Rather Confirms Ramsey Clark a "Big Help" in Landing Hussein -- 02/28/2003 CyberAlert
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2. CBS Shows Iraqi Calling Bush a "Coward" for Rejecting Debate
3. Rather Demurs on If Hussein Is "a Lying Son of a Bitch"
4. ABC's Moran Blames Bush's "Hard Line" for "Bitter" UN Debate
5. Jennings Champions Iraq Missile Dismantling Offer
6. "Right-Wing, Bible-Belting" Bush "a Wake-Up Call" for Sawyer
7. Peter Arnett is Back, Now on MSNBC, Relaying Iraqi Propaganda
8. NBC on AEI: "Conservative," "Conservative," "Conservative"...
>>> "2003 Dishonor Awards: Roasting the Most Outrageously Biased Liberal Reporters." CyberAlert subscribers can get tickets for $150, $25 off the regular price, for the Thursday, March 27 event in Washington, DC. For all the info and how to buy tickets:
As noted in the February 25 CyberAlert, in a February 24 AP dispatch David Bauer reported: "CBS acknowledged that former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, who is prominent in the global anti-war movement and met with Saddam on Sunday, put in a good word for Rather in helping secure the interview. Clark has known Rather for a long time, said CBS News spokeswoman Sandra Genelius." On his February 27 show, King in Los Angeles asked Rather in New York City: "Was Ramsey Clark a big help, as has been reported?" Only people as far away as Baghdad could be unfamiliar enough with CBS News to buy the idea that it has a "reputation as an independent news organization." Clark is a prominent part of the far-left collection of former communist sympathizers with ANSWER. Their Web site: http://www.internationalanswer.org/ As Michael Kelly revealed in January, "International A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) is a front group for the communist Workers World Party. The Workers World Party is, literally, a Stalinist organization." For Kelly's January 22 column, "Marching with Stalinists," go to: The ANSWER site features links (see "Vote to Impeach" in up top "Campaigns" pull down menu and "Vote to Impeach" graphic in right-side column) to "Articles of Impeachment, drafted by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark....setting forth high crimes and misdemeanors by President Bush and other civil officers of his administration." The effort has a Web site: The articles call for the impeachment of "President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard B. Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, and Attorney General John David Ashcroft. President George W. Bush and Other Named Officials of the United States Have Committed Impeachable Offenses of Unprecedented Danger to the Constitution and People of the United States." Clark's "alleged impeachable acts of President George W. Bush include," in full: 1. Ordering and directing "first strike" war of aggression against Afghanistan causing thousands of deaths; 2. Removing the government of Afghanistan by force and installing a government of his choice; 3. Authorizing daily intrusions into Iraqi airspace and aerial attacks including attacks on alleged defense installations in Iraq which have killed hundreds of people in time of peace; 4. Authorizing, ordering and condoning attacks in Afghanistan and Iraq on civilians, civilian facilities and locations where civilian casualties are unavoidable; 5. Threatening the use of nuclear weapons and ordering preparation for their use; 6. Threatening the independence and sovereignty of Iraq by belligerently proclaiming his personal intention to change its government by force; 7. Authorizing, ordering and condoning assassinations, summary executions, murder, kidnappings, secret and other illegal detentions of individuals, torture and physical and psychological coercion of prisoners; 8. Authorizing, ordering and condoning violations of rights of individuals under the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eight Amendments to the Constitution and of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and other international protections of human rights; 9. Authorizing, directing and condoning bribery and coercion of individuals and governments to obtain his war ends; 10. Making, ordering and condoning false statements and propaganda and concealing information vital to public discussion and informed judgment to create a climate of fear and hatred and destroy opposition to his war goals. President Bush is accused of Crimes Against Peace, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity. No crimes are greater threats to the Constitution of the United States, the United Nation Charter, the rule of law or the future of humanity. END Reprint of Clark's proposed articles of impeachment That's all online at:
More hype from CBS News for how Saddam Hussein used the interview with Dan Rather to challenge President George W. Bush to a debate. Reporting Thursday night on how Iraqi TV had shown the interview "on all four channels," Mark Phillips relayed Iraqi public opinion endorsing their dictator's idea and castigating Bush as a "coward," as if Iraqis express their true feelings to Western camera crews. Over video of people watching the interview in a restaurant, Mark Phillips insisted on the February 27 CBS Evening News that "there was little doubt expressed about how their President did or what they thought of the White house rejection of Saddam's challenge to President Bush for a televised debate." Phillips featured just one soundbite, a man declaring of Bush in English: "I think he's coward." Phillips got to the part of the interview much publicized by the CBS promotions department after he cited Iraq's agreement "in principle" to dismantle its Al-Samoud missiles: Phillips portrayed a Baghdad populace preparing to personally fight the imperialist American invaders. Over video of people carrying rifles and firing them off, Phillips asserted: "At gun stores in town, business in brisk. If there is to be street-fighting here, the people, as well as the army, seem to be getting ready." If the U.S. troops are not welcomed as liberators, now we know why: Iraqis were forced to watch Dan Rather being nice to their dictator for three hours and think all Americans are like him!
