Today, you had a segment on “John Kerry’s service in Vietnam” and then the “Economy”. In 2004, with 9/11, War on Terrorism, the Iraq war and many, many important issues on the table, you chose to give airtime to “Vietnam” and some weird group’s allegations that are at best dubious! I will repeat what I have said before in my blog many times:
A party (whether it’s Republican or Democrat) might win elections by using this demonize-and-destroy-your-opponent-using-fuzzy-facts tactics. However, United States of America ends up losing. And losing big!
If your conscience tells you that you ought to give more airtime to “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth”, by all means, do it. However, I think you and your producers ought to be smart and patriotic enough to know that “this” election is far more important to let any minute be squandered by being sucked into Karl Rove’s political chicanery.
You and ABC’s parent company Disney ought to know better that the families of the soldiers that you cover in your “In Memoriam” section so dutifully every Sunday morning deserve a lot more than showing their pictures with a melancholy background music!
A well wisher.
- Anand
Blog: http://indrayam.com
- Anand
Category: United (or not) State of American Politics 2004