Sunday Morning Talk Show Thread 20 November 2005

Various big media television networks ^ | 20 November 2005 | Various Self-Serving Politicians and Big Media Screaming Faces

[Alas Babylon!]

The Talk Shows

Sunday, November 20th, 2005

Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows:

FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld; Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del.

MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa.; Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt; Dr. Julie Gerberding, director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Dr. Mike Ryan, director, Epidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response Department of the World Health Organization.

FACE THE NATION (CBS): Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld; Sens. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Chris Dodd, D-Conn.

THIS WEEK (ABC): Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

LATE EDITION (CNN) : Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

[chgomac]

"What Ollie's article states is that the troops feel they will be abandoned. Or pulled out too soon. They see votes even by Republicans that are NOT good news."

Hopefully our soldiers in Iraq saw the debate last Friday. It was a slap down to pulling out immediately or even (Murtha's) six month from now date. The rhetoric against the mission and the strategy can be a downer, I'm cynical enough to think that the liberals are ginning it up because we actually are close to victory there.....but the facts, like the near unanimous vote of support for the way this war is being fought, are what count in the end.

[cardinal4]

Oh, cmon Johnnie! This is getting old. All Im saying is the troops are demoralized by the wimps in congress and an constant barrage of negativity in a media that has a vested interest in the troops defeat. 200+ posts about the same thing over and over again does absolutley nothing. Personally, I call at least three senators and three congressmen a week. I write at least one letter to the editor a week. Everybody on this board, at least the ones I converse with regularly does their share. As Im sure, do you. Now lets move on, can we? Lets put some solutions on the board like the ones I have mentioned regarding DVDs and care packages for the troops. This is where we are:

1. Friends I have that are serving in Iraq and in Afghanistan say the same thing-our politicians dont support us and the media hates us.

2.The effect on morale can be countered by some of the solutions I outlined above.

3.Bickering and fingerpointing does NOTHING to help our troops and convince our elected officials that they have a responsibility to our soldiers, sailors and airmen.

4.The resposbility WE have as voters, conservatives and supporters of the war is demand unity, accountability, and action from the party we support and placed in power.

Any other suggestions?

[Admin Moderator]

No, but as Todays Host of this thread, If I ask the Admin Moderator to boot your troll butt it is going to carry weight.

Sorry, it doesn't work that way. Please drop the feud.

[Peach]

I'm back from dinner.

Before I get to the meat of your post, let me try this one more time because I must not be making myself clear.

Anything we do on a go forward basis is contingent on getting people to accept there is a problem with troop morale. Maybe you have not seen the posts where I've been condemned for daring to state the obvious. There is big time denial about this problem. And unless freepers get in an uproar about how abandoned our troops are feeling, they will not be galvanized to action.

Okay. Moving forward.

Accepting that Congressional Republicans have not been terribly outspoken defending the president and troops and ways to combat that are crucial because this is what the troops want to hear. Ollie North made that pretty clear. As the chair said last week, a lot of Republicans seem to have Democrat Lookalitis.

So we should remind our Congressmen that it is the press that lost the Vietnam war and THEY cannot let that happen again. We do not have the advantage of the microphone the way Congress does, so persuading them to defend the administration and troops is essential.

When we call our Congressmen, it's vital we are specific with our requests and suggestions for talking points. I feel that snail mail letters are even better than phone calls. And certainly hard mail is better than e-mail. Or so I've been told by our friend on the other side.

Some things we've reminded Lindsey Graham, for example, in letters:

1) Why Iraq is vital to the region and a stirring point for democracy. Since the left effectively argued this point in 1998 when Clinton passed the Iraqi Liberation Act, and since his popularity remains so high today against all odds, it's a point that can't be made often enough, imo.

This goes along with the changing the hearts and minds of the jihadists and would be jihadists in the region that the president makes so often.

2) Absolutely, positively, since WMD* have not been found thus far and that was one of the cornerstones of the invasion, discuss the other cornerstone which is provable and that is the links between Iraq/AQ.

Saddam was AQ's ATM machine. Saddam was given advance notice that 9/11 was coming. I find it hard to believe OBL was just gossiping across the backyard fence when he let Saddam know what was coming.

Saddam sent military intelligence officers to talk with OBL. You've seen the list. Remind Congressmen about a few things on the list; I don't know why they don't talk about it more often. A few do, but darned few.

3) Ask a Congressman why he isn't supporting the administration either in general or on a specific issue. For example, the Patriot Act didn't get extended last week.
Ask for a written answer or an e-mail and then respond to that. Ask for research help to debunk your own congressman if need be on any of his/her issues.

4) Write letters to the editor. If a local paper is liberal and won't print your letters, you can submit your letters to other newspapers that will print them. You don't have to live in the region to have a letter published.

Ask your editor to discuss printing the conservative viewpoint more often.

5) Encourage those Congressmen who do the right thing. Hayworth last week, for example.

6) Send a copy of Ollie's article to your Congressman. Ask him what HE thinks of the article and what can be done to combat the low morale.

7) There's more but I'm not sure this is going to go through. FR slowed down or went on the blink for me; I can't link the OBL/Saddam ties right now, for example.

*WMD - Stephen Hayes of The Weekly Standard has been outstanding on this matter and says that new information may be coming to light soon re where WMD went because materials is being translated.

[rodguy911]

Polls can be ever so misleading. I like it when congress has to vote, like Friday.

What was it 403-3 or something like that, now there's a poll.

[Peach]

The only negative thing I've written about Samantha is that support for our soldiers is dwingling and that the admin. and Congress hasn't done a good job countering the lies.

