|
Novemeber 17, 2003 - “From:
Miranda, Manuel (Frist) Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 2:55 PM
Subject: FW: Exact March In Time Importance: High IT IS IMPORTANT TO
DOUBLE EFFORTS TO GET YOUR BOSS TO S 230 on TIME.....
FOX News Channel is really excited
about this marathon and Brit Humeat 6 would love to open with all
our 51 Senators walking onto the Floor -- the producer wants to know
will we walk in exactly at 6:02 when the show starts so they get it
live to open Brit Hume's show? or if not, can we give them an exact
time for the walk-in start – EK”
That was the memo sent by an aide to
Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) to, “all top
Republican staff members,” as reported by Al Kamen in the Washington
Post. The memo was written by Elizabeth Keys, a senior
communications advisor to the Senate Republican Conference. The
occasion was the recent all-nighter the Republicans were pulling for
PR purposes to protest Democratic filibusters of less than a handful
of President Bush’s judicial nominees.
As you can see clearly from this memo,
which was distributed by the head of the Senate Republicans, FOX
News is calling the shots for Republican Senators. More
specifically and undeniably shown in this memo, FOX News and the
Republicans – in this case, the entire Republican Senate membership
– work together to orchestrate Republican PR disguised as “Fair and
Balanced” news.
Now, we all knew this was the setup
anyway, but there were those who tried to keep up the façade that
FOX was not just bent over and taking it in the rear from the
Republican elephant.
“…the producer wants to know we will
walk in exactly at 6:02…” I mean, imagine this really. A
producer for a single news station orchestrating when elected
Senators will make their entrance.
How about this non-partisan sentiment:
“FOX News Channel is really excited about this marathon…”
It’s good they keep their hearts out of it and simply report the
facts; you know, “We Report, You Decide.” We all knew that was B.S.
as well. Now any idiots out there who defended FOX have no legs to
stand on anymore. Why? Because we are simply reporting the simple
reality, as expressed in this rare, behind the scenes look at the
FOX/ELEPHANT affair. No, that is not milk the FOX had spilled on
its back. Yes, it is a big, big puddle.
Notice this remark in the memo: “Brit
Humeat 6 would love to open with all our 51 Senators walking onto
the Floor.” Specifically, note the phrase, “…all our 51
Senators…” Yes, if FOX were an actual news source it would be
interested in covering a number of Senators more like 100 – you
know, the actual number of Senators that exist in total. But no,
not “The Elephant’s Favorite Humpbox” – that is FOX’s actual motto,
though they like to deny it.
No, FOX only covers 51 Senators, giving
them top of the hour coverage in a bold, trying to orchestrate
things so they get the most powerful, positive image possible, a
united march into a… meaningless session of useless talk for PR
purposes and nothing else.
Ok, so from the above memo we know that
FOX orchestrates the Republican Party, but let’s not leave any doubt
that the relationship is completely monogamous both ways.
Enter memo #2.
This memo, written by, “a Democrat on
the staff of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence,” was
leaked to Sean Hannity – you know, the FOX News host. He broke it
out on his radio show and then – imagine – it went all over FOX and
AM and the usual Republican puppets. FOX, in fact, posted the memo
right on its website.
Hannity railed about how this Senator
should – if you can imagine – be “removed from that position,” due
to the content of this memo. FOX, AM’ers, and other right-wing
puppets tried to work their usual routine of working the entire
media into a frenzy.
And what was the horrific memo that
should cost a Senator his job? As summed up in the summary at the
bottom of the memo:
“Intelligence issues are clearly
secondary to the public's concern regarding the insurgency in Iraq.
Yet, we have an important role to play in the revealing the
misleading -- if not flagrantly dishonest methods and motives -- of
the senior administration officials who made the case for a
unilateral, preemptive war. The approach outline above seems to
offer the best prospect for exposing the administration's dubious
motives and methods.”
Wait a second, it sounded exactly like
the Democratic Senator was not saying anything bad at all. Let’s
take one more look, we must have missed something.
“Intelligence issues are clearly
secondary to the public's concern regarding the insurgency in Iraq.
Yet, we have an important role to play in the revealing the
misleading -- if not flagrantly dishonest methods and motives -- of
the senior administration officials who made the case for a
unilateral, preemptive war. The approach outline above seems to
offer the best prospect for exposing the administration's dubious
motives and methods.”
Yes, it was right, there is nothing bad
in this at all – in fact, it sounds like whoever this Senator is
they are doing a great thing, making sure we get to the bottom of,
“misleading – if not flagrantly dishonest methods and motives – of
the senior administrative officials,” when they were selling us the
Iraq war.
Dan Kennedy of the Boston Phoenix sums
up Hannity’s initial reaction this way: “On the November 4
broadcast of Hannity & Colmes, Hannity was ranting. You’d
think he doesn’t want to get to the bottom of this intelligence
scandal — and you’d probably be right. "Does this not turn your
stomach?" he demanded of Democratic senator Jon Corzine, who
defended the memo. A few moments later, Hannity challenged Corzine:
"My sources told me that this memo was written on the direction of a
senator on this committee. If that is proven, a Democratic senator,
if that is proven, should that senator be removed from that
position?"’
