All Spin All the Time

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topic_id=3777685 & mesg_id=3777685

 

The Right-Wing Spin Machine is working overtime to distort an important issue

before it comes to the floor of the Senate. Consider this outlandish article

that outright lies and says Kerry is leading the fight for Bush's impeachment:

 

 

Breaking News : Kerry To Push For Bush Impeachment

Posted by News Reporter on 2005/6/3 10:29:52

By Sher Zieve

 

John Kerry announced Thursday that he intends to present Congress with The

Downing Street Memo, reported by the London Times 1 May 2005. As reported by

NewsMax, the memo purports to include minutes from a July 2002 meeting with Blair, in which Blair ostensibly said that President Bush’s Administration

“fixed” intelligence on Iraq in order to justify the Iraqi war. In an interview

with the Standard Times, Kerry said: " It's amazing to me the way it escaped

major media discussion. It's not being missed on the Internet, I can tell you

that. "

 

The Boston Globe published an article by Ralph Nader, Tuesday, in which Nader

also called for President Bush’s impeachment. The story is being carried on

Michael Moore’s website and the Democratic Underground. Failed presidential

candidate Kerry advised that he will begin the presentation of his case for

President Bush’s impeachment to Congress, on Monday.

http://www.theconservativevoice.com/modules/news/articl...

 

 

Then read the actual article from yesterday to see the obvious spin they've put

on it:

 

Kerry assails Bush on Iraq

Policies on Social Security, health care also draw fire

By STEVE URBON, Standard-Times senior correspondent

 

NEW BEDFORD -- Sen. John F. Kerry yesterday called on Americans to be more aware

of the " bait and switch " Iraq war and the " hollowing out " of the Army in the

pursuit of a mistaken policy.

In a swing through SouthCoast, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee attacked

the priorities of the Republican Party and President Bush, elaborating on what

they are sacrificing -- health care for children, infrastructure, Social

Security -- in the pursuit of tax cuts.

" The Holy Grail of the Republican Party is a tax cut, whether or not we need

it, " he said in a meeting with The Standard-Times editorial board.

Sen. Kerry puzzled over the apparent lack of interest by Americans in the Iraq

war and the near silence in the U.S. mass media about the so-called Downing

Street Memo.

That leaked secret document, the minutes of a 2002 cabinet meeting of British

Prime Minister Tony Blair, says bluntly that Mr. Bush had decided to attack Iraq

long before going to Congress with the matter, and that " intelligence was being

fixed around the policy. "

It caused an uproar in Great Britain and badly hurt Mr. Blair in national

elections but went almost unnoticed in the United States.

" When I go back (to Washington) on Monday, I am going to raise the issue, " he

said of the memo, which has not been disputed by either the British or American

governments. " I think it's a stunning, unbelievably simple and understandable

statement of the truth and a profoundly important document that raises stunning

issues here at home. And it's amazing to me the way it escaped major media

discussion. It's not being missed on the Internet, I can tell you that. "

He questioned Americans' understanding of the war and the sense that criticism

equals disloyalty, saying, " Do you think that Americans if they really

understood it would feel that way knowing that on Election Day, 77 percent of

Americans who voted for Bush believed that weapons of mass destruction had been

found and 77 percent believe Saddam did 9/11? Is there a way for this to break

through, ever? "

Earlier in the day, Sen. Kerry met in a " town hall " -style meeting with about 75

seniors, where he assailed the recently passed Medicare prescription drug

benefit, the GOP's tax cuts for wealthy Americans and the attempts to privatize

Social Security.

He said to the largely supportive group, " The next time one of those

conservative senators or congressmen comes to you and starts talking to you

about American values, I want you to look him in the eye and say, what is the

value that is represented in providing the wealthiest people in America with a

great big tax cut at the expense of the poorest people in the country? "

" I went back and reread the New Testament the other day, and I've got news for

you. Nowhere in the three-year ministry of Jesus Christ is there any suggestion

at all that you ought to take from the poor and give to the rich and leave

children at risk, " he said to a loud round of applause.

Invoking the legacy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal's " safety

net, " Sen. Kerry accused Mr. Bush and the GOP of misleading the public about

Social Security and their intentions. " They're never telling the truth, " he

said.

" There were people who opposed Social Security in the '30s and '40s. There were

people who voted against Medicare in the last quarter-century. And they're still

there, " he said.

He dismissed claims that Social Security will be bankrupt by 2042 or 2052, but

" Medicare Part A does go bankrupt in 2020. Why isn't the president talking about

that? "

Several seniors quizzed Sen. Kerry about the practice of penalizing Social

Security recipients who have other sources of income, especially those who have

lost their spouses or who worked for some time outside the Social Security

system. Sen. Kerry replied that he and others are backing legislation to ease

those cuts, which one city resident said were causing her to have to sell her

home.

Dartmouth resident Robert Michaud made a case for private retirement accounts,

charging that they have been shown to produce a better rate of return than

Social Security. A person making $90,000 a year puts $12,000 into Social

Security, he said. Raising that income cap " is not tweaking, it's a crime, " he

said.

Later in the day, Sen. Kerry attended a forum in Fall River discussing the Head

Start program.

 

Steve Urbon can be reached at surbon .

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/06-05/06-02-05/a01...

 

 

Here is the original DU thread on the above article:

 

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph... (Title: Kerry assails

Bush on Iraq)

 

 

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Fellow members of DU, I need your help. We must do all that we can to ensure

that Senator Kerry's efforts on Monday are not blighted by right-wing lies and

spin. This clearly represents an attempt to smear Senator Kerry bringing up the

Downing Street Minutes, and it is imperative that we counter the lies before

they fully mature. If we allow this to carry forward unhindered then we are only

aiding the enemy. Speak truth to power and email everyone you know about the

fallacies of the right-wing spin machine on this issue before it really gets

going. Please, we MUST stop this in its tracks to have Kerry's message truly

resonate with the American people. Please.

 

 

 

 

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