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AP Uses Democrat Talking Points in Fred Thompson Hit Piece
http://newsbusters.org/ ^ | June 26, 2007 | Noel Sheppard

Posted on 06/27/2007 6:48:25 PM PDT by lowbridge

AP Uses Democrat Talking Points in Fred Thompson Hit Piece

Posted by Noel Sheppard on June 26, 2007 - 23:30.

As Democrats complain about conservative dominance on the radio, the hypocrisy is made crystal clear when America's leading wire service copies talking points directly from one of Howard Dean’s e-mail messages for a hit piece on looming Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson.

Such was identified by Steve Hill of Target Rich Environment who brilliantly outlined the similarities between an e-mail message he received Friday from the Democratic National Committee chairman (complete text with timestamp and e-mail address to follow) with an Associated Press article published Tuesday at CNN.com (emphasis added throughout):

1. DNC talking point: “In his most recent stint in Washington, Thompson worked for a London company lobbying Congress to limit liability claims for asbestos-related illnesses. Over the past three years he’s made $760,000 fighting for the interests of his corporate clients.

“AP/CNN talking point: ”More recently, while Frist led the Senate, Thompson earned more than $750,000 lobbying for a British reinsurance company that wanted to limit its liability from asbestos lawsuits.

2. DNC Talking Point: “And just this month, as part of his role as the ultimate Washington insider, Thompson offered to host yet another fundraising event for Scooter Libby’s legal defense fund. Thompson has been vocal in his support of Libby, saying that he would “absolutely” pardon him.”

AP/CNN Talking Point: “Thompson also helped run the Scooter Libby Legal Defense Fund Trust, an organization that set out to raise more than $5 million to help finance the legal defense of Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, who was convicted in March of lying and obstructing Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s investigation into the leak of a CIA operative’s identity.”

3. DNC Talking Point: “For years, acting wasn’t the Law & Order star’s profession — it was a hobby. In the real world, Thompson has made a fortune in a decades-long career as a Washington lobbyist.”

AP/CNN Talking Point: “Republican Fred Thompson, who likes to cast himself in the role of Washington outsider, has a long history as a political insider who earned more than $1 million lobbying the federal government.”

4. DNC Talking Point: “Although the folksy-sounding Tennessean recently told USA TODAY that he would run an outsider, just as he did while campaigning as a “country lawyer” in a red pickup during his 1994 U.S. Senate race, his résumé is that of a longtime Washington operative who has crossed ideological lines to represent corporate and foreign clients.”

AP/CNN Talking Point: “That history as a Washington insider is at odds with the image Thompson has sought to convey to voters. When he first ran for the Senate in 1993, Thompson cast himself in the part of the gruff, plainspoken everyman, leased a red pickup truck and drove around Tennessee in his shirt sleeves.”

Amazing similarities, wouldn’t you agree? Now, check out the e-mail message that Steve received Friday for verification (his address has been removed for his privacy):

From: "Howard Dean" <democraticparty@democrats.org>
Add to Address Book  Add Mobile Alert 
To: "Steve Hill" < >
Subject: FW: The inside-outsider
Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2007 09:56:59 -0500
    
Dear Steve,

I wanted to follow up on Tom's email from Tuesday.

As you probably know, we've got a big job here. Right
now it's up to us -- not the 2008 Democratic
candidates -- to take on Fred Thompson, John McCain,
Rudy Giuliani and the rest of the Republican
presidential hopefuls. And that's why we need your
help.

Last year, the 50-state strategy put organizers on the
ground across the country to stand up to the lies and
failures of the GOP. Those organizers were the key to
our unprecedented victories up and down the ballot in
2006.

Unlike many campaigns, our organizers still had a job
when the election was over -- thanks to contributions
from Democrats like you. That sort of support is
crucial to build a party that will fight in every
state for many elections to come, and that support is
what allows us to continue to have organizers working
in your state today.

Just yesterday in Iowa, a DNC-funded organizer was on
the ground distributing facts to reporters after a big
speech by Rudy Giuliani. If we don't continue to
organize and research now, Election Day 2008 could be
one that we'd rather forget.

Don't let that happen -- support our efforts today:

http://www.democrats.org/FundOrganizers

November 2008 may seem like a long time from now, but
Democrats aren't waiting to take our country back.

Sincerely,

Gov. Howard Dean, M.D.

P.S: If you didn't get a chance to read about the real
Fred Thompson, check out the email Tom sent a few days
ago.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Tom McMahon

Subject: The inside-outsider

Dear Howard,

Remember the Republican culture of corruption? The
revolving door of Republican politicians moving in and
out of top political offices and Washington D.C.
lobbying firms?

