The GUILD 3-28-2003 Operation PEEPS!!!!

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

What can we do to help the troops and children of Iraq?

Send PEEPS!!!!!

Peeps are happy, they don't melt, and they are lightweight!!!

Please join us in Operation Peeps, and help us send Peeps to the troops!!!

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Good Morning!!!!!

[LouisianaJoanof Arc]

Good morning, love the pictures.

[mountaineer]

Good morning. Not only are peeps happy, non-melting and lightweight, they come in a variety of colors and are virtually indestructible!

[lodwick]

[Carolina]

Good morning! Operation Peeps--I love it!

Mountaineer, how do you feel about the level of questions at CentCom? That dweeb from NY Mag yesterday was totally over the line.

[mountaineer]

I would guess that the reporters and reporterettes in Qatar are J-schools' creme de la creme, which is how they came to be hired by the networks and "top" news services. Unfortunately, most of the J-school grads I've encountered in my reporting days are clueless and thoroughly indoctrinated. From what I hear, the nation's journalism schools don't teach the fundamentals of reporting a story thoroughly and factually, but stress the importance of shaping public opinion through one's writing. That's fine if you're a columnist. It's quite another thing when you're allegedly reporting the news.

The ones making such fools of themselves at yesterday's briefing demonstrated complete ignorance. I mean, really, wanting to be briefed by a five-star general because they think a two-star general wouldn't know what's going on? All I can do is shake my head and think of WWII. Can you imagine all this nonsense being permitted back then? My mother observed the other day that during WWII, the American public learned what was going on through newsreels at the movie theaters, so they were weeks behind on events, plus everything was heavily censored and controlled by the govt. Now, rumors are as good as facts, and no one wants to miss out on being the first to report something by taking the time to verify facts.

[mountaineer]

Page Six is on a roll today:

APPEASEMENT-MONGERS went nuts when we suggested people might choose to boycott Susan Sarandon and other pampered stars who oppose the ousting of Saddam Hussein - but America agrees with us. The United Way just canceled a Tampa Bay speaking engagement by the actress after it got three dozen complaints from donors and others who don't like her anti-liberation stance. Sarandon - whose live-in, Tim Robbins, recently threatened the Washington Post's Lloyd Grove with violence for daring to report that Sarandon's mom is a Republican - was set to be the keynote speaker at an April 11 event sponsored by the United Way's women's leadership group. But after complaints started rolling in, organizers decided Sarandon's presence would be "divisive." Robin Carson, chairwoman of the Tampa Bay chapter's board, told the St. Petersburg Times, "The focus . . . shifted to whether or not we were creating a political platform for Susan Sarandon. That is not our purpose. That is not what we're about."

LENNY Kravitz is a member of the Do-As-I-Say-Not-As-I-Do Club. The Jimi Hendrix wannabe released his anti-war duet with Iraqi crooner Kazem Al Sahir on rockthevote.com, but Kravitz hasn't voted in over a decade. While rockthevote.com, dedicated to getting young people into voting booths, calls Kravitz "a true patriot," records show he hasn't fulfilled his patriotic duty to cast a ballot since 1992. "I haven't voted in many years and it was a mistake," he tells thesmokinggun.com. "Up until recently, many people like myself have taken this right for granted."

[mountaineer]

More on Susan Sarandon (and Fred Thompson) from the WashPost:

(W)e were distressed to learn yesterday that the United Way of Tampa Bay has disinvited her from a fundraising and training event because of her outspoken criticism of President Bush's war on Saddam Hussein.

Indeed -- after several large donors complained about Sarandon's keynote role at an April 11 lunch capping a session to encourage women to volunteer in charities -- United Way officials just scrapped the whole thing.

"United Way of Tampa Bay's intent is to unify the diversity of thought that brings the community together," Marketing Vice President Judy Quinlan said yesterday from Florida, where Sarandon's Republican, Bush-supporting mom, Lenora Tomalin, also lives. [I thought UW's intent was to raise money for worthy charitable organizations. Oh well.] "Through circumstances beyond our control, this event began to divide our community. The prudent course of action is to cancel."

But now there's real trouble. At the St. Petersburg Times, which is the lead corporate sponsor of the event, Executive Vice President Marty Petty, until yesterday the chairman of the 2003 United Way campaign, quit the charity's board in protest. And Petty's boss, St. Petersburg Times Chairman Andrew Barnes -- who had arranged for the paper to pay Sarandon's $20,000 appearance fee plus an extra $25,000 for the United Way -- is enraged at the group's leaders.

"It makes me so mad -- this is just way over the line," Barnes told us, noting that Sarandon agreed to appear after being invited on behalf of the Times by her brother, Times Outdoors Editor Terry Tomalin. "This really sticks in my gorge."