Those are true statements of fact. Unless Ollie North and my stepson are lying to me. Which I doubt.

Sorry it's depressing to you.

I will say this and then I'll leave you all to be of good cheer.

If people continue to think that morale is not low (as a lot of people have stated on this very thread), then they will not be galvanized to action and demanding that Congress do a better job.

For example, I doubt our soldiers were particularly pleased that Congress left for vacation and let the Patriot Act die on the vine.

[samantha]

You are on a downhill slide right now, and you see no upside. What do you think you do to other posters when you see NO upside? Maybe you want to feel miserable and fight with other freepers who do not dwell on Negativity, but we are fighters here, and there is always something positive and upbeat that we can think of. We know that right is on our side, and we go with it. We even laugh on these threads. Surprise, Surprise.

[Peach]

Go tell it to Ollie North, Johnnie. He must be a Doom and Gloomer and a liar to boot. Sheesh.

[Peach]

Ollie was pretty specific, Bahdah, about how the troops feel. And it wasn't very good.

As well, another freeper was mentioned upthread by snugs whose husband has been to Iraq recently. He feels the same. My stepson was in Iraq in 2003 and has friends there still and they feels the same.

And yes, then Ollie went on to take a swipe at Congress. And rightfully so.

[MEG33]

Rockefeller used the term , imminent threat..

[MACVSOG68]

Polls can be ever so misleading. I like it when congress has to vote, like Friday. What was it 403-3 or something like that, now there's a poll.

Yes, now the Repubs need to parlay that into understanding by the public. It was about time.

[Txsleuth]

Bless you....you described President Bush..plain spoken, which is a type of speech that is frowned upon in the elitist world of Washington DC, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco...Paris.

But, to redstate Americans...(you really don't have to be Texan)...it is a "look you in the eye...firm handshake" kind of honesty that comes across...

AND, I dare say that if you see the pictures of him, and hear his speeches to the troops, that is when he lets the "REAL" Dubya come through...because he knows they don't appreciate "pretense"....they want the plain spoken man.

Thanks again...

[Peach]

Oh, and upthread I recommended that the admin. be encouraged to hold prime time news conferences. That should be #8 in my list.

And we can add a #9. Congressional Republicans should be encouraged to write letters combating the lies of the left. I've seen a few who do it and they are printed in USA Today, The Washington Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, most typically.

[cardinal4]

Looks like we might make 1000!

[generationfixit]

I really think we are putting too much into polls. I have posted this earlier. Think of this...if you ask the question.." do you agree with the president on his handling of the war"...that is leading and can be interpreted...

If I say I disagree with the prez, that does not mean I disagree with the policy I might just disagree with how he is talking to the press about this and want him out front more. But in the black and white tally of the press accounts I still go in the disapprove catagory.

Again, the polls have yet to prove to me that the Dems are getting anywhere with the " Bush Lied" jargon that would show a positive result for them. Also the majority of Americans know we have to finish the job. And the ones who want out now only want to do so for political advantage.. if they had half a brain they would not even think of doing this.

And what about Zarqawi...if it is true he was killed today...and it was by muslims who are tired of his crap considering Jordanians are not too pleased with him...and his family has had to renounce him.....we are poised to have the news cycle back on our side for months to come. They naysayers will be put in their place on Iraq's election day so keep your chin up.

[maica]

Too bad too many political junkies still cannot figure out how the Media USES polls to influence public policy.

@@@@@@

Reporters used to report the news of the day.
Then they started to put spin on the events of the day.
Now they manufacture projections from their own minds that they wish are the events of the day, often 180° opposite of the facts.

[MEG33]

From Ollie North
snip
But recent reversals -- not on the battlefield but in Washington -- have caused nearly all of those I talked to on this trip to question whether we are suddenly in danger of losing the war they have been fighting.

This sudden loss of assurance in our fighting forces has nothing to do with casualty figures, troop levels, the leaders prosecuting the war in the field or new acts of terror by a ruthless enemy. Rather, the anxieties I'm now hearing from those I have covered in combat come in questions like: "Do you think that they are going to pull us out before we've finished the mission?" and "Will we abandon Iraq like we abandoned Vietnam?" Interestingly, not one of the thousands of young Americans I have covered in Iraq or Afghanistan has ever asked about or commented upon pre-war intelligence.

snip

The polititians are undermining our troops and for that I cannot forgive them .I know who they are..

[Txsleuth]

What happened to the Miami Dolphins???

BTW....Bob Kerrey was on CNN today with Wolfie, calling for a 9/11 type commission on pre-war intelligence...I guess he hasn't gotten the memo that HIS commission was a bunch of crap!

[MNJohnnie]

I see nothing in this article about "Sinking Morale". That is a dangerous term to use in regards to the military and is NOT mentioned at all in Col North's article. He mentions anxiety about what is going on in Washington DC. Obviously. Politicians ALWAYS screw it up.

However, I see NOTHING in this article to indicate the kind of break down in discipline or morale that happened in Vietnam. There is nothing here that suggestion that the troops are losing faith in their mission or their Commanders. The use of the term "Sinking moral" is incorrect. There is no "bring us home now" mindset represented in this article. There is no "Stab in the back" myth being created. What they ARE saying is "Are they going to let us complete our mission." That is VASTLY different thing then "Sinking Morale" If anything this confirms what we see in the data. A desire on the troops part to make Iraq work. It would seem that a collection of the troops should be brought to Washington to stiffen the spines of the Politicians, not vice versa.

[streetpreacher]

I apologize if my intentions were misinterpreted based on my evil tagline.

MJ, I'm sorry I lost it with you. I was merely making a point and didn't realize that I had jumped into an already contentious thread.