That's Republican presidential candidate Fred
Thompson.

For years, acting wasn't the Law & Order star's
profession -- it was a hobby. In the real world,
Thompson has made a fortune in a decades-long career
as a Washington lobbyist
.

And just this month, as part of his role as the
ultimate Washington insider, Thompson offered to host
yet another fundraising event for Scooter Libby's
legal defense fund. Thompson has been vocal in his
support of Libby, saying that he would "absolutely"
pardon him.

As he runs for president, he'll try his hardest to
hide the truth from the American people. And we need
to stop him.

Support our efforts to get the truth out about Fred
Thompson:

http://www.democrats.org/StopTheAct

Here's what the USA Today had to say about Lobbyist
Thompson:

"Although the folksy-sounding Tennessean recently told
USA TODAY that he would run an outsider, just as he
did while campaigning as a "country lawyer" in a red
pickup during his 1994 U.S. Senate race, his résumé is
that of a longtime Washington operative who has
crossed ideological lines to represent corporate and
foreign clients."

In his most recent stint in Washington, Thompson
worked for a London company lobbying Congress to limit
liability claims for asbestos-related illnesses. Over
the past three years he's made $760,000 fighting for
the interests of his corporate clients.

Now Fred Thompson wants the American people to believe
he's the next Ronald Reagan -- a Washington outsider
with Hollywood charisma and conservative appeal. But

Thompson just plays the role of straight-shooting outsider

on TV. In reality, he's as inside as you can get.

He's trying to get to the White House on slick lines
and good acting. Help us stop him:

http://www.democrats.org/StopTheAct

As Fred Thompson tries to go from Washington's K Street

to Pennsylvania Avenue, the stakes of his
candidacy couldn't be higher. In an interview just
last week, for example, he claimed that the Roe v.
Wade decision "was fabricated out of whole cloth," and
that it was the worst court ruling in the past 40
years.

We need to make sure that in 2008, Fred Thompson goes
back to doing his acting on Law & Order -- not in the
White House.

Make a contribution today:

http://www.democrats.org/StopTheAct

While the Democratic presidential candidates hit the
campaign trail, we'll be hitting the Republicans. It's
our job to tell the American people the facts about
opponents like Fred Thompson and to hold them
accountable.

We can't finish that job without you. I hope you'll
join us.

Sincerely,

Tom McMahon
DNC Executive Director

Extraordinary similarities, yes?

In reality, we shouldn’t be too surprised, as the folks at Power Line identified some interesting information about this AP writer, Travis Loller (emphasis added):

Ms. Loller has a rather colorful past as a left-wing activist. Mother Jones described her as a "radical":

Three American citizens, along with nine other foreigners, were deported from Mexico on April 12, 1998 for alleged collusion with the Zapatista rebels (EZLN). The woman, Travis Loller, 26, and two men, Michael Sabato, 30, and Jeffrey Conant, 30, are part of an American relief group called Intercambio de Tecnologia Apropiada (ITA) or, in English, Appropriate Technology Exchange. The Mexican government accused the three of agitating for the rebel army that's been struggling in the southeastern state of Chiapas for over four years in an effort to win basic civil rights and gain land reform for the indigenous Indians in the region.

*********

The three Americans have extensive activist histories, having worked for reproductive rights, the homeless and protests against the Gulf War, the Rodney King verdict and Propositions 187 and 209.

Now, Loller works for the Associated Press, apparently with assistance from the Democrat Party.

Anybody want to talk about the Fairness Doctrine? 



TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: ap; assininepress; bias; fred; fredthompson; mediabias; msm; partisanmedia; thompson
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1 posted on 06/27/2007 6:48:28 PM PDT by lowbridge
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To: lowbridge

I think a lot of us have known that mainstream news and DNC blast faxes are one and the same thing


2 posted on 06/27/2007 6:50:50 PM PDT by Mount Athos
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To: lowbridge
The MSM / DBM ...IS an arm of the DemocratLiberalMarxistSocialist Party......

When folks figure that out....maybe things will change.

See my TAG-LINE

3 posted on 06/27/2007 6:51:21 PM PDT by Osage Orange (The old/liberal/socialist media is the most ruthless and destructive enemy of this country.)
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To: lowbridge

CNN ran the same stuff from the DNC echo-chamber today. If ol’ Fred only made a million bucks from 20 years as a lobbyist, he certainly wasn’t very active. Let’s run the numbers on Democrats’ kids and other hangers-on and see what they’ve managed to get in 20 years on the Hill. Let’s start with that financial genius, Chelsea Clinton, who got a $100,000+ job with a NY hedge fund after being out of college a couple of years.