When Late Show guest host Bruce Willis reacted as most Americans would to the Saddam Hussein interview, asking Dan Rather "how could you tell if he's just a lying son of a bitch," Rather refused to agree with the characterization and instead delivered a dry response about their seating arrangement and how Saddam is a "strong eye contact person." Willis, an actor who has been known to make some pro-conservative comments over the years, was the last-minute fill-in host for David Letterman on Wednesday night when Letterman was sidelined by an eye infection that turned out to be caused by shingles. But Dan Rather kept his scheduled appearance on the February 26 program.
As Willis and Rather discussed Rather's interview, Willis wondered: "Obviously he spoke through some kind of translator -- I mean how could you tell if he's just a lying son of a bitch, I mean how-?" MRC analyst Patrick Gregory also took down how, when Willis asked if there was "anything you wanted to ask him after you were like on the way home, is there anything you though of, just 'ah, I wish I'd have asked him this?'", Rather recalled how he did press Hussein about whether he would light fire to Iraq's oil fields or blow up dams and "I wish I'd have asked him 'Well, do you plan a house by house, street by street fight in Baghdad?' I do think that's what he's hoping that he can muster. Of course the U.S. military is going to try to get there so quickly and with so much force that they aren't able to mount any kind of house by house, street by street, but I think also the U.S. military is hoping that the Iraqis will see that they're overwhelmed and won't put up a fight." I believe Dan Rather has an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal about his interview. For more about Willis, who is most famous for the Die Hard series of movies, see his Internet Movie Database bio and photo, but be advised that the picture is a bit out of date since he is now sans any hair: http://us.imdb.com/Name?Willis,+Bruce Last night ex-tennis player John McEnroe hosted the Late Show. Tonight, Regis Philbin will serve as fill-in host.
"The Bush administration's hard line" to blame for bitterness at the UN. CBS's John Roberts and NBC's Andrea Mitchell on Thursday night both noted how the UN Security Council's debate over Iraq grew "bitter," but both refrained from blaming any one party. Not ABC's Terry Moran, who asserted: "At the UN Security Council today the Bush administration's hard line contributed to what diplomats said was an unusually bitter debate." Why does the U.S. have a "hard line" but not France? From the White House on the February 27 World News Tonight, Moran charged: "At the UN Security Council today the Bush administration's hard line contributed to what diplomats said was an unusually bitter debate that yielded no consensus and left smaller nations feeling intense pressure from both the U.S. and France." Compare Moran's blame-assigning to how reporters for both CBS and NBC managed to convey the same bitterness without making one party the culprit. John Roberts asserted on the CBS Evening News, referring to the impending report from Hans Blix: "The report is expected to do nothing to bridge the gap between Security Council members who want war and those who say inspections should continue. The first round of talks at the UN today at a resolution green-lighting military action were described as bitter and unpleasant." Over on the NBC Nightly News, Andrea Mitchell maintained: "With the UN Security Council bitterly divided today, the chief weapons inspector has turned in a report that UN officials say will give neither side enough ammunition to make their case..."
Peter Jennings gave equal weight on Thursday night to how "Hans Blix thinks that Iraq's compliance with the UN resolution to disarm as been 'very limited'" while, "on the other hand," Iraq "has agreed in principle to destroy those Al-Samoud missiles." Plus, Jennings highlighted a protest in Egypt, which he suggested may have represented "the government letting people just burn off steam," that featured "signs calling President Bush a terrorist." Jennings opened the February 27 World News Tonight: "We begin with furious diplomacy tonight as the Bush administration seems more certain to invade Iraq. There were significant developments today. We are hearing from various sources tonight that as of now the Chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, thinks that Iraq's compliance with the UN resolution to disarm as been 'very limited.' On the other hand, we hear from the United Nations that Iraq has agreed in principle to destroy those Al-Samoud missiles which the UN says are illegal because they can reach further than permitted." Later, over video of protesters in a stadium, Jennings announced: "In Egypt today, one of the largest anti-war demonstrations in the Arab world. A hundred thousand people rallied in the capital, Cairo. The government doesn't usually allow demonstrations unless it agrees with them. Many people waved Iraqi and Palestinian flags and carried signs calling President Bush a terrorist. May also be the government letting people just burn off steam." ABC's video focused on one point on this sign hung over the wall on the side of the playing field: "America = Terrorism + Destruction"
ABC's Diane Sawyer showcased a British Member of Parliament's swipe at how "this born again, right-wing, Bible-belting, fundamentalist, Republican administration in the United States wants war," a screeching she called "a wake-up call for me," to contend that such widespread disgust with President Bush and America "really raises the question about what it means to override the United Nations if we don't get those nine votes...in order to pass the second resolution."
