Eric Boehlert, in Salon, writes,"Faced with fresh news
in the ongoing debate about the presidential
candidates' military service during the Vietnam War,
the media blinked this weekend, doing its collective
best to ignore an embarrassing new revelation by the
prominent Texas politician [Ben Barnes] who says he
landed Bush a coveted pilot spot in the Texas Air
National Guard during the height of the Vietnam War,
and is now 'ashamed' of his actions. The explosive
comments from a central player in the National Guard
drama - captured on video and available online - have
received just cursory coverage in the mainstream media
since it was brought to light on Friday. The
shoulder-shrugging response stands in stark contrast
to the media orgy that has greeted the hollow,
secondhand allegations made about John Kerry's Vietnam
service by the Republican-financed Swift Boat Veterans
for Truth, which has yet to make a single factual
allegation stick about the circumstances surrounding
Kerry's five war medals."
The Daily Misleader, a marvelous Information Rebellion
resource, highlights another story that the "US
mainstream news media" has lost in its desperate
attempts to prop up the Bush cabal and the Republican
Party: "As the Washington Post reports, Rear Admiral
William L. Schachte Jr., the man who claims Kerry was
not under fire when he received his first Purple
Heart, is a top lobbyist for a defense contractor that
recently won a $40 million grant from the Bush
administration. According to a March 18 legal filing
by Schachte's firm, Blank Rome, Schachte was one of
the lobbyists working for FastShip's effort to secure
federal contracts. On Feb. 2, FastShip announced the
Bush administration had awarded it $40 million.
Schachte has other connections to the Bush
administration. The Washington Post notes David
Norcross, Schachte's colleague in the Washington
office of Blank Rome, is chairman of this week's
Republican convention in New York. Records show that
Schachte gave $1,000 to Bush's 2000 and 2004
campaigns. Additionally, Schachte helped organize
veterans' efforts against Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and
for Bush in the 2000 South Carolina primary.
This is not the first member of the Swift Boat
Veterans for Truth who has been revealed to be
connected to the President. The Bush-Cheney campaign's
top outside lawyer was forced to resign after he
admitted providing legal services to the veterans
group. The Bush-Cheney campaign's veterans adviser was
also featured in one of the smear ads"http://www.misleader.org/daily_mislead/read.asp?fn=df08312004.html
And although Bloomberg, like the rest of the "US
mainstream news media" and pro-GOP industry analyst
apologists offers numerous excuses, including "a
steady barrage of campaign commentary on the
`precarious' nature of the recovery," and "a steady
diet of news articles on rising oil prices and the
threat of permanent shortages is also probably
exerting a negative impact on sentiment," there is
more bad numbers for the Bush economy: Consumer
confidence in the U.S. economy fell in August from a
two-year high as job growth slowed and oil prices
reached a record, a private survey found.
The Conference Board's index of consumer confidence
fell to 98.2 this month, from a revised 105.7 in July.
Americans reported less confidence in the labor market
and scaled back their buying plans.
U.S. employers added 32,000 jobs last month, the
smallest gain this year, and the price of a barrel of
crude oil reached $49.40 in futures trading Aug. 20.
Concern over the war in Iraq and a decline in stock
prices this year may also have weighed on sentiment,
economists said.
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aeAzQOJ9arYQ&refer=us
BUT there is nothing more disturbing or more important
or more relevant to the fall campaign than this story
concerning Republican National Committee member Morton
Blackwell, and what Democrats.com, another bastion of
the Information Rebellion, dsescribes as "his shadowy
right wing groups - the Council for National Policy,
the Leadership Institute, and the Conservative
Leadership PAC - gave out 'Purple Heart' band-aids at
the RNC convention to mock John Kerry's wounds and
medals." The band-aids carried the message: "It was
just a self-inflicted scratch, but you see I got a
Purple Heart for it." Notice how, in the following Ah
Please (AP) story, Blackwell is only referenced as a
"delegate." Notice, too, how the AP story does not
identify Retired Gen. Merrill McPeak, former chief of
staff of the Air Force as a life-time Republican who
has endorsed Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mekong) (along with
numerous other retired military of high rank and
Republican voter registraion). Oh yes, there is a Day
of Reckoning coming at the ballot box in November
2004.
