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Cover Photo of Grieving Military Mother "Pro-War Propaganda"
Express

Posted on 09/27/2005 6:41:10 AM PDT by Pyro7480

Yesterday, the Express, a free newspaper printed by the Washington Post, printed a photograph of Charlotte and Doug Smette of Makoti, ND, whose son Keith died serving his country in Iraq on their front page (this photograph can be viewed here). They were attending the rally for military families on the National Mall on Sunday, co-sponsored by the DC Chapter of Free Republic.

Today, the Express printed three letters-to-the-editor, all written by leftists who were expressing their outrage that the photograph was even published (the pdf file of today's edition can be viewed at this link; it's on page 36). Here are the letters.

In-Your-Face Propaganda
With everything that happened this past weekend (Rita, anti-war protest, President's Cup, etc.), Express' front page picture Monday was of a crying mother of the pro-war gathering that attracted only a few hundred. I was disgusted by this blatant display of pro-war propaganda.
-Alex Sittig, Washington, DC

You Know You're "Right"
Thanks for giving me a good retort to complaints of my right-leaning friends and coworkers that the Post and Express are lefty publications. Reading the Express on Monday, I found a full story and a cover photo covering the pro-war rally, but no coverage at all of the anti-war and anti-globalization protests.
-Gregory Wahl, Washington, DC

Work the Numbers
Is the Headline "Hundreds Rally to Support Troops" that much more newsworthy than "Hundreds of Thousands March for Peace"?
-Tanya Spann Roche, Beltsville, MD


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Extended News; Free Republic; Politics/Elections; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: dc; military; supportourtroops
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You can write the Express letters-to-the-editor at Inbox@readexpress.com
1 posted on 09/27/2005 6:41:10 AM PDT by Pyro7480
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To: Albion Wilde; tgslTakoma; Trueblackman; kristinn

DC Chapter ping!


2 posted on 09/27/2005 6:45:53 AM PDT by Pyro7480 (Blessed Pius IX, pray for us!)
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To: Pyro7480
The leftists were probably angry that the paper did not print the location of their son's burial plot.

Without the location, leftists had no direct means to urinate and defecate on this hero's grave site.
3 posted on 09/27/2005 6:46:38 AM PDT by new yorker 77 (FAKE POLLS DO NOT TRANSLATE INTO REAL VOTERS!)
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To: radu; blackie; GVgirl; CedarDave; BushisTheMan; pasquale; MNJohnnie; upchuck; JulieRNR21; ELS

Update ping!


4 posted on 09/27/2005 6:48:23 AM PDT by Pyro7480 (Blessed Pius IX, pray for us!)
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To: Pyro7480

Can we print the photograph here?


5 posted on 09/27/2005 6:50:29 AM PDT by popdonnelly
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To: popdonnelly
Sure, it's from the AP.


Charlotte and Doug Smette from Makoti, N.D., whose son Keith, a National Guardsman (seen in photograph), was killed in Fallujah, Iraq, comfort each other during a rally in support of the war in Iraq on the National Mall Sunday, Sept. 25, 2005 in Washington. Military families and others defending the war in Iraq claimed on Sunday their turn to demonstrate on the National Mall, a response to the massive protest against the war a day earlier. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

6 posted on 09/27/2005 6:51:45 AM PDT by Pyro7480 (Blessed Pius IX, pray for us!)
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To: Pyro7480

It's always entertaining to see leftists throw a tantrum when somebody disagrees with them.


7 posted on 09/27/2005 6:52:08 AM PDT by popdonnelly
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To: Pyro7480

These tools are obviously suffering from Attention Deficit Syndrome.

Characterized by whining when not receiving as much attention as they'd prefer.


8 posted on 09/27/2005 6:52:23 AM PDT by savedbygrace ("No Monday morning quarterback has ever led a team to victory" GW Bush)
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To: Pyro7480

"Hundreds of thousands march for peace."

Dear, dear lefty friends, we've told you hundreds of billions of times:
stop exaggerating.


9 posted on 09/27/2005 6:55:08 AM PDT by tumblindice (What would make a crow blush makes a Democrat cackle.)
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To: Pyro7480

"Thanks for giving me a good retort to complaints of my right-leaning friends and coworkers that the Post and Express are lefty publications."

And that would be the reason they did it, Greg


10 posted on 09/27/2005 6:57:03 AM PDT by nuconvert (No More Axis of Evil by Christmas ! TLR) [there's a lot of bad people in the pistachio business])
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To: Pyro7480

Sadly, this has very little to do with one side or the other. It's just the MSM following their cardinal rule: If it bleeds, it leads.

Had violence broken out at the "peace" march, that would be the headline.

God bless all the gold star families and the families of those still serving.


