SwiftVets.com

[lrb111]

karlaerin,,

Newspapers often have forums on their sites. If you they have a site, look to their forums and post the email there.
You might also try a local radio morning call in show In Ashley, Ar. They are always looking for local scandals, especially on freedom of speech issues.

You didn't get shut down, you got a fresh box of ammo.
_________________
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.

[wvobiwan]

Just thought I'd add my two cents. If they get enough letters they may have second thoughts about their coverage. So I sent the Ashley News Observer my own letter:

Subject: Where is your objectivity?

Or have you just given up and no longer make any pretense at being anything other than the liberal democrat's tool?

If you choose to have any integrity you'd be wise to report the facts about Kerry and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Your reply to their reasonable request for fair and balanced coverage of this issue was posted on their website and was reprehensible for a purported new organization. Someone obivously DOES need to tell the media what to do, Fox is kicking all your butts because they don't push liberal lies and agendas.

This story is not "propaganda" as you state, the facts are verifiable and proven. The overwhelming majority of folks who served with Kerry call his version of events a lie. Don't you even care about the truth? Or just your liberal bias? If regular bloggers like me can find the facts and be convinced, what the heck do you get paid for?

Your arrogance is palpable, but laughable. Gullible is what I would call a journalist who buys the "I'm a war hero" line from a man who betrayed his fellow soldiers and in fact his country's ideals. Gullible is what I call a journalist who believes a 4 month stay in Vietnam (3 mos in a combat zone) can generate 3 Purple Heart caliber wounds with no resultant hospital stay. Gullible is what I call a journalist who takes the war hero drivel at face value when no one can say who actually wrote the citations.

Incidentally, National Guardsmen all over the country would be very interested in why you don't consider them military men, everyone else does. Besides, Bush's support for the military is clearly evidenced by his first 3 years in office. Kerry's 20 years in the Senate has demonstrated his clear disregard for the soldier and for national security.

You can continue to drag your rag down the liberal path, but the American people have had enough of the one-sided reporting and yellow journalism you push and they are voting with their pocket books. When your paper is out of business for toe-ing the liberal line, then where will you work?

Doug Hillgren
Harpers Ferry, WV
_________________
Doug
"Proud of my Dad, 2-tour veteran of VN."
Kerry/Edwards Foreign Policy Slogan: Accept our surrender or we'll sue!

[karlaerin]

I considered the forum idea, but the forum administrator is the one that I've been emailing, so it's a fat chance. Someone else might consider doing that, though. The forum admin. has to approve the usernames and everything and has to activate the handle.

That was a very good letter WVObiwan. I will tell you to expect a very rude reply. I just got the reply to my reply, and I must admit my husband put his 2 cents in with my reply so it wasn't as nice as if I had written it myself.

Here is the reply:

"Mrs. Heidt,

You've got a lot of time on your hands. Apparently most of it is spent listening to conservative talk radio instead of doing something more constructive. At least part of it needs to be used taking a few breaths because you've got to be as purple as this background color after that tirade.

First, don't call my "journalistic integrity" into question. Even if you could adequately define the term, you don't know me personally and have absolutely no clue about my journalistic integrity. What do you know about what I do for a living? What have you ever known of it? How can you compare how journalists do their jobs today compared to how they ever did them? Are you basing your answers on Sean Hannity's entertainment or "the Facts"?

The REAL reason I'm not "reporting" this "story" is because I'm the editor of a small weekly newspaper in the southeast corner of Arkansas, where people right now are much more concerned with overtaxation, mismanagement by the county government, the wretched state of the local school system and an economy that went into the tank three years ago. We don't write stories on national news; we run a community newspaper. If you knew beans about journalism, you'd know that already. Which is why I suggested that you not tell us what to do, since you obviously don't know why we're here. I'm not "upset" or "angry," and the only thing I'm "scared" about is the fact that people like you are out there swaying empty-headed citizens to vote your way. Perhaps that includes students in your history class. God help us.

Second, I never told you not to challenge me, or anybody else. I think I encouraged you to do so by telling you to frame your writing as a letter of opinion. But you won't do that; instead you'll send out these inane "fact-checking" e-mails that nobody is going to pay attention to (you're lucky I replied at all, frankly...I'm guessing I'm one of the few, if not the only) and then go back yammering to your Right Wing nutjob friends about how "the Media" (whomever that is) are all "a bunch of liberal, socialist goons" since they wouldn't run your propaganda verbatim. I was sending you to the proper outlet in which to speak, not telling you that you weren't allowed to speak. But you heard what you wanted to hear, just like you read what you want to read. Pull out your teacher's history manual and look up "Freedom of Speech." You'll see that I have a right to state my opinion to you just as much as you have a right to state yours to me.

Nobody is trying to strip your freedom of speech, unless it's the Bush Administration. We've become accustomed to being called "unpatriotic" for speaking up against a sitting president. Unless of course that president had sex with someone. Then of course he's free game. I applaud you for "living through" the Clinton Administration. It must have been tough, with the economy roaring and our not being at a state of war and everything.

Which, by the way, I would think that conservatives such as yourself would have been able to find a new Devil by now. He's been out of office for almost four years, in case you haven't been paying attention.