I listened to the November 4th
Hannity broadcast. After saying the above, he then went on trying
to make it sound like some horrible, Democrat-crucifying smoking gun
had been found. Just listening, I knew what was next, that FOX and
the rest of the right-wing puppet media would try to make all sorts
of hay out of it. The Wall Street Journal even got in on it – yes,
the WSJ is nothing but right-wing puppet as well.
As Kennedy reports: The Wall Street
Journal’s right-wing editorial page denounced the memo as "a hit
job, spelling out how to create the maximum embarrassment to
President Bush during his re-election campaign." A bottom-fishing
columnist for the Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s Washington Times,
Frank Gaffney, actually compared Democratic senator Jay Rockefeller,
the vice-chair of the intelligence panel, to Saddam Hussein,
writing, "They both seem to have been so keen to defeat George W.
Bush that their subordinates resorted to laying traps for the
president and his administration."
And there it is. Senator Rockefeller is
Saddam Hussein, as in evil, America-hating, etc., etc., add all the
usual right wing propaganda lines.
Again, let’s look at the memo: “3)
Prepare to launch an independent investigation when it becomes clear
we have exhausted the opportunity to usefully collaborate with the
majority.”
And, yet again, what can you say but
wow, how terrible. Democrats want to get to the bottom of President
Bush lying about WMD’s to lead us to war.
When the Republican Party needed people
amoral, dishonest, and in their pocket enough to try and make a stir
from this memo, they leaked it directly to FOX henchman Sean Hannity,
and then had their humpbuddies at FOX post in right on their site.
The fact that this memo is so clearly not a negative thing for
Democrats but a positive, showing they are determined and planning
how to get to the bottom of the administration’s well-orchestrated
misinformation campaign that has led directly to the deaths we are
experiencing each and every day now – the fact that memo is so
clearly as positive thing for Democrats, but even so, since the
elephant jumped on their back and started pumping, the FOXies
obligingly moaned away, stoking the pumping elephant’s ego, making
it seem like something big and exciting was going on, when really it
was not even an inch or a minute worth of interest or excitement.
Just for laughs, look at this comment
Kennedy reports from “pseudo-Democratic senator” Zell Miller: "If
this is not treasonous, it’s the first cousin of treason."
Now the Democrats are Saddam, they are
treasonous, they should resign. And, again, for what? One more
look:
“1) Pull the majority along as far as
we can on issues that may lead to major new disclosures regarding
improper or questionable conduct by administration officials…We
don't know what we will find but our prospects for getting the
access we seek is far greater when we have the backing of the
majority.”
So now they are even starting out the
“treasounous” memo suggesting they try to work with the Republicans
on the committee to get to the bottom of things, “as far as we
can.” Seeking bi-partisanship in search of honesty. Terrible, huh?
Or how about the next point: “we
have already compiled all the public statements on Iraq made by
senior administration officials. We will identify the most
exaggerated claims and contrast them with the intelligence estimates
that have since been declassified. Our additional views will also,
among other things, castigate the majority for seeking to limit the
scope of the inquiry. The Democrats will then be in a strong
position to reopen the question of establishing an independent
commission (i.e. the Corzine amendment).”
Imagine, comparing what the President
and administration officials said and comparing it with the
intelligence estimates they were given to point out any lies that
were added without reason or fact by President Bush and his staff.
So with this second memo we clearly see
the other side of the FOX/ELEPHANT affair. With memo #1, we see
that the FOX gets to call the shots for the entire Senate Republican
staff. With memo #2, we see that the Republican elephant has such
power over FOX that they can force them to use all of their
resources to try and make a huge, Democrat-bashing story even where
really there is nothing negative the Democrats should be bashed
about.
If FOX were non-partisan, it would
merely cover the Senate talk-fest, not have Senate Majority Leader
Bill Frist at their beck and call, rushing to try and fulfill their
every win, working together to make the most powerfully positive PR
for the Republicans at the expense of the Democrats. If FOX were
non-partisan, it wouldn’t have given a single breath to the second
leaked memo, except maybe to commend Senate Democrats for
steadfastly sticking to their fight to get to the bottom of
President Bush misleading us into war, even against the strong,
anti-American resistance of Senate Republicans.
So now, there is no ground whatsoever
for anyone to stand on while claiming FOX is anything but
butt-humped Republican puppet – and, indeed, puppeteer as well.
Well, I guess at least it is nice to know the FOX sometimes gets to
play pitcher to the elephant as well as catcher.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
REFERENCES:
Washington Post story of First memo:
"Photo Ops Becomes An Oops"
Boston Phoenix story by Dan Kennedy:
"The Real Stakes Over That Democratic Memo"
Memo #2 on FOX Website:
"Raw Data: Dem Memo On Iraq Intel" |
