Posted on 07/22/2007 7:43:14 PM PDT by lowbridge
NY Newsday Columnist Les Payne Uses Phony Bush Quotes
According to Les Payne, liberal columnist of the New York newspaper, Newsday ("While Bush rests, bin Laden plots", July 15, 2007):
"It has been 2,130 days, however, since the president declared on Sept. 13, 2001, that "The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our No. 1 priority and we will not rest until we find him."
And then Les goes on to say:
"Someone, the record will show, painted the face of Saddam Hussein on Bush's wanted poster and threw the marshal off the trail. "I don't know where bin Laden is," he said a year after deputizing himself. "I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." Even as bin Laden harassed him with videotaped taunts, Bush declared himself "truly not that concerned about him," turning his beady eyes toward Baghdad."
Of course, Bush said neither.
What Payne got right were these quotes: "don't know where bin Laden is", "truly not that concerned about him" (although those quotes are strung together as if it were one sentence, and other words that Bush did not say are added to it).
To put those quotes in context, from a March 2002 Press conference:
Q Mr. President, in your speeches now you rarely talk or mention Osama bin Laden. Why is that? Also, can you tell the American people if you have any more information, if you know if he is dead or alive? Final part -- deep in your heart, don't you truly believe that until you find out if he is dead or alive, you won't really eliminate the threat of --
THE PRESIDENT: Deep in my heart I know the man is on the run, if he's alive at all. Who knows if he's hiding in some cave or not; we haven't heard from him in a long time. And the idea of focusing on one person is -- really indicates to me people don't understand the scope of the mission.
Terror is bigger than one person. And he's just -- he's a person who's now been marginalized. His network, his host government has been destroyed. He's the ultimate parasite who found weakness, exploited it, and met his match. He is -- as I mentioned in my speech, I do mention the fact that this is a fellow who is willing to commit youngsters to their death and he, himself, tries to hide -- if, in fact, he's hiding at all.
So I don't know where he is. You know, I just don't spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be honest with you. I'm more worried about making sure that our soldiers are well-supplied; that the strategy is clear; that the coalition is strong; that when we find enemy bunched up like we did in Shahikot Mountains, that the military has all the support it needs to go in and do the job, which they did.
And there will be other battles in Afghanistan. There's going to be other struggles like Shahikot, and I'm just as confident about the outcome of those future battles as I was about Shahikot, where our soldiers are performing brilliantly. We're tough, we're strong, they're well-equipped. We have a good strategy. We are showing the world we know how to fight a guerrilla war with conventional means.
Q But don't you believe that the threat that bin Laden posed won't truly be eliminated until he is found either dead or alive?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, as I say, we haven't heard much from him. And I wouldn't necessarily say he's at the center of any command structure. And, again, I don't know where he is. I -- I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run. I was concerned about him, when he had taken over a country. I was concerned about the fact that he was basically running Afghanistan and calling the shots for the Taliban.
But once we set out the policy and started executing the plan, he became -- we shoved him out more and more on the margins. He has no place to train his al Qaeda killers anymore. And if we -- excuse me for a minute -- and if we find a training camp, we'll take care of it. Either we will or our friends will. That's one of the things -- part of the new phase that's becoming apparent to the American people is that we're working closely with other governments to deny sanctuary, or training, or a place to hide, or a place to raise money.
And we've got more work to do. See, that's the thing the American people have got to understand, that we've only been at this six months. This is going to be a long struggle. I keep saying that; I don't know whether you all believe me or not. But time will show you that it's going to take a long time to achieve this objective. And I can assure you, I am not going to blink. And I'm not going to get tired. Because I know what is at stake. And history has called us to action, and I am going to seize this moment for the good of the world, for peace in the world and for freedom.
http://bmovies.blogspot.com/2007/07/newsday-columnist-les-payne-uses-phony.html
bump
O’Reilly recently mentioned what a horrible outfit Newsday is, for their distortion or outright lies. Looks like this is a fine example of what he was talking about.
This fake quote is the DU motherquote they use to whine about.
“O’Reilly recently mentioned what a horrible outfit Newsday is, for their distortion or outright lies”
Newsday Strong-Arm Allegations Nothing New
Christopher Twarowski 12/22/2005 12:01 am
Even after you spank ‘em on the nose, old dogs will get back to old tricks.
At a press conference this week, a Nassau County legislator made the serious allegation that Newsday is still using its bully pulpit to bully local officials. Legis. Lisanne Altmann (D-Great Neck) publicly charged that Newsday Editorial Page Editor James M. Klurfeld had been threatening legislators who support Legis. Roger Corbin (D-Westbury) in his efforts to oust current Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs.
The alleged tactic was no surprise to readers of the Long Island Press, which two years ago reported similar efforts on Klurfeld’s part to wield political influence. And last year the Press reported additional allegations concerning the Newsday editor’s strong-arm tactics.
In 2003, Suffolk Democratic Party Chairman Richard Schaffer told the Press that Klurfeld tried to bully him over the party’s candidate of choice for Suffolk county executive [”Levy Wins Despite Newsday’s Threat,” Sept. 11, 2003]. Schaffer and the party supported Steve Levy, while Klurfeld and Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi were promoting William Cunningham in his primary against Levy. According to Schaffer, when he told Klurfeld the party would stick with Levy, the editor responded: “Then we’re going to be enemies, and this is war.” Levy won in a landslide, despite Newsday’s vigorous support for his opponent.
Last December, as Newsday’s fraudulent circulation scandal continued to unfold [”Newsday: Game Over,” Dec. 30, 2004], the Press reported that Klurfeld had successfully pressured legislators to approve a contract to operate Nassau’s Cradle of Aviation Museum. Former Newsday Publisher Ray Jansen happened to serve on the board of trustees of the group that won the contract. Journalistic ethics experts across the country found the actions troubling.
But that, apparently, hasn’t stopped the Newsday editor from throwing his weight around. In this latest instance, although Altmann herself did not receive a threatening phone call from Klurfeld, she tells the Press that Legis. David Denenberg (D-Merrick) told her that he had. Questioned by the Press, Denenberg denied it.
Others who say they’ve received such calls in the past, including Minority Leader Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa), say they no longer communicate with Klurfeld, but that the slant of Newsday’s editorial page is still blatantly apparent.
“Why is it that consensus government in Suffolk County, bridge building, all that, is so good to Newsday?” asks Ed Ward, Schmitt’s spokesman. “Yet when it’s attempted in Nassau, Newsday immediately has a problem with it. Anything the Republicans do, Newsday has a problem with it.”
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