CBS Legitimizes Draft Fear, Driving Mom from Bush to Howdy Doody

MRC ^ | Wednesday September 29, 2004 | BrentBaker

[fight_truth_decay]

Five weeks before the election, CBS decided to give legitimacy to Internet rumors by devoting a "What Does It Mean to You?" segment to "fears" of a supposedly Bush-supporting mother that President Bush will impose a military draft. Dan Rather intoned: "A mother worries her son will be drafted. Does she have good reason?" Richard Schlesinger focused his piece around how the mother "is petrified about a military draft, and she's not alone. Mass e-mails are circulating among worried parents." Schlesinger pointed out how both Bush and Kerry deny that they'd institute a draft, but the mother is "not buying it. She's a Republican, but she's also a single-issue voter." He asked her: "Would you vote for a Democrat?" She replied: "Absolutely. I would vote for Howdy Doody if I thought it would keep my boys home and safe." Schlesinger concluded with a warning: "She's a Bush supporter today, but if she doesn't like what she hears between now and November, Beverly could easily cross over."

Earlier, Schlesinger had given credence to her fear: "The machinery for a draft is already in place, and the acting director of Selective Service believes he could start drafting people quickly."

Dan Rather teased at the top of Tuesday's CBS Evening News, with the heading "Draft Fears" beneath video of the soon-to-be profiled Philadelphia mother at the dinner table with her two sons: "A mother worries her son will be drafted. Does she have good reason? We'll tell you where the presidential candidates stand on the draft in the election series, 'What Does it Mean to You?'"

Rather set up the eventual story, as checked by the MRC's Brad Wilmouth against CBS's posting of the text: "It's no secret, the all-volunteer U.S. military, especially the Army, Marines, and many Reserve units, are stretched thin in Iraq and Afghanistan. So what about bringing back the draft? A lot of Americans are worried about that. Where do the presidential candidates stand? CBS's Richard Schlesinger tells you in the 'Eye on America' election series 'What Does it Mean to You?'"

Schlesinger began, over video of Beverly Cocco working as a school crossing guard: "Beverly Cocco has spent most of her life protecting children in Philadelphia. She usually worries about other people's kids. But as Election Day approaches, it's her own two grown sons who Beverly is most worried about."

Beverly Cocco, identified on screen as a "Pennsylvania voter," inside her home: "I go to bed every night and I pray, and I actually get sick to my stomach. I'm very worried. I'm scared. I'm absolutely scared. I'm petrified."

Schlesinger: "Beverly is petrified about a military draft, and she's not alone. Mass e-mails are circulating among worried parents. But neither President Bush nor John Kerry has said he will re-institute the draft. In fact, they both say they will not."

John Kerry, in May: "I will give us a foreign policy that absolutely makes it unnecessary to have a draft for this country."

Schlesinger: "Kerry says he'll try to get allies of the U.S. to send troops that could relieve American soldiers in Iraq. The Bush administration says that is pure fantasy. The President wants to train more Iraqi troops to take over for the Americans."

George W. Bush: "The war on terror will continue. It's gonna take a while. And no, we don't need a draft." Schlesinger: "But Beverly's not buying it. She's a Republican, but she's also a single-issue voter. Would you vote for a Democrat?"

Cocco: "Absolutely. I would vote for Howdy Doody if I thought it would keep my boys home and safe."

Schlesinger: "In fact, there are at least three votes in this house riding on the draft: Beverly's and her sons Carmen and Nick. Are you guys worried about being drafted?"

Nick Cocco, college senior, inside their home: "Yeah, it's the talk, there's the talks there, and though people aren't actually coming out and saying it, it's there."

Schlesinger: "The machinery for a draft is already in place, and the acting director of Selective Service believes he could start drafting people quickly."

Jack Martin, Selective Service system: "I think that we could do it in less than six months if we got the call."

Schlesinger: "This time there would be no long deferments for college students, and a lot more people could be eligible for the draft than ever before -- men and women aged 18 to 26 could be called up. Of course, there hasn't been a draft since 1973. But that's not much comfort to Beverly Cocco. So she's keeping a sharp eye on the political traffic. She's a Bush supporter today, but if she doesn't like what she hears between now and November, Beverly could easily cross over. In Philadelphia, I'm Richard Schlesinger for 'Eye on America.'"

