What One Learns Watching The Sunday Political Shows
By Michael P. Tremoglie (12/22/04)
If all one knew about what was happening in the world was learned from watching Sunday morning political talk shows, this is what they would know.
They would know that the production of armored Humvees did not take place until after a Tennessee National Guardsman asked Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about it.
They would know that the allegations made by the Swiftboat veterans about John Kerry were “outrageous.”
They would know that all that was needed to prevent the detonation of the Improvised Explosive Devices (IED’s), the booby traps that have killed or injured so many of our brave troops in Iraq, was to add radio jammers to vehicles, yet the Defense Department is not doing anything about this.
Of course, all one would know would be incorrect.
The first fact, that the Humvees were not armored until after Rumsfeld was asked about it by a National Guardsman, was divulged by Cokie Roberts during the December 19 edition of the Chris Matthews show.
The second fact, about the Swiftboat Veterans, was revealed by Norah O’Donnell, during this same show.
The third fact, about the radio jammers, was disclosed by Tim Russert. He quoted Mark Shields, who was told by Congressman Gene Taylor of Mississippi, “ you can buy radio jammers for $10,000 to put in the trucks and Humvees in Iraq, and that they would pick up these improvised explosive devices which account for half the deaths and half the injuries. Why haven't we put these radio jammers in these vehicles?” [1]
You would think that highly compensated journalists would validate statements before they make them.
Humvees began being armored in large quantities over a year ago. Roberts should have known this. Even Rumsfeld’s most ardent critics never said they were not being armored until now. All Roberts needed to do was refer to a May 2004 edition of an international defense online magazine to know this.
The Swiftboat allegations were not outrageous. At least one was validated when Kerry had to modify his Cambodia claim - a direct result of the Swifties. She must have known this - it was in all the papers.
Russert, despite his multitude of staffers, six figure income, and access to the finest information technology available, did not bother to research the issue of radio jammers. This was addressed during a October 2003 news conference with General Norton Schwartz, Joints Chiefs of Staff, Director of Operations. This is an excerpt of the transcript (Incidentally it mentions armored Humvees as well. Italics are mine):
“QUESTION: In the Sunni triangle apparently the level of violence continues to increase in sophistication and scope. Can I get your sense of why that is at this point? And capabilities, a la the secretary's allusion in his memo. Are the capabilities over there -- are we lacking some capabilities over there that the Joint Staff would like to accelerate fielding? More armor, radio jammers, things, capabilities that would help mitigate some of these attacks?
GEN. SCHWARTZ: We have -- the deputy secretary has undertaken an effort to scrutinize all the needs that might be required, and has, in fact, realigned several hundred million dollars to make that happen. This involves such things as up-armored Humvees, it involves such things as body armor, it involves things of a nature that would conduct surveillance on the borders and so on. So the short answer to your question is, those things that need to be done have been addressed and are aggressively being monitored by the departmental leadership.
QUESTION: What difference would some of those technologies realistically make, given the level of attacks over there, the sophistication -- (inaudible)?
GEN. SCHWARTZ: There's no silver bullet. And there's not a single thing. For example, there is not a single box that will stop improvised explosive kinds of activity. In some cases these are radio-controlled; in some cases not; in some cases they're on one frequency and another. So this is not a simple problem. What I would say is that what we are going to do is deploy the best material and our best capability that is available for our troops. But we should not unduly raise expectations that we have a silver bullet here.[2]
This transcript reveals how ill informed Matthews, Russert, et al really are. There ignorance is tantamount to propaganda. Why is it that there is so much disinformation by these esteemed journalists?
It just so happens, coincidentally, that each erroneous claim comports with the Democratic Party line. Is there a correlation between these journalists and the Democratic Party?
Yes there is.
Both Matthews and Tim Russert were formerly Democratic Party operatives. Matthews worked for both President Carter and Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill. Russert worked for former New York Governor Mario Cuomo. Cokie Roberts is the daughter of a Democratic Congressman, Hale Boggs of Louisiana.
Does their affiliation with the Democratic Party influence their reporting?
It would seem that the people at FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting – a misnomer if ever there were one for a leftwing media watchdog group) who are aghast at all the Republicans who work for Fox News Channel might want to examine this issue. After all, they are righteously indignant about Fox's Republican affiliations. Maybe they can prove to be a true watchdog group and be indignant about the Democratic affiliations of NBC, ABC, PBS, et al.
They should, yet, it is doubtful they will.
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