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Jeff Carrington
Seaman Recruit
Joined: 12 Aug 2004
Posts: 47
Location: West Simsbury, CT
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 Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2004 7:11 pm Post subject: Endgame, A Last Crossroads for Dobbs—Which Way? [WaPo ltr] |
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I submitted this for WaPo op-ed, they will of course never print. If anyone has ideas for other placement/distribution, if you think it would do any good, let me know or just be my guest, with or without attribution, OK with me. Swiftees, it's up to you. The post-debate resurgence makes it clear. We cannot allow this absolute travesty. My continued salute to you and your cause.--jc
Endgame, A Last Crossroads for Dobbs—Which Way?
Knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful. --SAMUEL JOHNSON
“Self-Inflicted Wounds”, last Sunday’s (9/26) Washington Post ombudsman column by Michael Getler was an extraordinary exercise in candor. Mr. Getler’s opening sentence: “Once again, the news media have delivered a body blow to their own credibility” (referencing the Dan Rather firestorm)—seemed to cut like a scalpel toward the objective of real truth, and a wider and wiser reality, yea verily, a brighter tomorrow for the Post.
For reinforcement, here’s another eye-opening lead sentence, this time from a Post editorial the previous Wednesday: “No news organization can watch the debacle unfolding at CBS without experiencing an institutional shudder.” (“Poor Judgment at CBS”, 9/22).
These are at once inspired and inspiring words. The fact that voices are those of both the editor and the ombudsman of the Washington Post, makes them all the more heartening.
A skeptic’s view is that the earthquake magnitude of Rathergate has created stark visions of your own media mortality and driven you to the first pew in church. But as the organ music of the recessional begins to die away, we have to ask what is, of course, the most important and enduring question: you can talk the talk, but can you really walk the walk?
Both the Post’s editorial and Mr. Getler’s column enlarge on the CBS/Rather debacle to include allusions to, or notable historical examples of, editorial misconduct and even fraud in the mainstream media. But there is no mention of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, except for a condescending swipe in the last sentence of the editorial piece (“Meanwhile, we continue to entertain the notion that there are subjects more important in this presidential campaign than even Swift boats”).
No, there aren’t. At this late stage, if the Washington Post can’t—or far more ominously, won’t—see clearly that the bill of indictment leveled against John F. Kerry by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, is absolutely chock full of substance that is putatively determinative and vital to the core qualifications of the office of President of the United States, then you have to be either journalistically indolent or willfully blind, or both. This is surely not “walking the walk” by any reasonably objective standard.
If that strikes you as unfair, let us recall that it took you months—months—to appropriately acknowledge the Swift vets otherwise widely publicized assertions. It would be easy but pointless to elaborate on that chronology. In your reflective moments, which we take from your recent writings that you apparently are having, your gut will holler at you that you failed badly in that opening chapter. The loony scenario of the Post, at a point well down the path of the story, declining to interview even one of a whole committee of extremely credible witnesses literally on your doorstep, sums it up pretty well. Whether you in the light of these post-CBS meditations of yours have the sincerity to admit an agenda was largely at the root of that bizarre rebuff —is another matter.
How can you not understand that there is no way for you to get in any bully pulpit about the sins and shortcomings of the media, without first seeing the bull elephant in the living room of your own largely slanted handling of the Swift vets story thus far? Doesn’t it agitate you that widespread mainstream media diminution or discrediting of this story—and its protagonists the indisputably admirable Swift vets—for ideological reasons, is truly a national scandal? Time after time, Post articles, columns and editorials have either intimated, or said point blank, that the Swift boat vets charges are either “attacks” or “smears”? Notwithstanding that these charges come contemporaneously supported by voluminous details, footnotes, exhibits and affidavits. As bad as you’ve been, it has been far worse elsewhere, taking on ridiculous prejudice in places like the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Boston Globe newsrooms and editorial pages. It seems in this looking glass MSM world that demonstration and proof don’t count. No, there is precious little real research, logic or reason here, it is overwhelmingly emotion and political agenda of the worst kind. “Self-inflicted wounds”, did you say?
Quoting the elder statesman of the Post, David Broder (from “The Media, Losing Their Way”, 9/26):
”Time was when any outfit such as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that came around peddling an ad with implausible charges would have run into a hard-nosed reporter whose first questions -- before he or she ran with the story -- would have been, ‘Who the hell are you guys? What's your angle? What's your proof?’ .”
Ironically, to make a point the highly respected and widely consumed (including high profile TV and the internet) David Broder poses questions that are not merely already answered, but copiously expounded by the Swift vets in a book called Unfit for Command that became a nearly immediate #1 national bestseller! Some might call this the Mother of All Underscores. Meanwhile, that book stands basically unrefuted after almost two months in center foreground. No important critic has even summoned the nerve to put it on the table and attempt to discuss it point-by-point. What does that tell you? This just gets curiouser and curioser. Or sadder and sadder, take your pick.