Third, it's not my job, position or goal to convince you to vote for John Kerry or even to not vote for Bush. I have not once supported him in anything that I've said. You've simply ASSUMED. You've jumped to some absolutely ludicrous conclusions based on all kinds of prejudiced beliefs. But wait...you're going for just the facts, aren't you?

At several points you referred to my calling the president a "war criminal." Clearly, if you go back and read, I never said this at all. You misunderstood, and again jumped to false conclusions. But I find it odd how you view these situations. You accused me of thinking the POW scandal as "the worst thing in the world," then assumed that I "don't have a problem" with anything that Kerry did in Vietnam. I never addressed any of this, but if I had, I would ask you what YOU think about the atrocities in the prison, since you're so adamant about Kerry's war record--which was in fact the original point of your diatribe. Kerry came out publicly and said that what was done in Vietnam was wrong (the whole reason we know about it); there is evidence to support that the Bush Administration actually CONDONED the sick and twisted stuff that went down in Abu Gharib.

And finally, I'll just admit it. You're right, Mrs. Heidt--my gosh, you just read my mind, you rascally rabbit! I'm sitting at my desk bawling my eyes out right now because Bush is ahead in the polls in Arkansas. Hell, I could barely get out of bed today, but I had to be sure to come in here and continue plotting and scheming...plotting my evil plan to brainwash all of the folks of Ashley County to vote for John Kerry! MUAHHHAHAHAHAHA! My work never will be done until I get my man into office! Muahahahahaha! I mean I have SO much power and sway over our 5,000-member readership base that for sure they'll vote the way I tell them to vote--subliminally, of course, in between lines about local weddings, church functions and the bus route schedule for the upcoming school year.

Oh and by the way, if you're so assured that Bush is going to win Arkansas, if it's so totally in the bag, then why send us this 18 billion-word propaganda piece? And then get ticked when we don't run it? Hmmm, I wonder who's scared, here?

And yes, you bigoted, Right-Wing lunatic (and I say that with all due respect), I WILL run a letter to the editor from you, about anything you want to say, no matter if I agree with it or not...because that's what ethical journalists do. All I ask is that you keep it at a decent length (if it isn't it might have to be pared down) and that you don't put anything libelous in there that could get us sued. As a matter of fact we've run several such letters already this campaign season, most of them in Bush's corner, and scores of similar op-ed pieces. So don't be so quick to jump to conclusions!

I look forward to your letter and have a wonderful week.

--HEATH WALDROP, managing editor
The Ashley News Observer"

I think I might have gotten under his skin a bit. Here's my reply. I hope it's not too over the top. Let me know what you think, before I send it.

Oh, my bad. You're right. I didn't know that your newspaper was just a small community newspaper. I grew up in Ozark and our paper included National news, so I thought all of them did. That way, their reader base, no matter how large or small, would be informed. However, since the people in Crossett and Ashley County are more concerned with the status of local government, then it is doubtful that they will plan on voting for president anyway. Since that is a national position and doesn't really have any impact on them directly. If you must know, I also sent it to all of the shows on FOX, CBS, ABC, NBC, and all of the newspapers in Arkansas that I could find email addresses for. I also didn't see an email address for "letters to the editor" and this email address just said newsroom. How was I to know I would get the managing editor?

If you do not want me to call you a liberal and group you in with Democrats and liberals, then stop using the word "propoganda" because that is what I always read and hear on the news. I know that years ago, reporters would properly report scandals and sell-outs of public trust by elected officials and government agencies who are sworn to serve and protect the people, no matter what the party affiliation. Nowadays, something against a Republican or conservative is reported immediately and on the front page, but news against Democrats or liberals is buried in the news, if reported at all. For instance, the whole Sandy Berger incident. I don't remember seeing large headlines for it on CNN, CBS, MSNBC, or any of the other networks. I know Dan Rather never talked about it much (he's a relative of my husband's, by the way. So I do know a little something about journalism). I also know there was a time when reporters would report good news, as well as bad news. However, a reporter for one of the networks was asked a few months ago why they didn't report the good news coming out of Iraq and he said "Good news isn't news" meaning only bad news is worthy of being reported.

You didn't come out and say you believed Bush to be a war criminal, but you did infer it. "[Q]uit pointing fingers at other candidates when your own candidate is guilty of everything you've accused Kerry of." Kerry by his own admission has said that he committed war atrocities in Nam. Kerry also lied by saying that all Nam vets were rapists and babykillers. That encompassed my father-in-law. He had someone call him that as soon as he returned home from Nam. The guy spit in his face, so my father-in-law knocked him out. If Kerry wants to prove that none of the Swift Vets accusations are true, then all he has to do is fill out the form 180 to release his full military jacket, but he won't do it. Instead he sends out his lawyers to threaten radio and TV stations with lawsuits if they run the ad.

Or maybe I misunderstood, and you were saying that Bush lies? Is that what he is guilty of? I don't believe he lied at all. No one has said that they expected to find all of the weapons piled up in one location. In my own heart, the fact that all of the brutality was going on under Hussein was reason enough for me. It should have been reason enough for anyone, regardless of the other points. The atrocities that took place in Serbia were enough for Clinton to send in the troops, which are still there 7 years later even though he said they would only be there for a year.

