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�...radar tracking reports show that the hijacked plane that hit the
Pentagon was never headed for the White House...�
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BuzzFlash.com
THE AMERICAN PUBLIC, RESOLUTE AGAINST TERRORISM,
DESERVES THE TRUTH
A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL COMMENTARY
September 28, 2001
The White House is once again resorting to bullying, intimidation and
dissembling to control the news spin � and stifle dissent.
As reported on a media watch website, Ari Fleischer warned Americans that
they "need to watch what they say, watch what they do..."
Excerpt from Poynter.org
WH EDITED OUT FLEISCHER'S WATCH-WHAT-YOU-SAY REMARK
http://www.poynter.org/medianews/
In a letter to MediaNews, Phillip Day notes that AP reported that White
House spokesman Ari Fleischer said on Wednesday that Americans "need to
watch what they say..." That line was apparently edited out of the White
House transcript, says Day....
SEVERAL MEDIANEWS READERS note that Fleischer's briefings are archived at
C-SPAN.org. One reader e-mails: "If you listen to the audio of Fleischer's
briefing, you can clearly hear Fleischer say 'need to watch what they say,
watch what they do...' There's no ambiguity whatsoever about his words. The
White House clearly edited the phrase out of the transcript
intentionally."
Sorry, Ari, BuzzFlash thought this was a democracy, not a dictatorship.
This subtle threat comes in the wake of more unsettling news of White House
efforts to silence anyone who might detract from their packaging of Bush.
Salon.com reports that the White House tried to jawbone NBC into not
allowing Tom Brokaw to run an interview with Bill Clinton about the crisis
(although they didn't formally request them not to, but they made their
opinions known, so to speak). Yes, the White House thought that it was
inappropriate for a former president to be interviewed on national
television. (see
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2001/09/27/spin/index.html?x)
We've also learned from various news sources that the White House spin
team's explanations for why Bush didn't return to the White House on
September 11th were misleading to say the least. Apparently, there were no
phone calls threatening Air Force One, and radar tracking reports show that
the hijacked plane that hit the Pentagon was never headed for the White
House. These reports debunk assertions made by Karl Rove and Ari Fleischer
in the wake of a wave of accusations (among Republicans and Democrats) that
Bush dodged returning to Washington, D.C., on a timely basis.
There may have indeed been national security reasons for Bush not to
immediately return to the nation's Capital, but all the American public got
in the way of explanation was a couple of lies.
Then there is another troubling post-September 11th White House PR
statement. While Bush's staff issued a terse, tepid pro forma statement of
disagreement with Jerry Falwell's Taliban like statement blaming the
terrorist attacks on America's "abandonment of God," Ari Fleischer went out
of his way to blast Bill Maher for making a barbed political comment.
Falwell didn't receive anywhere near the condemnation Bill Maher did -- and
Maher was exercising sharp political wit; Falwell meant what he said and
defiled the loss of nearly 7,000 American lives. (see:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010927/re/television_maher_dc_1.html)
Shall BuzzFlash continue?
In his much-praised speech to a joint session of Congress, Bush's most
moving moment was when he held up a badge of a slain New York Police officer
and said: "And I will carry this. It is the police shield of a man named
George Howard, who died at the World Trade Center trying to save others. It
was given to me by his mom, Arlene, as a proud memorial to her son. It is my
reminder of lives ended and a task that does not end."
The AP reported: "President Bush displayed the badge of a police officer
killed at the World Trade Center during his speech Thursday and said he'll
carry it as a reminder of "lives ended and a task that does not end." The
police shield was given to Bush by the mother of George Howard, who raced to
the trade center to help in the rescue effort. Bush said Arlene Howard gave
him the shield as a "proud memorial to her son."
Well it turn's out, according at Officer Howard's mom, that she was "asked"
to give the medal to the President: "But when Port Authority officials asked
if she'd give George's shield to George W. Bush, she couldn't refuse."
(http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/24/vic.bush.police.badge/)
Now, one could argue that Bush did not actually lie. The heroic officer's
mother did indeed give the badge to Bush, but BuzzFlash is sure that more
than 90% of the Americans watching the remark assumed that the Mom presented
the badge to Bush in a spontaneous gesture.
In short, it is quite possible that the White House planned the whole
poignant moment, and asked the assistance of the Port Authority in obtaining
the badge.
That theory gains credence when added to this information from a Jimmy
Breslin column
(http://www.newsday.com/news/columnists/ny-bres23.column?coll=ny%2Dnews%2Dco
lumnists):
I was going along with George Bush the Younger's speech the other night,
marveling at his sudden command of the moment, even while knowing that
somebody had written the speech for him. Then he did something that caused
my memory to jump. That was the moment when he held out the badge of George
Howard, a Port Authority cop from Hicksville who died in the catastrophe.
The cop's mother, Arlene, had given Bush the badge.
Bush said, "Some will carry memories of a face and a voice gone forever. And
I will carry this. ... It is my reminder of lives that ended and a task that
does not end."
He held Howard's badge up in the palm of his hand.
And I was back on a cool October day in 1988 in Christ the King High School
on Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village and George Bush the Elder was on
the stage holding up officer Edward Byrne's badge. Byrne had been killed in
Jamaica. Byrne's father had given Bush the son's badge. Bush was running for
president against Michael Dukakis.
"Dukakis wouldn't understand the grief of a dead cop's mother," he said.
"This helps define the man I'm running against. He doesn't understand
police. I do."
He used the badge to inflame an auditorium that was crowded with high school
girls, who got up on their seats and shrieked, "Death Penalty! Death
Penalty! Capital Punishment."
It was the most embarrassing afternoon that the Catholics have had around
here.
Now here was George Bush the Younger, like the father before him, holding up
the badge of another dead cop. I would have to bet that Bush the Younger
remembered it and dug up the badge the other night. I didn't like it."
George Howard was indeed a hero. . All Americans owe him their thanks and
their prayers. BuzzFlash is certainly indebted to such heroes. But Jimmy
Breslin helps us understand that the route by which his badge came to be
part of a national "call to war" speech is filled with many questions.
So much has been made lately of the need for Americans to unite behind their
President. We all share a common goal of ending terrorism. But there is
legitimate debate about how that goal can be accomplished. The very fact
that this horrific event happened on Bush's watch should further bolster the
right of Americans to be part of a vigorous debate on how best to ensure the
safety of our nation.
Right now, as BuzzFlash has noted, we are all uniting behind the institution
of the presidency. In turn, the man who holds that office � and the people
who package him for public consumption � need to unite behind the American
people and to honor, respect and cherish their opinions.
A good place for the Bush Administration to start would be by dropping the
thuggish intimidation efforts aimed at the media and the American public.
The second step would be for the White House PR machine to start telling the
truth.
Remember the White House Press Secretary's first major communication's
initiative was to spread a lie that the Clinton and Gore staffs had trashed
Air Force One and the White House.
In a time of national mourning and crisis, the American people have been
transformed. We are uniform in our goal to stop terrorism.
It is time for the White House spin machine to transform itself too � and
make itself worthy of the great American nation and people it serves.
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