For the CBSNews.com version of the story, with pictures of the Cocco family:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/28/eveningnews/main646055.shtml

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The DemonicRats have their organizations set up to feed off of the CBS Reports though!

See my posts above.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

One more:

People Against The Draft

________________________________________________________________________

The Following is from the Website! _______________________________________________________________________

What is the draft?
Conscription, or "the draft," is compulsory military service. Compulsory means just that: If you're drafted and fail to secure an exemption, you must be prepared to fight and die -- or face a lengthy prison term.

The US hasn't drafted citizens since the end of the Vietnam War, but current law requires virtually all male citizens aged 18 through 25, as well as male aliens living in the US, to register with the Selective Service – the federal agency that manages conscription.

How do we know a new draft is in the works?
Nationwide, long-dormant draft boards – local committees that decide who must fight and who is exempted -- have been quietly reactivated and restaffed (Lindorff, "Oiling Up the Draft Machine," Salon.com, Nov. 3, 2003). The Selective Service says it is is prepared to call up soldiers within 193 days after a draft is launched.

A consensus behind conscription is building on Capitol Hill. Senators Chuck Hagel (R-Neb) and Joseph Biden (D-Del), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, are among many prominent politicians suddenly calling for a "national debate" on the draft (Washington Post, Apr. 22, 2004).

Read more ...

[alcuin]

LOL the tag.
But I think your figure is too low.
Kerry contains multitudes of kaleidoscopes, each with a staff.
Why can't they just get along?

[fight_truth_decay]

I read your post just before it was pulled. Thanks for posting it over here.

[fight_truth_decay]

Correction:Perhaps not your post as I look back, but the one that was linked to ...[(Kerry) could say it was late at night and I was confused even though it was really this afternoon ;)]

[Mo1]

Oh Good Lord .. They her to go talk to the Democrats .. THEY ARE THE ONES PUSHING THE DRAFT!

[RedWing9]

Whether Ms. Cocco is republican or not is irrelevant, what is relevant is that she had made it clear, on repeated occasions to CBS, that she was a one issue voter and that the democrat support for the bills all but ensured her and her house's vote for Bush.

Given the bed she's made to sleep in, she's not a Republican. This writer is trying to cover her a##.

[goldstategop]

CBS has no credibility left. Another Hit Bush piece <yawn And the fact of the matter is its the Democrats who want to reinstate the draft! Don't look for Danron to mention that in his set-up piece about how Bush is plotting to put more American boys in harm's way in Iraq.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

More info basically confirming what you said:

CBSgate II: Schlesinger inteview of Beverly Cocco (Anti-Bush, Kerry supporter connections)

[fight_truth_decay]

Today: ;)

CBS hinted at none of that activist political activity by
Cocco, though, as Schlesinger stated that "Beverly is petrified
about a military draft, and she's not alone. Mass e-mails are
circulating among worried parents," on screen CBS briefly showed
quick shots of a couple of Web pages, including a shot of a screen
with "People Against the Draft" across the top. But Schlesinger
made no connection to Cocco. Bloggers uncovered the connection,
however, as FNC's Brit Hume noted in his "Grapevine" segment on
Wednesday night.

I don't know which blogger had it first or best, but a Freeper
forwarded to me a thread about it which featured a reprint of my
CyberAlert article about the CBS story, so I'll give that
FreeRepublic discussion a plug in return, a thread which also
reprinted a letter Cocco wrote to a local newspaper:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1230443/posts


See what a "think tank" of Freepers can do?

[fight_truth_decay]

http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2004/cyb20040930.asp

[jpsb]

"Schlesinger did not disclose that"

Many many thanks, it is people like you that make FR a great read.

[talleyman]

Freepers are amazing! BTW, we were discussing this at dinner last night, and my 8th grade son told me this crap was going around in his middle school. Thanks to FR, I was able to provide him with quick facts to counter the lies.

[fight_truth_decay]

That's what's what it is all about...providing the truth in media...and having fun at the same time. And we work as cheap as it gets - $0.

Just sours me that we can't trust the media and have to dig into the background of all the stories they now do. Rather should know better. His career can't take many more of these "outages".

Discussions at dinner are great! More families should do the same.