Sawyer's haranguing, on the February 27 Good Morning America, of the British Ambassador to the UN, came after Terry Moran complained about how Bush's Wednesday speech on Iraq and the Middle East after the war did not give a specific cost: Of course, it's hard to provide an estimate when you don't know how the war will go or what problems will be encountered afterward.
Turning to the British Ambassador to the UN, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, Sawyer, MRC analyst Jessica Anderson noticed, highlighted a vitriolic attack on Bush:
Sawyer wondered: "Does America have to face the fact that we are seen, that Americans are seen and this administration is seen this way overseas?"
Peter Arnett is back. Thursday's Today featured excerpts from Arnett's new effort for his new employer, National Geographic Explorer productions shown on MSNBC. In his latest segment, Peter Arnett's Baghdad Diary which aired as part of Thursday night's Countdown: Iraq on MSNBC, Arnett showcased an Al-Jazeera broadcast of U.S. and Iraqi students denouncing U.S. treatment of Iraq. One Iraqi student charged that "my mother, sister and brother were burned to death in the Alamaria shelter. I want to ask the American people is this the human touch and love letter your government has sent to other people?!" A woman who moved from Colorado to Iraq asserted: "This war is about more than just weapons of mass destruction. It's about our right to choose the way we live. I mean nobody has the right to impose their values." After an American student worried about the "pain" the U.S. caused Iraq, Arnett lamented that "it's a pain some Iraqi students might have to suffer again." An Iraqi then promised: "We're not looking for war. But if war is coming we will fight, fight, fight!" MRC analyst Geoffrey Dickens caught Today's February 27 9am half hour plug for Arnett's show. Ann Curry proclaimed: "An extraordinary dialogue recently took place between students at Baghdad University in Iraq and their American counterparts at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Peter Arnett, correspondent for National Geographic Explorer covered that teleconference. Let's take a look." Today then played an excerpt from Arnett's program:
Peter Arnett: "Good evening from Iraq. Tonight I'm at the University of Baghdad. Iraqi students have gathered here to participate in a unique event the first live by satellite dialogue with their counterparts in the United States. Students at George Mason University near Washington DC. A correspondent from the Arab language news channel Al-Jazeera is moderating and millions will be listening in across the Arab world. Unfortunately with the time lag from satellite transmission a true dialogue proves difficult. The student take turns making statements."
End of the video excerpt. Back on Today, Curry challenged Arnett: "Well you know that last comment we just heard was very interesting, 'we will fight, we will fight,' because people in America have a sense that the Iraqi people, if the soldiers come, will be so glad to be relieved of, of their government of Saddam Hussein that they'll be throwing flowers at the soldiers. What do you think is the truth in all this, based on what you heard from the students there?"
"Conservative" labeling obsession on NBC. Before President Bush's Wednesday night speech at an American Enterprise Institute (AEI) dinner, outlining his vision for a post-war Iraq and Middle East, Tom Brokaw made sure viewers realized he was speaking before a "conservative" group. The next morning on Today, Campbell Brown labeled the organization "conservative." And then Matt Lauer tagged them. And then Ann Curry. Most conservatives, I think it's safe to say, consider AEI to be, at best, slightly right of center overall since while it does employ some conservative fellows, it also has several who are definitely not conservative and its forums often feature a wide range of views. AEI's Web site: http://www.aei.org
The text of Bush's speech at the AEI dinner:
MRC analyst Geoffrey Dickens observed the Today labeling sequence, but it all started with Tom Brokaw at about 7:20pm EST as he introduced Bush's February 26 remarks carried live by NBC: The next morning, on the February 27 Today, Campbell Brown reported on the speech: "The President is trying to win support for military action now with a change in strategy pledging renewed commitment to Mideast peace. Before a friendly audience, a conservative Washington think tank, the President tried a new tact, making the case for the first time ousting Saddam Hussein could help end the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians." A few minutes later, in setting up an interview with General Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Matt Lauer issued another label: "Last night the President spoke to a conservative think tank in Washington and he talked about Iraq after Saddam and the world after Saddam." And fast forwarding to the 9am news update, news reader Ann Curry applied Today's third conservative tag of the morning on the same group: "Meantime, President Bush told a conservative audience in Washington last night that getting rid of Saddam would not only help the Iraqi people, it would also set the stage for peace in the Middle East." I don't recall hearing any liberal groups before which Bill Clinton spoke ever being so consistently and repeatedly labeled liberal. > Looks like Donahue will have its final airing tonight. In yesterday's CyerAlert I noted that MSNBC didn't air a planned Donahue repeat at 8pm EST on Wednesday night and so I speculated that MSNBC may have dropped the show a few days before the announced final airing on Friday. But on Thursday night at 8 and 11pm EST they did run a repeat Donahue, the one from a few weeks ago with Dennis Miller. -- Brent Baker
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Dan Rather confirmed on Thursday's Larry King Live on CNN that far-left, anti-American crusader Ramsey Clark, who has drawn up charges of impeachment against President Bush accusing him of "crimes against humanity," was a "big help" to CBS News in landing the Saddam Hussein interview for the network.
