Posted on 10/06/2004 7:55:45 AM PDT by Colonel_Flagg
A letter that appeared in Tuesday's News Tribune suggested that the Bush administration was behind an attempt to reinstate the draft. As evidence, the writer cited by number two bills in the Senate and House and urged readers to write their representatives opposing them.
In fact, there are no Republican-sponsored bills concerning the draft, and the two measures requiring conscription of all young adults, rich and poor, were sponsored by Democrats in early 2003 as a tactic against the then-impending war. Specifically, co-sponsor Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington wrote: "If we need to reinstate the draft in order to make the administration consider the chilling consequences of war, so be it."
That political explanation notwithstanding, the rumor of a GOP draft has gathered steam over the past two years, manifesting itself in a letter bouncing around the Internet on sites such as the St. Louis Rams message board, socialistworkers. org, aljazeerah.com and most appropriately, urbanlegends. com and the news group alt. usa.kooks. Portions of that letter were lifted without attribution in the letter by Roger Parsons of Duluth that appeared in the News Tribune.
Though prior to publication Parsons assured the newspaper's letters verifier that he indeed had written the letter, and that it had been submitted only to the News Tribune, that was not true and we regret our part in disseminating false information. An apology is due to the Bush administration and to our readers -- including several who alerted us of the fraud -- and we hereby humbly extend one.
Reached by the newspaper Tuesday, Parsons also apologized and immediately sent the letter that appears on this page. While we accept his apology, it is the last writing of his that will be published by the paper for the foreseeable future.
The apology letter:
Letters to the Editor
Bush isn't trying to reinstate draft
Sometimes in these impassioned times, it is easy to grab hold of some piece of news and believe it to be true without checking the facts first. Such is what I did when I wrote a letter to the editor about the Bush administration quietly trying to reinstate the draft.
I should have checked the information I wrote first.
The Bush Administration is NOT pushing the bills I cited. In fact, Democrats introduced the legislation in January of 2003 in an effort to discourage people from supporting the pending war with Iraq. Their actions were politically motivated, but the Bush administration had no direct involvement in the legislation.
Furthermore, what I wrote and what the News Tribune published was mostly information that is available elsewhere on the Internet. I borrowed quite liberally from this (though it was my belief that I was paraphrasing the words of a political science professor at my daughter's college). So the words were not really my own and I should have quoted what I had read rather than misrepresenting it.
For both of these actions I am truly sorry and sincerely apologize, and I apologize as well to the newspaper for any embarrassment I may have caused them.
ROGER PARSONS
DULUTH
He was on C-SPAN just before the debate, speaking to the House, saying that he's getting hundreds of letters on the topic, and that "the kids are smart, and they know" that Bush is planning to bring back the draft.
Who would ever want to serve in Congress and be forced to listen full-time to such bloviating jackasses?
Between the apology letter and the editorial, this is one of those rare cases where the subsequent correction was more prominent and received more attention than the error.
BTTT
This is why I have a good feeling about this article. I do believe this is good-faith effort to correct a significant wrong that was done. It wasn't a non-apology apology by either entity and that's how it's supposed to work.
I wholeheartedly agree with you. Both the paper and the original writer did well in this case. If only the major FRAUDcasters and other Old Media "news" outlets did the same instead of being mere transcript publishers for the lies of the Demodogs, America would be able to hear the Truth.
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Ping
This retraction in the Duluth News Tribune speaks volumes and it provides us with the perfect opportunity to stop the "draft rumor" in its tracks.
It would be great if copies of this article could make it into the hands of your local newspaper editors and talk radio hosts... It's better than factcheck.com, I mean, .org, or whatever. The smaller the paper or radio station, the more effective this article can be.
At the bottom of the Duluth News Tribune article there is an option to "email this". It is an effective way to get this retraction by the MSM out to your local media outlets (also posted here).
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthtribune/news/opinion/9847845.htm?template=contentModules/emailstory.jsp
Associate Director for Program Operations
Roger Parsons, Associate Director
Duluth, MN
EPA, eh? Surprise, surprise!
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