WILL LESTER, Associated Press: Democrats on Tuesday
accused the GOP leadership of organizing a
demonstration against candidate John Kerry (news - web
sites)'s war record, calling "purple heart bandages"
handed out by a convention delegate a slap at all
veterans who have won the decoration.
"This symbol is a very moving one," Rangel said of the
Purple Heart. "In many of the homes of the survivors
that's all they have to remember their loved ones,
some survivors can't see and some can't walk. All they
ask is a little dignity
"Retired Gen. Merrill McPeak, former chief of staff of
the Air Force, said thousands of Purple Hearts have
been awarded in Iraq and "the numbers will continue
to accumulate." "This is outrageous," McPeak said. "This isn't just a few foolish people. This had to be organized at the convention. It has to represent an official view. We have to demand that the president himself denounce this."
Support Our Troops, Show Up for Democracy in 2004:
Defeat Bush (again!)
Democrats Rap GOP in Purple Heart Flap
Tue Aug 31, 4:02 PM ET Add Politics - AP to My Yahoo!
By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - Democrats on Tuesday accused the GOP
leadership of organizing a demonstration against
candidate John Kerry (news - web sites)'s war record,
calling "purple heart bandages" handed out by a
convention delegate a slap at all veterans who have
won the decoration.
"They insulted the United States of America, even
though the president belatedly supported the combat
record of John Kerry," said Rep. Charles Rangel (news,
bio, voting record) of New York, a military veteran
himself.
Republican Chairman Ed Gillespie asked delegate Morton
Blackwell of Arlington, Va., to quit handing out the
bandages, which carried the message: "It was just a
self-inflicted scratch, but you see I got a Purple
Heart for it."
The purple heart bandages were visible on some
delegates Monday afternoon but were not in evidence by
Monday night when party members delivered the
convention's first major speeches. Blackwell had
distributed about 250 of the bandages.
Kerry won three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a
Bronze Star as a Navy lieutenant in Vietnam. Members
of the group sponsoring television ads challenging his
account of his wartime service contend Kerry's own
fire caused the wound that led to his first medal.
Navy records and other veterans don't support the
charge.
"This symbol is a very moving one," Rangel said of the
Purple Heart. "In many of the homes of the survivors
that's all they have to remember their loved ones,
some survivors can't see and some can't walk. All they
ask is a little dignity."
Democrats had planned to shift their focus Tuesday to
domestic politics until the publicity stunt lured them
back to discussing the Vietnam War. The anti-Kerry
veterans group has criticized Kerry for, among other
things, earning Purple Hearts for superficial wounds
that required no hospitalization.
Retired Gen. Merrill McPeak, former chief of staff of
the Air Force, said thousands of Purple Hearts have
been awarded in Iraq (news - web sites) and "the
numbers will continue to accumulate."
"This is outrageous," McPeak said. "This isn't just a
few foolish people. This had to be organized at the
convention. It has to represent an official view. We
have to demand that the president himself denounce
this."
Democrats eventually steered their rapid-response
briefing, given just blocks from the GOP convention,
to domestic issues and criticism of President Bush
(news - web sites)'s claims to be a compassionate
conservative.
Reps. Ciro Rodriguez of Texas, Stephanie Tubbs Jones
of Ohio and Greg Meeks of New York argued that the
Bush domestic agenda has shown compassion only for big
corporations, the wealthy and special interests.
"It's difficult to make the case that they're
compassionate when the poverty rate has risen and
energy costs and health care costs are continuing to
go up," said Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.
Republican spokesman Jim Dyke said, "Democrats
continue to try and hide their own candidates' many
positions on the same issue (Iraq) by attacking the
president's leadership."
The Democratic Party also rolled out a new 15-second
ad to air in New York City, saying that while
Republicans "claim to be bringing down the cost of
health care," insurance costs have increased 50
percent over the past four years.