Mr. Broder’s idealized “hard-nosed” reporter in the instant case, would be the Post’s own Mr. Michael Dobbs I believe, a long-experienced journalist who has assumed the fedora as lead detective on the Swift vets vs. Kerry story. But Mr. Dobbs was woefully late getting into the starting gate on the story, which ab initio raises troubling questions about what native reportorial instincts and abilities he may actually possess, or attitudes, or at least what editorial leash he may wear around his neck. Since Mr. Dobbs’ dilatory start, the results have been mixed to say the least, however there is one illustration that probably rises to the top and provides a critical clue.
Specifically, that we know he is capable of some rigor if the spirit moves him. In his most diligent effort at incisive reporting on this case so far, Mr. Dobb’s front page story “Swift Boat Accounts Flawed”, sets out details he gleaned from examining much of the available evidence concerning the heavily-cited (right up to the stage of the DNC) Bay Hap River incident, wherein John Kerry earned (ostensibly) a Bronze Star for his intrepid and uncommonly courageous actions in rescuing one James Rassman, while both were under mortal peril of withering enemy fire. The crux of this episode, remember, is that Swift vets allege that Kerry deliberately and cynically gamed the system and hyped the story wildly beyond any semblance of reality, so as to gain for his CV a prestigious decoration for bravery, and also a third Purple Heart which became the means for him to “make his bird” out of Vietnam after less than one-third of his assigned tour of duty. The latter aspect of his magic carpet ride back to the World as we used to say, was completely unique, no other case found on record where a Vietnam serviceman effected his own early salvation via a three-Hearts-and-out discretionary rule after shedding virtually no blood and missing not a single day’s activity on account of his aspirin and/or bandaid “wounds”. That’s right, nary a suture or a prescription painkiller even.
But, to the point. On this “core issue” (i.e., of the overall Kerry veracity question; Dobbs words) of the Bay Hap incident, Mr. Dobbs concludes in his story that “official Navy records” clearly favor Kerry’s version of events, and trump the Swift vets assertions. More significantly, he seems to insinuate this ‘evidentiary’ (“official records”) victory for Kerry on Bay Hap, is a kind of comprehensive Rosetta stone for the interpretation of the relative veracity of all other Swift allegations against John Kerry. At least Mr. Dobbs concedes in his story that some open questions may remain. The concluding words of his report are, “Stay tuned.”.
Item: “Did Kerry Write Own Report of Disputed Clash?”, a just-published (10/1) article in the Chicago Sun-Times by respected journalist Thomas Lipscomb, The gist of this is, a current analysis of the after action report on the Bay Hap incident, indicates very strongly that John Kerry himself wrote that report, and in so doing wove a phony Rambo-esque tale that became the nucleus of his Bronze Star and Purple Heart awards. Voila, gadzooks, maybe the corpse pops out of the window seat. A smoking gun, the ultimate source document of the “official Navy record”, in John Kerry’s own (typically self effacing) hand. To clarify: this Sun-Times story reports on new developments flowing from the detailed analysis of the Bay Hap after-action report, by a highly experienced and credible Navy intelligence expert. Remember the silver crucifix used everywhere against the Swift vets: Official Navy Records prove Kerry’s version. What if John Kerry is indeed the author of serial fictions, not just this one event? Where have we heard that raised before? Swift vets, maybe?
In Carville-speak: it’s the authorship, stupid. No offense. The Navy can’t write. People do. Kerry did.
OK, Mr. Dobbs, we have indeed stayed tuned. Further it will be intensely interesting to remain tuned for the denouement, in order to observe how you and your editor treat, or don’t treat, these unfolding developments (there will be more, mark it). Will it pass your gravity test, or will it simply be deja vu all over again, i.e. you’ll spike the story, or report it but buried under enough layers of newsprint and reportorial apathy or bias to effectively accomplish the same thing. Because the reality is, the story is there and it is loaded with import, whether you like it or not. Not just for clarification of Bay Hap, which is a major episode by itself, but for the even larger understanding this revelation may provide when viewed in the overall context of just who to believe in the Swift vets vs. Kerry struggle, and the real and final bottom line so critically important to America right now: is John Kerry after all, Unfit for Command.
