Posted on 11/17/2004 3:11:06 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY
Shocked by Bill Moyers' 'Coup' Comment and Radical Media
Edward I. Koch
Thursday, Nov. 18, 2004
On election night, I, like millions of others, was watching television and listening to the observations of political commentators. Most pundits were saying that exit polls across the nation were predicting a John Kerry win.
On Channel 13 (PBS), I heard Bill Moyers say that there were Bush supporters on the right who would resort to a coup if Kerry won. I was shocked that Moyers would make such a statement. The next day I called Channel 13 to ask for a transcript or videotape of the program. Several hours later I was told that the language I recalled could not be found. I then sent the following letter to Moyers:
November 5, 2004
Dear Bill:
On November 2, election night, I watched you and others on Channel 13 commenting on the returns. At one point, you made a comment after hearing a report that Kerry had probably won to the effect that “the right-wing won’t accept this and may use the militia.” My recollection is a paraphrase.
I called PBS and asked if I could get the actual quote in writing or receive a videotape of the program. I was told by a young woman that she could not find the quote. I would appreciate it if you could secure the exact quote for me in writing or a copy of the video.
I write a weekly commentary and would like to discuss the comment.
All the best.
George F. Will’s November 9 New York Post column contained a reference to the incident. He wrote:
“On election night on public television - your tax dollars at work - Bill Moyers said: 'I think if Kerry were to win this in a - in a tight race, I think there’d be an effort to mount a coup, quite frankly. ... I mean that the right wing is not going to accept it.' Moyers, the emblematic face of public television, is an intellectual icon in the sort of deep blue precincts that think red America is paranoid.”
Five days later, on November 10, 2004, I received a letter from Moyers. It is too long to set out in full. I’ve extracted the salient points. Those who want the entire letter can request it from me by e-mail.
Dear Mayor Koch: That was a live broadcast from Bloomberg Studios moderated by Charlie Rose, and as I was a guest on what wasn’t my own program, I don’t have a record of it to offer you.
However, I do know that I never used the word “military” in regard to any response to the election because I don’t think like that. ... I thought if Kerry were to win in a tight race there would be an effort to mount a coup - that the right-wing is not going to accept that kind of results. I had in mind what happened after the voting in 2000 when Republicans dispatched Congressional staffers to Miami to mount public protests. ...
In fact, nobody on the show suggested that there would have been an attempt at a military coup. I don’t believe there would have been. ...
Bill
Nowhere else, so far as I know, was this incident the subject of media discussion. I believe it is a good example of the hate-mongering engaged in throughout the election, particularly on television, by the radical left. During the election, many in the media were unable to conceal their bias against Bush. On election night, the talking heads were delighted to report the exit polls showing the election to be won by John Kerry. The actions of CBS and Dan Rather are now well known.
Many of those supporting Bush were literally afraid to make their preference known to family and friends, because emotions - particularly hate - were running so high. At a public dinner I attended a week after the election, five people separately came over to me as I was eating my lamb chops and whispered, “Don’t tell anyone, but I voted for Bush.”
Moyers protests: “In fact, nobody on the show suggested that there would have been an attempt at a military coup. I don’t believe there would have been. No one else in the panel did, either.”
Really?
Edward I. Koch, author, lawyer and talk radio host, was a member of the U.S. Congress and, for 12 years, the 105th mayor of New York City.
Granted there is a 911 system now. But would New Yorkers be any more likely to use it today? There were people who knew the police number then--and there were radio cars then, btw. No one doubts that had police been called when Kitty G was first attacked, she had a chance at surviving the assault.
There are horrible things that happen every day in this country, but I have yet to see anything as horrible as 38 people intentionally ignoring a murder committed in front of their own eyes.
And if you think New Yorkers vote on what's best for business, then you're not exactly making your point that they are heroes, since, with a few exceptions, they seem to have voted consistently liberal, anti-business schmucks into office over the last half-century. Unless your point is that they are heroic for voting against their interests.
I have never heard that Clinton was almost removed by the military. Is there anywhere I could learn more about that?
I can't debate a forty year old murder for much longer. It's tiring. I would bet that virtually every one of those 38 or 40 people who saw the crime are dead or near dead themselves.
And yes, New Yorkers use the 911 system at the drop of a hat. Last week I saw an old lady fall down near Herald Sq and thirty people had their cell phones out punching in 911.
And yes, New York invariably vote what's best for business and what's best for New York. This is a point that is debated at every cocktail party I've been to for the past six months.
How about the Central Park Jogger? That was in NYC too wasn't it?
Deserted part of the park, no witnesses...
New York is not Disneyland. There are very, very bad people here.
If you're going to make charges of that kind you'd better provide proof and documentation. Otherwise many of us might think you're an irresponsible airhead.
Last week I saw a junkie couple on the sidewalk. She was sitting down in a semi-coherent stupor and he was getting in her face, calling her foul names and threatening to slap her around. I walked by without doing anything as I assumed this was their customary way of communicating and it didn't look like he was actually going to hit her.
There was this short skinny gay kid, probably 20 years old, who saw this and he immediatly ran up to the junkie guy, who was twice his size, pushed him back and then got up in his face and cut loose with a string of obscenities. The junkie was a little taken aback and balled his hand up into a fist and threatened the kid, but the kid didn't back down. The surly junkie backed away. Sometimes these lib. kids surprise you.
New Yorkers always surprise me.
He did provide proof - he said he overheard a bunch of Pentagon and CIA types discussing it in several Wash.DC watering holes - gosh, how much more definitive evidence do we need? (/sarcasm off)
Can I name one? How about I give you their names and actual quotes, and you can report it to the press, okay? I'm sure the media people are all very trustworthy, and I'm sure they will protect your identity.
Okay. No one in our government has ever hated a president, and have never threatened him. I'm sure that's what you all want to hear. Okay, there it is. No one ever made any sort of statement against the president during the Clinton Administration. Not ever. Nada. Zilch. And of course, none of these federal employees ever go out and drink too much and let certain things slip from their tongues. Nah, that never happens. Work in D.C. long enough and you'll witness things you would rather not see/hear on a daily basis.
The voters did toss Kwerry on the basis of his treasonous
acts after returning to the United States from Nam and his admitted participation in committing atrocities there during his four months in the war.
Why, Mr. Moyers, do you think the exit polls -- which all infalliably accurate, so accurate that any court MUST accept them as direct, unimpeachable evidence -- showed a John Kerry landslide?
There was a conspriarcy. The Election was stolen. George Dubya Bush is the AntiChrist and America and the World are now run by Dick Cheney and Halliburton. By the way, Mister Moyers, Mr. Cheney never really resigned as CEO of "Hell"iburton.
There was a coup, most of your liberal friends and Kerry voters were siezed at night in the dark by secret police and taken to mass impoundment camps where they were tortured, raped, hienously murdered in Halliburton's pattented new techonology plastic shredders.
We replaced your liberal friends and Kerry voters with mindless, souless, rustless, robots. They have a Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF) of over 100,000 years by the way.
Yes, Mister William Jefferson Blythe Franklin Delano Moyers, there was a coup. We won. Ha ha!
It is just my humble opinion that all those sinister sounding things you describe do NOT amount to or come close to a military coup. That's all - it's just my interpretation based on my understanding of human reactions. Nothing more, nothing less.
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