Barnes added that he has backed the United Way through thick and thin, especially when the group's national leadership was embroiled in a damaging financial scandal years ago. "My goodness, I must have made 17 speeches apologizing for that. Those jerks!"

Quinlan declined to respond to Barnes's insults. "Everyone is entitled to his opinion," she said. "Everyone has freedom of speech and freedom of choice." Except maybe Susan Sarandon.

----------
• Our congratulations to former Senate Republican staffer Jeri Thompson, 35, and her new husband, Fred Dalton Thompson, as the 60-year-old former Tennessee senator is billed on NBC's "Law & Order," on which he plays the Manhattan district attorney. We hear that the couple, who married in June, are expecting their first child on Sept. 22.

[Endeavor]

I've been outta the computer loop - you guys been upset over the "journalists" questions to military leadership? Me too. What a bunch of idiots, bless their little cold and calculating hearts.

[Timeout]

Here's some info that helps explain the juvenile reaction of those "reporters" over at CENTCOM. I posted this earlier over at the Situation Room:

There was a report in the WashPost last week about "Operation Messenger"...the administration's media rapid response team. I linked the article on the Guild, but can't remember when.

It went into great detail about how they would quickly shoot down erroneous stories, as well as getting out clarifying info in real time. There are hundreds of people at "Messenger" monitoring media reports throughout the world, correcting mistakes and adding to incomplete reports. Remember last Friday, within minutes of the first air strikes, we were told "This is Shock & Awe"? That must have come from Operation Messenger.

Occurs to me that is why we're getting so much more good info out of Pentagon reporters as opposed to those in Qatar. It's a hoot! Those sissies in CENTCOM didn't realize the admin is letting CENTCOM fight a war with the Iraqis while Washington takes care of the war with the media! CENTCOM reporters got snookered when they "drew this prized assignment".

[Timeout]

Oops. Wish I'd remembered to bless their hearts, too.:)

[MaeWest]

What a great idea....Peeps ahoy! They are so lightweight the troops won't mind carrying them and the kids will love them.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

PHOTOS UP IN FLAMES
It is heartbreaking to watch soldiers burning pictures of their own children and letters from loved ones, writes pool reporter Martin Dillon.

Army rules force them to destroy any personal items which may give interrogators an advantage if they are captured, says Dillon, of the Manchester Evening News, who is with the 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery in Iraq.

When mail arrives there is a sense of elation among the men.

But this is soon tinged with sadness as they realise the precious messages and photos from home must be incinerated.

The only details carried by the troops are identification card, ID discs, a medical card and dollars. But all the men accept it as part of being a soldier in a war zone.

This is the reality of warfare - men stripped of their private lives and day-to-day comfort. But the mail also brings parcels of food, sweets, chocolates and toiletries to cheer up the soldiers.

'Gutted'

Sgt Ewan Andrews, 30, of Aldershot, Hampshire, received some photographs of his 10-month old son Sam which he had to destroy when moving gun positions.

He said: "I am absolutely gutted but it is an Army rule and you just have to do it."

Sgt Dean Foster, 34, from London, said: "It's great to receive mail and photographs but it's gut-wrenching when you have to destroy them, especially the photographs of the kids you haven't seen for ages."

Lt Rich Piercy, 23, of Goole, East Yorkshire, said: "It might seem harsh that we have to destroy the mail, but it is for a very good reason because if a soldier is captured he could be put under psychological pressure if an interrogator has personal photographs or a home address."

Bombardier Pete Bryce, 30, said: "It is such a massive morale booster and you do feel bad when you have to destroy letters and photographs. However, it just makes you more determined to get the job done quickly and come home in one piece."

Carl Bond, 23, of Aldershot, said: "It's nice to receive mail but the worst thing about it is having to burn it after you have read it."

[Utah Girl]

I'm sitting here listening to Ari Fleischer's press briefing. The press corps is living up to their stupidity rating. This is so disgusting "Why hasn't the war ended? Why weren't we better prepared? Now that the war is taking longer than originally planned..." Ari just blasted the reporter.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Every time I see Ari's press briefings I think that we should be paying him a minimum of a million bucks a year.

[lodwick]

Time Traveler busted for insider trading

[Utah Girl]

Isn't that the truth. The reporters are just so, so stupid. But Colin Powell just slammed a couple of reporters, very subtly. One of the reporters asked if Powell was happy with the way those generals were running the war. "You bet I am, I am the one who trained them. Thank you." I'm off for the day to play. Have a great weekend.

[mountaineer]

I'm so sick of this business about the war taking "longer than expected." Than who expected? Dan Rather and Peter Jennings? No one in the administration ever predicted a three-day war, but you'd think so from the idiotic comments of the press, who have no grip on reality and no appreciation of history.

[Utah Girl]

Exactly. And a reporter had the gall to ask Ari Fleischer "Well, why didn't you shoot down our expectations?" As usual, it is always someone else's fault.