"Good Evening, I'm Dan Rather.
Tonight On CBS News, I'll Report On Six Stories,
One of Which - Just MIGHT Be True."
Posted on 09/30/2004 6:18:47 AM PDT by presidio9
CBS News is again under fire for a story which aired Tuesday evening by CBS News Correspondent Richard Schlesinger purporting to compare the views of President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry on the possibility of reinstituting the military draft.
"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," CBS News anchor Dan Rather said leading into the segment. "So what about bringing back the draft? A lot of Americans are worried about that. Where do the presidential candidates stand?"
The story was presented as part of a continuing series on the election and featured a Philadelphia woman named Beverly Cocco who was characterized by Schlesinger as someone who "has spent most of her life protecting children in Philadelphia" and as "a Republican, but also a single-issue voter."
"I go to bed every night, and I pray, and I actually get sick to my stomach," the story quoted Cocco as saying. "I'm very worried; I'm scared. I'm absolutely scared; I'm petrified."
Cocco's fears center around her two draft-age sons and her stated fear that the Bush administration is about to reinstitute a military draft.
The Schlesinger story (web site) goes on to cite Internet e-mails that have been circulating for the last month or so, saying, "There's an undercurrent of anxiety; mass e-mails are circulating among parents worried their kids could be called up."
In an article posted September 23, 2004 on their Urban Legends Reference page, Snopes.com debunks the e-mails by reporting on draft bills introduced to Congress which have since languished in committee.
"However, both these bills were introduced not by legislators genuinely seeking to reinstate the draft, but by Democrats seeking to make an anti-war statement," Snopes.com reports.
Senate Bill S.89 was introduced in January 2003 by Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-SC) and had no Republican co-sponsors. A companion bill was introduced in the House of Representatives in January 2003. It was sponsored by Democrats Charlie Rangel (D-NY), Jim McDermott (D-WA), John Lewis (D-GA), Pete Stark (D-CA), and Neil Abercrombie (D-HI).
Neither bill was passed out of committee, and these Democratic bills were not mentioned by either Schlesinger or Rather.
"You¹d think that in the midst of the terrible publicity he is getting for working closely with a partisan Democrat -- bent on bringing down President Bush -- that Dan Rather would have the good sense to lay off the liberal bias for a while, especially since just three weeks ago, the 72-year-old CBSer denounced the Internet as 'filled with rumors,'" said RatherGate.com owner Mike Krempasky.
Paul Rodriguez, the managing editor of Insight Magazine, said in an online column, "Frankly, I'm beginning to wonder if CBS News is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Democratic National Committee -- or at least a satellite office for John Kerry's campaign committee."
Rodriguez added that he now wonders whether other CBS stories aired over the years "contained flaws, errors, bad judgment and perhaps even purposeful deceit."
"As a consumer of news I should never harbor such thoughts," Rodriguez said. "But now I do ... because of CBS."
The military draft came to an end in 1973 following the Vietnam War. Although young men are still required to register with the Selective Service, reinstituting the draft would require congressional approval. It is estimated that it would take up to two years to complete the necessary congressional and military steps for a reinstituted draft to actually produce soldiers.
CBS also failed to mention the background of the "worried mother," Beverly Cocco in the on-air report. Although labeled simply as a "Philadelphia voter" by Schlesinger, Cocco is a political activist involved with the Philadelphia Lancaster/Bucks County affiliate of "Parents Against the Draft" (web site). This information was added to the online version of the report.
Neither President Bush or John Kerry has stated they would reinstitute a military draft according to CBS.
Bush was quoted by CBS as saying, "The war on terror will continue. It's going to take a while and no, we don't need a draft."
CBS quoted Kerry as saying, "I will give us a foreign policy that absolutely makes it unnecessary to have a draft for this country."
Despite the fact that both presidential candidates are on record opposing a draft and no evidence exists that a draft is likely, CBS pursued a draft story based on urban legends and the opinion of a staunch anti-draft activist. At the same time, CBS withheld Cocco's background while she helped raise the issue of a possible Bush draft.
When asked if she would vote for a Democrat, Cocco responded, "Absolutely."
"I would vote for Howdy Doody if I thought it would keep my boys home and safe," Cocco added.
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."
Pulling their WH press credentials should signal a change of heart by SeeB.S. While they are debating whether to have a change of heart I would probably begin the process of pulling their FCC license. Just to help them along..
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) was the one pushing the draft.
January 6, 2003 by the Chicago Tribune
Draft Resumption a Crafty Anti-War Tactic
by Salim Muwakkil
In an unusual ploy to force more public debate on our looming attack on Iraq, a congressman plans this week to introduce legislation urging we reinstitute the military draft.
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), revealed his plans in an op-ed column in the Dec. 31 New York Times. He argued that legislators would be less likely to send the nation's youth to the battlefields if their own children were on the front lines.
"I believe that if those calling for war knew that their children were likely to be required to serve--and be placed in harm's way--there would be more caution and a greater willingness to work with the international community in dealing with Iraq," he wrote. "A renewed draft will help bring a greater appreciation of the consequences of decisions to go to war."
Rangel's call to resume the draft is an anti-war argument dressed in military garb-- an obvious bit of political gamesmanship. He casts doubt on the capacity of our armed forces to meet its present and future commitments without a draft, even though he opposes many of those commitments.
Still, the longtime New York legislator raises some useful issues with his crafty maneuver.
"A disproportionate number of the poor and members of minority groups make up the enlisted ranks of the military, while the most privileged Americans are underrepresented or absent." With this complaint, Rangel is echoing sentiment heard often within the black community.