You want my opinion on the Abu Ghraib situation? What those soldiers did was wrong and I support their court martial, however no concrete proof has come out that everyone in the chain of command knew about it and condoned it before the investigation started back in January. I don't know why the media didn't report it then. They waited until the pictures were released for their "shock value." As to the inmates accusations, I frankly don't give a care if they were tortured. These "men" were rapists, molesters, and murderers for the Hussein Regime. I have the same feeling about criminals in this country who are in prison for that. If the Arkansas River Valley Blue Light Rapist from a few years ago was found dead in his cell, I wouldn't shed a tear. I would celebrate and want to shake the hand of the one who did it. I can't wait to find out who kidnapped Morgan Nick and Jon Benet Ramsey so I can see their asses fry.

I will also tell you that I don't agree with President Bush on everything. I don't agree with his immigration policies and I don't agree with his policies about Stem Cell Research. I believe there shouldn't be limits. I believe it shouldn't be allowed at all, unless only the umbilical cords are used. However, companies don't want to do that. They want to grow babies in test tubes, use aborted fetal tissue, and use the umbilical cords.

I never said you didn't have the right to disagree with me. I just said the media should let people make up their own minds about the news.

To prove to you that I'm not a Republican lap dog: if President Bush or any Republican leader ever came out and said that we should change our stance with Israel and leave them to fend for themselves and switch to ally ourselves with the Palestinians, if they decided that gay marriage is fine and should be legal, if they decide that abortion is fine, and that there shouldn't be a death penalty anymore, then I unregister and no longer vote for the Republican party.
_________________
If you can read this, thank a teacher.
If you can read this in English, thank a soldier.

[karlaerin]

Also, this editor says they don't report national news, but guess what I found on the homepage:

Hamburg native works at DNC

I guess the editor meant to say that they only report national news when it involves a local.
_________________
If you can read this, thank a teacher.
If you can read this in English, thank a soldier.

[BL]

If you refer to the second post of this thread, I sent a letter to the Oregonian requesting a correction be issued concerning a quote they made saying none of the Swift Boat Vets served on Kerry's boat, here is the response I got via email from the author of the article:

Date: Mon, 09 Aug 2004 18:18:33 -0700
From: "David Sarasohn" <davidsarasohn@news.oregonian.com>
To: bill_con2004@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Concerning Correction for your August 8th Article


Thanks for your note.

We are running a correction to note Gardner's role in the group.

Best,
David Sarasohn


Operation Stop the Press is in full pursue, I will attempt tackling more articles as they may be found. Thanks goes to Mr. Sarasohn for being nice enough to issue the correction, thank you sir.

* Hi fives the vets *

[karlaerin]

How do we get small town/small community newspapers to report on this? I've only gotten a reply back from one so far (posted earlier). He claims that the only way to get out "national news" is to write a short letter to the editor, and that community newspapers don't report national news because the people are more interested in local news.

Any ideas??
_________________
If you can read this, thank a teacher.
If you can read this in English, thank a soldier.

[CuriousGeorge]

Might I also suggest monitor for promised corrections. In the past, some papers said they would print a correction/retraction and it's "forgotten."

It's not a frequent practive and sometimes it's an honest mistake.....

[BL]

Here is the correction as issued in the August 10th version of the Oregonian.

A member of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Steven Gardner, served on John Kerry's boat in Vietnam. David Sarasohn's column in The Sunday Oregonian incorrectly said that none of them had.

URL to correction issued:
Oregonian Correction

[LauraCreach]

Obviously none of you have read this newspaper. The only way Bush or Kerry would get mentioned is if they came to town. This is a LOCAL newspaper. Aren't educated people supposed to conduct research before forming such opinions? [color=darkblue][/color]

[Navy_Navy_Navy]

[MadIvan]

Keep in mind, a survey of journalists showing their preferences from the 1972 election, showed that they prefered McGovern to Nixon, 81% to 19%. The vast majority of the media on both sides of the Atlantic are run by propagandists. It will be an uphill struggle, but one worth fighting.

Fortunately there is the internet and talk radio. And on its good days, Fox.

Regards, Ivan
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[LauraCreach]

The article mentioned is not about Kerry or the DNC. It is about a young lady who helped our local Congressman. The only mention of Kerry is through a quote from her. It was not a report or opinion on anything National. It was more of a local gossip story that someone locally did something fun.

[4moreyears]

WALDROP considers himself an "ethical journalist".

Moderator...Waldrop's reply should be moved to the Brig.
_________________
kerry returned to the United States on July 22, 1971, held a press conference publicly calling on President Nixon... for the surrender of the United States to North Vietnam.

[Navy_Navy_Navy]

[Bob Chamberlain]

I am trying to find valid email addresses for Rush Limbaugh and Pat Buchanan. I found the addresess rush@eibnet.com and buchananandpress@msnbc.com. I got bounces on both of them. Does anybody out there have other addresses?

Thanks