Here they go again...
Jul. 22nd, 2003 07:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unclejimboWell, when Bush wants to rewrite history it's okay it seems...
(Letter from GOP to stations airing an ad demanding an investigation into what Bush really knew.)
Dear Station Manager:
It has come to our attention that your station will begin airing false and misleading advertisements on July 21, 2003, paid for by the Democratic National Committee. The advertisement in question misrepresents President George W. Bush's January 28, 2003, State of the Union address. The advertisement states that President Bush said, "Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." In fact, President Bush said, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." By selectively quoting President Bush, the advertisement is deliberately false and misleading. Furthermore, the British government continues to stand by its intelligence and asserts that it believes the intelligence is genuine.
The Democratic National Committee certainly has a legitimate First Amendment right to participate in political debate, but it has no right to willfully spread false information in a deliberate attempt to mislead the American people. These advertisements will not be run by legally qualified candidates; therefore, your station is under no legal obligation to air them. On the contrary, as an FCC licensee you have the responsibility to exercise independent editorial judgment to not only oversee and protect the American marketplace of ideas, essential for the health of our democracy, but also to avoid deliberate misrepresentations of the facts. Such obligations must be taken seriously.
This letter puts you on notice that the information contained in the above-cited advertisement is false and misleading; therefore, you are obligated to refrain from airing this advertisement.
Respectfully,
Caroline C. Hunter
Counsel
Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, eh?
(Letter from GOP to stations airing an ad demanding an investigation into what Bush really knew.)
Dear Station Manager:
It has come to our attention that your station will begin airing false and misleading advertisements on July 21, 2003, paid for by the Democratic National Committee. The advertisement in question misrepresents President George W. Bush's January 28, 2003, State of the Union address. The advertisement states that President Bush said, "Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." In fact, President Bush said, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." By selectively quoting President Bush, the advertisement is deliberately false and misleading. Furthermore, the British government continues to stand by its intelligence and asserts that it believes the intelligence is genuine.
The Democratic National Committee certainly has a legitimate First Amendment right to participate in political debate, but it has no right to willfully spread false information in a deliberate attempt to mislead the American people. These advertisements will not be run by legally qualified candidates; therefore, your station is under no legal obligation to air them. On the contrary, as an FCC licensee you have the responsibility to exercise independent editorial judgment to not only oversee and protect the American marketplace of ideas, essential for the health of our democracy, but also to avoid deliberate misrepresentations of the facts. Such obligations must be taken seriously.
This letter puts you on notice that the information contained in the above-cited advertisement is false and misleading; therefore, you are obligated to refrain from airing this advertisement.
Respectfully,
Caroline C. Hunter
Counsel
Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, eh?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2003-07-22 09:35 am (UTC)You MUST include the phrase about the British for that statement's proper context, because whether or not their intel is indeed false, then, well Bush still hasn't lied on that particular phrase -- the British would simply have "learned" incorrectly. The omission of the original phrase completely changes the context of the sentence -- instead of relaying what the British have learned, it comes off as Bush telling us a direct "fact" - the implication is different.
I think he shouldn't have put that in the State of the Union Address without verifying the intel, but that alone doesn't make him an automatic liar or a criminal.
I certainly think the Republican Party could be more subtle about it, but if they are correct and the Democrats commit the sin of omission, then they are no better than Bush himself.
Frankly, shame on both parties for concentrating on this phrase so much -- there are PLENTY of other legitimate reasons to be disgruntled with the Presidency and the Congress, thanks.
no subject
Date: 2003-07-22 09:36 am (UTC)Clarification: "they" meaning the Democrats, NOT the Republicans.
Though personally I think they're ALL scumbags in the end. XD
furious
Date: 2003-07-22 01:11 pm (UTC)Nevermind the lie-or-not-lie-it-depends-on-the-definition in the State of the Onion, the state of British intelligence or the lack thereof in the White House. That letter is a not-so-subtle threat against the media that if they dare to run someone else's statements even questioning His Majesty King George, they'll wind up in court.
This is not the Constitution of the country in which I was born, goddammit.
Re: furious
Date: 2003-07-22 03:28 pm (UTC)I certainly think the Republican Party could be more subtle about it
And while I agree with the idea that the Democrats are not taking Bush's words in the proper context, I DON'T agree with the method of delivery at all.
I don't like Bush, but I don't hate him as rabidly and gleefully as the Democrats do.
no subject
Date: 2003-07-22 10:11 pm (UTC)But of course, this is only one of his many lies. And Congress doesn't have their hands clean these days either, but the GOP runs Congress these days too...