Posted on 08/07/2004 11:52:43 AM PDT by blake6900
According to World Net Daily, two television stations have refused to air the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth ad regarding John Kerry's service in Vietnam. One, WBAY in Green Bay, Wisc., stated that "on advice of counsel" they would not run it and the other, WTVG in Toledo, Ohio, "dropped the ad after the Kerry campaign used a story in the Boston Globe yesterday to convince the station's management it was false, the Drudge Report said."
If you'd like to contact them and tell them what you think, you can do so by using the following links:
I don't know if there is any significance to the fact that both stations are ABC affiliates but clearly their decision to not run this ad is less about legalities and more about agenda.
Perhaps some Freepers in these two cities can find out what companies sponsor local programing on WBAY and WTVG and we can begin contacting them as well.
Chickenshits. If these pantload TV stations had a reporter who got arrested rather than reveal a source, they'd break their arms patting themselves on the back.
Do you know how many stations are running the ad?
NPR radio surely violates equal time too.
Thanks, I contacted them both.
Somehow the cities of Hole-edo and Breen Gay being in the middle of this does not surprise me.
These TV stations are not afraid, they just want a good excuse to do what Kerry wants.
CFR comes around to bite us in the butt again. Just as it seems the playing field is leveled with conservative 527's, the television stations bow to fear of lawsuit and refuse to show the commericals.
Come to the last 60 days of the campaign when there can be no "negative ads" and 527's will be the only ones getting the truth out to the public....that is if the TV stations agree to show their ads.
This puts too much power in the hands of the Media, which is over empowered as it is anyway.
Yeah, I know. I was nuking them out of the water over that lame excuse about their deciding not to air the ad "on advice of counsel."
Just emailed the Green Bay station. Thanks for the link!
On this beautiful Saturday in MD, I am sitting here at the computer writing a bunch of news organizations, including Fox, on what I think of their lack of coverage on Kerry. I am not using the Swift Vets, but asking why they are not demanding Kerry to release his medical and military records, and for Tuh-rayza to release her tax returns. They certainly demanded Bush's records for no cause. Now that Kerry is the official Dem candidate, they should be pursuing his.
Hah! Fair and balanced my a$$
I sent them both this message:
"If you don't run the ad at the same price you run other political ads, you can count me and many others among those who will oppose your broadcast licence renewal when the time comes."
Short, sweet, to the point, and aimed squarely at their most valuable possession. The DNC can't sue every broadcast outlet in the country, anyway, but we sure as hell can make big problems with the FCC for the few that capitulate to lawyerly intimidation.
While we're at it, we need to get the law licenses of the lawyers who signed that letter revoked - that letter is a clear violation of the Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct.
My email to them:
Why are you not airing the Vets who have pointed out the truth about John Kerry's 130 days in Vietnam?
Did you air ads for Fairenheit 9/11? That mockimentary was full of untruths. The ad from the Swift Boat Vets is 100% true. They have signed their names to it and stand behind the statements.
The one disclaimer from Kerry's Commander was merely a statement that he didn't know what exactly happened -- NOT that he thought Kerry deserved or didn't deserve the accolades.
But we have eyewitnesses who say that they saw exactly what happened.
Do you produce news or just fluff pieces to support your chosen candidates?
It is worth noting that the very first time something counter to Kerry's campaign comes down the pike, the Democrats' first course of action is to invoke lawyers. As usual, we hear Kerry supporters talking out both sides of their mouth. While they appear on television claiming the Swift Boat Vets' ad will backfire against the president, as if he had anything to do with it, behind the scenes they run to their buddies in the legal profession to try and pressure stations not to run it in the first place. Apparently they've been successful with at least two.
Clearly they're scared. And rightfully so...when Kerry's story of "Christmas in Cambodia" really starts surfacing their candidate will be shown to be the liar he truly is. And Clintonesque "it's his private life" or "let's move on" defenses aren't gonna cut the mustard.
Kerry made this bed of sh!t. Now he can wallow in it. One thing though...I don't think we're gonna hear a whole helluva lot more from him about his Vietnam service in the future.
Not just signed their names...these are sworn affadavits. In all the media reports I've heard about the Swift Boat Vets, there is never any mention of the fact that these men have sworn that their statements are true. Kerry hasn't sworn anything...except in an occasional Rolling Stone interview or when talking about a Secret Service agent on the ski slopes.
Regardless of what the Dems say, this cannot be helpful to their arrogant clown's campaign.
I have been telling everyone on every thread what happened to me on DU last night.
I was trolling (hehe -- fun for the whole family) and asked REPEATEDLY -- how can I tell my "conservative friends" about Mr. Heinz' only 130 days in VN and his self-promotion to get his medals. They kept saying "his record speaks for itself." When I pressed it, they banned me.
THEY HAVE NO ANSWER!!! So they ban anyone who asks the tough questions.
Here is a copy of my letter to the General Managers of these stations:
It all comes down to truth in advertising, doesn't it? President Bush never threatened to sue over the MoveOn.org ads your station has likely carried, because he believes in the First Amendment right to freedom of speech, even when that speech isn't flattering to him. Nor did the President threaten legal action when Michael Moore's factually-challenged film, Farenheit-911, was released. However, when an ad created by Vietnam War veterans who served with him in Vietnam is released and exposes him for the fraud that he is, Mr. Kerry can't stand the heat and threatens to sue. A candidate with nothing to hide would never pursue such an action and a braodcast station with an obligation to inform its viewers would never cower to such a threat. Broadcast stations have the obligation of presenting all of the facts pertinent to an issue and allowing their audience to decide which is true.
Your position of cowardice in the face of an empty threat is despicable. There is no moral equivocating you can use to justify not running this ad other than cowardice and political partisanship. Your license to broadcast is granted by and at the pleasure of the Federal Communications Commission. To continue renewing your license, you must demonstrate that WBAY has operated in the public good and worked to ensure that viewers in the surrounding community are informed of important events. By refusing to air the ad by the Swiftboat veterans, you are, in effect, censoring the public's right to know and be informed about important events. This is not in keeping with your obligation as a broadcast station operating over publicly controlled airwaves. In consequence of your actions, I will be filing a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission.
Many thanks for the heads-up and the link. Sent e-mails to the stations in Green Bay, WI and Toledo, OH. Am now off to launch a diatribe about this to the FCC.
Messages sent.
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