About 25 percent of the troops that served in the first Persian Gulf War were black, and African-Americans are afraid that their children once again will bear the brunt of America's belligerence.
An October poll conducted by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies found that just 19.2 percent of blacks support war with Iraq. Rangel reasons that America's decision-makers would be similarly gun-shy were their kids likely to be in the line of fire.
For all of its cleverness, Rangel's ploy bespeaks of a profound weakness within the Democratic Party. The Bush administration's new foreign policy doctrine is stridently imperialistic. Why must Rangel resort to tongue-in-cheek legislation to force a debate on this new and dangerous doctrine?
Where are the compelling voices of dissent, making the obvious case that a pre-emptive attack on Iraq would be the action of a rogue state? Is there any Democrat around who can boldly and compellingly state the obvious?
The UN Charter is a binding treaty ratified by the U.S. Senate in the aftermath of World War II; the charter disallows the unilateral use of force except in the case of self-defense. Article 51 recognizes the right of all states to engage in self-defense in the case of "armed attack." But even the most fervid war hawk has not argued that Iraq is planning such an attack on the U.S.
An articulate Democrat would find no problem criticizing the Bush administration's rejection of virtually all of the international agreements previous administrations have supported.
Rather than spotlighting this insufferable global arrogance, Democrats grin and bear it. Instead of presenting arguments against the Bush administration's radical unilateralism, the poll-reading Democrats are too busy trying to "triangulate" their way into the hearts of patriotic, but ill-informed, constituents.
In lieu of a robust debate on the pros and cons of an Iraq attack, Rangel has come up with another way to make his case. His tactic may be catching on; Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), another strong critic of the Bush administration's foreign policy, said he would join Rangel's efforts to reinstitute the draft.
While clever, Rangel's maneuver is also risky. Although his proposed bill is doomed to failure, it likely will soften the public attitude toward a future resumption of the draft.
Progressives who applaud Rangel's gambit should remember the draft was banished from public life in 1973, courtesy of an anti-war movement that viewed compulsory military service as adjunct to military aggression.
But it was also a shared civic experience that lessened the gap between the military and civilian cultures. While the draft had inequities that allowed many to evade its clutches, it was a powerful force for class and racial integration.
Rangel may have an angle, but his proposal may take on a life of its own.
"I go to bed every night, and I pray, and I actually get sick to my stomach," the story quoted Cocco as saying. "I'm very worried; I'm scared. I'm absolutely scared; I'm petrified."
What is she praying to? After she prays she get sick to her stomach, gets worried, gets scared?
What I love is the New Journalism created at CBS, begun with the Rathergate memos and perpetuated in this story's defense, ie, it doesn't matter whether the memos/email/etc are genuine, because the story is true. Seems like weak tea to me, but they're using this to cover their sorry behinds at every question.
CBS obviously knows by now their credibility is zilch, so their attitude is who cares what anyone thinks about us anymore? We don't have anything to lose anymore so we're going to do our damndest to get Kerry into the WH.
That's just like someone saying--"If I believe, or want to believe someone is guilty of something, it's a-ok to frame them."
My fantasy press conference:
"Thank you all for coming on such short notice, and at 0300, as well."
"I am here to announce that access to the President is not a God-given, let alone Constitiutional, right - it is a Presidentially-granted privilege. And effective immediately, all of your privileges are revoked."
"Your desks have already been packed and cleared, your editors and general managers notified, and the detachment of United States Marines stationed at the doors will see that you find the gate in safety."
"This press briefing is concluded. Sergeant-Major, clear this room!"
Legislation to reinstate the draft was introduced in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in January 2003.
However, both bills have attracted little support in Congress.
The bills would require men and women between 18 and 26 to perform a two-year period of national service, either in the armed forces or in a civilian capacity.
Ilene Zeldin, a spokeswoman for Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., and the author of the Senate bill, said that the legislation is "collecting dust."
CBS analysts report that John Kerry has scored a decisive win over George W. Bush in the upcoming first debate. "Kerry was thoughtful and brightly hued while Bush's pants were full of poop," commented one unnamed CBS debate expert. "Kerry, not the hated George Bush, clearly outlined his several hundred positions on the Iraq quagmire which that rich Repulican scum Bush got us into. This shows Kerry's capacity to adapt to a changing world, and I hate Bush's guts," and "Kerry wuz all ovah that beeyatch, boyeee" said others, as the debate, now less than 18 hours away, was analyzed by our CBS team of debate experts.
Upcoming post-debate polls are now showing a large shift in undecided voters to Kerry, who will soon currently lead Bush by a 102% margin nationwide.
Ya just got to love it. Rep. Rangel (D,NY) and Sen Fritz Hollings (D,SC) bring forth legislation in 2003 for the resumption of the draft to stoke the anti-war effort, and yet cBS thinks that it's Bush pushing for the resumption. Only the MSM could come up with this big a whopper!
Why isn't there a email campaign to CBS about reporting
the "rest of the story"...i.e. the bills introduced by
the democrats?
CBS does nothing without ViaComs(parent company) approval...
I have the impression from current ratings that the only audience for CBS is small-minded, disgruntled Democratic kool-aid drinkers looking for reinforcement of their fears.
This scurrilous "whispering" campaign about a Draft could be very damaging. Count on Kerry and company to secretly stoke the fire on it, while publicly siding with Bush "that it never could happen." By doing this they will hope to sway wimpy mothers, and youug men, who, at this point, appear to be for Bush.
Why is anybody watching CBS?
Earth to CBS's affiliates: Have you all got a death wish?!
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