Finally in David Broder’s aforementioned column, he called the Swift vets allegations “a sham event” and “a scurrilous and largely inaccurate attack on the Vietnam service of John Kerry”. This is potent stuff coming from a man like David Broder whom many view not without reason as a dean among deans in the business. Remember, that’s a very recent column by Mr. Broder I’m quoting. Published even after and in spite of a number of Kerry myths being sequentially exploded or cast into extreme doubt. An unmistakable pattern of doubt is emerging, you could say, one that now seems to be weighing inexorably with each revelation in favor of the charges made by the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth. Mr. Broder’s “scurrilous” and “largely inaccurate” insulting dismissal of a highly honorable and demonstrably credible group of veterans is verbatim typical of the overwhelming mainstream media attitude and commentary thus far. You hear it again. . .and again. . .and again. When will the charade end? Will you do the right thing, Mr. Dobbs? Because, like it or not, you have inherited the mainstream media’s journalistic guidon on this story. To close on a hopeful note (with so much at stake), one last citation from your colleague David Broder’s column (his concluding sentences):
“We've wandered a long way from safe ground in the news business. Sometimes I wonder if we can find our way back.”
Michael Dobbs, you do have the guidon. This is your last clear chance. Walk the walk. Lead, by God.
Jeff Carrington
West Simsbury, CT |
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Me#1You#10
Site Admin
Joined: 06 May 2004
Posts: 6503
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| Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2004 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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Jeff...I am speechless...one of the most remarkable posts I've seen in this forum.
My compliments, Sir.
Forum..spread this far and wide.... |
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Navy_Navy_Navy
Admin
Joined: 07 May 2004
Posts: 5777
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| Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2004 7:37 pm Post subject: |
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Outstanding!!!
Thank you for writing it and thank you for sharing it!
_________________
~ Echo Juliet ~
Altering course to starboard - On Fire, Keep Clear
Navy woman, Navy wife, Navy mother |
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JROTC
Seaman Apprentice
Joined: 24 Aug 2004
Posts: 83
Location: Milwaukee, WI
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| Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2004 10:39 pm Post subject: |
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Really, Mr. Jeff - GREAT!
By reality measures, this should leave a mark. This has got to start unfolding more, and faster, and a comprehensive piece such as yours becomes the vehicle for getting these people off their .... and start actually playing the part of "Reporters".
Thank you for your efforts and for sharing!
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"It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it" - General Douglas MacArthur |
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DenisC
Seaman
Joined: 13 Aug 2004
Posts: 166
Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
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Stevie
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 25 Aug 2004
Posts: 1451
Location: Queen Creek, Arizona
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| Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2004 11:38 pm Post subject: |
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Oh, I'm just speechless....
I'm gonna send it to the Arizona Republic.... if that's ok...
_________________
Stevie
Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage
morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should
be arrested, exiled or hanged. |
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Knot4jfnk
Seaman Recruit
Joined: 16 Sep 2004
Posts: 14
Location: Indiana
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| Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 8:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Awesome, Jeff, thank you! It’s easy to understand Kerry’s agenda. I just can’t understand how ALL of the MSM “journalists” are willing to sell any credibility they have left in order to suppress this story and keep the traitor’s campaign alive. |
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lrb111
Captain
Joined: 28 Jul 2004
Posts: 508
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| Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 5:11 am Post subject: |
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Whammo! Right outta the park!
and impressively, so.
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said Democratic Chairman Terry McAuliffe. "It is inexcusable to mock service and sacrifice."
well, when even the DNC can see it,,,,, then kerry is toast. |
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Dimsdale
Captain
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 527
Location: Massachusetts: the belly of the beast
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| Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 1:22 pm Post subject: |
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That's a keeper.
Send it to the Courant, LOL!!
_________________
Everytime he had a choice, Kerry chose to side with communists rather than the United States. |
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Me#1You#10
Site Admin
Joined: 06 May 2004
Posts: 6503
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| Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 3:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Jeff...any feedback yet on your letter? |
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Jeff Carrington
Seaman Recruit
Joined: 12 Aug 2004
Posts: 47
Location: West Simsbury, CT
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| Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 6:47 pm Post subject: |
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Unfortunately not much, Admin. I followed DenisC's helpful post (above) and sent to those addresses, nothing but silence. No bloggers even. I was a little surprised because MSM has taken so many free swings at SBVT, and although objections have appeared, not enough with real counterpunch sting anyway. What I tried to do was "get on the fender" of the CBS/Rather momentum, ie for self-examination and piety, and feed their own words/actions back, in that light. I think that has at least a chance to nudge, if not knock, them off their game. Maybe think at least a little before taking another free swing.
NavyWife was very helpful in putting me in touch with an author and political writer in the DC area. He showed some interest but is swamped with work right now.
No chance of getting the Post to do anything. They never even acknowledge anything from me. Local (CT) papers are worse than the LA Times, no chance.
Open to suggestions. Willing to amend/augment the letter as required.
I sure appreciate the feedback and comments. I sent PM's to the posters. Will continue to shadow the Post and lob one in here and there in defense of the SBVT. You folks are simply the best. |
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