4 posted on 06/27/2007 6:54:35 PM PDT by kittymyrib
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To: lowbridge

The evidence that the MSM is just a mouthpiece for the DNC is overwhelming, but they would never admit the obvious.


5 posted on 06/27/2007 6:59:49 PM PDT by Always Right
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To: lowbridge

Fred terrify’s all of them.


6 posted on 06/27/2007 7:02:15 PM PDT by Eagle74 (From time to time the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots)
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To: lowbridge

The Edwards family must be proud...


7 posted on 06/27/2007 7:02:36 PM PDT by eyedigress
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To: lowbridge

I demand fairness! The mainstream media must give the other side fair air time!


8 posted on 06/27/2007 7:02:57 PM PDT by Guyin4Os (My name says Guyin40s but now I have an exotic, daring, new nickname..... Guyin50s)
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To: lowbridge

bump


9 posted on 06/27/2007 7:09:52 PM PDT by lowbridge ("The mainstream media IS the Democratic Party." - Rush Limbaugh)
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To: lowbridge

I’m not suprised to see the drive-by media parroting DNC talking points against Fred Thompson. Par for the course for them.

But it makes me want to puke when I see supporters of some of Fred’s GOP opponentss quoting the same DNC talking points against Fred.

They’re no different from the DU-DU dung beetles, IMO.


10 posted on 06/27/2007 8:05:37 PM PDT by Josh Painter (Fred STRONGLY supports the "absolute right to gun ownership" - VoteMatch)
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To: lowbridge
Shameless plagiarism... do they teach lifting entire passages unattributed and passing them off as one's own thoughts as standard practice in journalism school? Agenda journalism is one thing; stealing others ideas is not exactly original.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

11 posted on 06/27/2007 8:10:26 PM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: lowbridge
Apparently Fred has not made 100,000 from a 1,000 investment overnight in Arkansas commodities. Or don't they report that kind of stuff.

I guess he never had his staff obtain 900 FBI files and hold them illegally.

I wonder how many times evidence appeared on his coffee table after he couldn't locate it for 2 years.

I wonder how many terrorists and embezzlers his spouse pardoned to help his election?

I grow tired..............

12 posted on 06/27/2007 8:15:04 PM PDT by herMANroberts
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To: lowbridge
Fred's comment defending his lobbying was simply brilliant. If the government would stay out of the private sector, there wouldn't be a need for lobbyists. Duh
13 posted on 06/27/2007 8:19:33 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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To: lowbridge

The three Americans have worked for “reproductive rights”? What did they do, go to China and protest against the one-child policy?


14 posted on 06/27/2007 8:24:54 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: lowbridge

A major network using Dimmycrap talking points is not news.


15 posted on 06/27/2007 8:38:38 PM PDT by TBP
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To: All; Extremely Extreme Extremist; Sturm Ruger; Politicalmom; SE Mom; Always Right; jellybean; ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoDDTJeiodA

Mr. 19% attacks Thompson! If this is all they got, Thompson is in no trouble!

Scary thing is Harry doesn’t refute the twoofers claim that 9/11 was an inside job, all he does is blaim Thompson for not being in tune with reality.


16 posted on 06/27/2007 8:41:49 PM PDT by RatsDawg
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To: lowbridge

17 posted on 06/27/2007 8:51:12 PM PDT by Silly (Hillary has been overheard praying to Lady Elaine Fairchilde, alcoholic puppet)
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To: lowbridge

Notice how well they “extend the truth” ???


FredChat
irc://irc.freenode.net/fredthompson


18 posted on 06/28/2007 4:07:10 AM PDT by xcamel ("It's Thompson Time!")
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To: Sturm Ruger
But it makes me want to puke when I see supporters of some of Fred’s GOP opponents quoting the same DNC talking points against Fred.

That is pretty ironic to see written on a site that has "GiulianiTruthFile" as a main header on it's front page.

19 posted on 06/28/2007 4:13:25 AM PDT by codercpc
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To: Sturm Ruger
...supporters of some of Fred’s GOP opponentss quoting the same DNC talking points against Fred.

The DNC didn't have to expend much effort really. All they had to do was read the Fred threads here and pick up their talking points from the Hunter/Romney trolls.

Some of who I'm betting are actually DUmmy/DNC plants, btw.

20 posted on 06/28/2007 4:13:38 AM PDT by prairiebreeze (PUT AMERICA AHEAD --- VOTE FOR FRED!!.)
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