11 posted on 09/27/2005 6:58:54 AM PDT by Hoodlum91
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To: Pyro7480
Well, I have to agree with them, sort of. I too am totally disgusted by a grieving mother, whose son was killed for our Freedom. Her trail of tears has gone from Vacaville to Texas to Washington to fame, interviews and now jail. Cindy Sheehan absolutely disgusts me.

I seriously doubt it though if this Pro Freedom mother will capitalize on her sons death for her own self aggrandizement.

12 posted on 09/27/2005 6:59:03 AM PDT by Michael.SF. ('That was the gift the president gave us, the gift of happiness, of being together,' Cindy Sheehan")
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To: Pyro7480

Unlike the anti-war propaganda that is perpetually underwritten by the Stalinist ANSWER.

Their real complaint is that the grieving parents pictured are vastly more attractive than sindee and their pain is palpable.


13 posted on 09/27/2005 7:00:28 AM PDT by Let's Roll ( "Congressmen who ... undermine the military ... should be arrested, exiled or hanged" - A. Lincoln)
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To: Pyro7480
What's to cover at the "anti-war" protest? Everyone knew what they were going to say and how they were going to say well in advance of the event. They say the same things over and over and over again. Heck, they're so unoriginal and stuck in the past that they are using the same slogans and chants from their protests of the Vietnam war. Besides, most people intrinsically know that their beef isn't really with war itself but with the President and the politics he represents.

This is the sad, pathetic, angry, hateful and impotent remains of the sixties counterculture trying to recapture their lost and wasted youth and to force their political beliefs (i.e. Socialism/Communism) on the rest of us once again. At this point, their efforts are self-parodying, riddled with cliches, anachronisms and egotistical self-promotion (Cindy Sheehan) and I am beginning to get the feeling that most people in this country are beginning to see that.

14 posted on 09/27/2005 7:03:38 AM PDT by Reaganesque
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To: Pyro7480
I reject this "pro-war" label the left always try to stick on the majority of Americans who support our troops and their mission in Iraq.

This is not "pro-war" but really pro-stability.

The idiots who demand we pull out of Iraq (many of whom support our efforts in Afghanistan by the way) are the ones who are pro-war, eternal shame on them.
15 posted on 09/27/2005 7:08:08 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
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To: Berlin_Freeper

Agreed...the "pro-war" label is disgusting. We are not "pro-war", we are "pro-freedom", and as you say, "pro-stability" for the ME.


16 posted on 09/27/2005 7:16:33 AM PDT by ravingnutter
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To: Pyro7480

I watched some of the rally on C-Span and did not get the impression that the people there were "pro-war", as the MSM terms it. Rather, they are "pro-America", supporting the goals of our Administration and military. I believe none of the speakers who have lost a son or daughter in the war that was started by muslims in 1979 are "pro-war". In fact, they very likely are anti-war, but they know that their son or daughter volunteered and died for their country and its freedom. The use of the term "pro-war" by the MSM to describe the rally and its participants is vile propaganda. Plus, I saw some of the so-called "peace rally" that the MSM said attracted 100,000 people. That number is clearly a vast exaggeration, put forth by the MSM to inflate the importance of the affair. Another in a long line of lies and misrepresentations the MSM puts forth.


17 posted on 09/27/2005 7:30:15 AM PDT by astounded (We don't need no stinkin' rules of engagement...)
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To: Pyro7480

I wonder if these Leftists complaining about the "pro-war" media can name one pro-war military parent who has received 1/1000th the publicity of anti-war military parent Cindy Sheehan.


18 posted on 09/27/2005 7:31:31 AM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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To: Pyro7480
This is how we did the story at Christian-news-in-maine.com


Charlotte and Doug Smette from Makoti, N.D., whose son Keith, a National Guardsman, was killed in Fallujah, Iraq, comfort each other during a massive patriot rally in support of the war for freedom in Iraq on the National Mall Sunday, Sept. 25, 2005 in Washington. Military families and others defending the war in Iraq claimed on Sunday their turn to demonstrate on the National Mall, a response to the puny little extreme left wingers led by Shehan who protested against the USA and for the terrorista day earlier.

*******************

19 posted on 09/27/2005 7:36:28 AM PDT by newsgatherer
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To: Pyro7480

I don't know anything about the express, but the "antiwar" rally I saw pieces of the MSM would be fools to cover if they are truly biased.

It was the biggest collection of angry crazies, anti-semites, and just plain loopy types with their drums and puppets I've seen in a while.

Even on DU they were complaining. There were even some clueless DU'ers who were wondering what all those hate Israel people were doing at their antiwar rally!


20 posted on 09/27/2005 7:55:03 AM PDT by I still care (America is not the problem - it is the solution..)
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