Posted on 02/11/2007 3:56:49 PM PST by RedRover
On the February 9th broadcast of Hannity & Colmes, Alan Colmes made an outrageous and poisonous statement that was not corrected on air.
Speaking to Oliver North, Colmes supported Congressman John Murtha's ugly and destructive lie that, "no question about it", Marines in Haditha had "killed innocent civilians in cold blood".
Defending the indefensible, Colmes told the viewers that there have been "confessions and convictions" in the Haditha Marine case.
Now Darryl Sharratt, the father of a Haditha Marine has a question:
"I would like to ask Alan Colmes where he got his information. There have been no convictions. There have been no confessions."
On the February 10th broadcast of Kit Jarrell's The Front Line, Mr. Sharratt stated, "Evidently, he is not doing the research to be on national television. He comes out in front of millions of people and makes this statement and it is 100% wrong."
So what now, Fox News?
If Mr. Colmes' false assertion continues to be left uncorrected, Fox News will contribute to a tainted jury pool, cause additional pain to the families, and mislead supporters and potential donors to the Haditha Marine defense funds. Through his statement, Mr. Colmes reached millions of people with the message that guilt has already been established.
Fox News and Alan Colmes must make amends...
1. Fox News owes its viewers the opportunity to hear from Darryl Sharratt or other Haditha Marine family members to set the record straight. None of the Haditha Marines have yet faced a hearing. Anything that is known about the case or the investigation has been leaked by prosecutors and politicians. The media has been complicit in this and it must stop now.
2. Alan Colmes owes the Marines and their families an apology. I suggest he make it in the form of a donation to any of the Haditha Marine Defense Funds. (For Mr. Colmes' convenience, all the information he needs about fund donations is here).
These are fair requests to make of a news channel long supported by patriots. Now it's up to Alan Colmes and Fox News.
David Allender
Defend Our Marines
PS. If you have a blog or post online at military websites, please help spread the word. We will keep you posted.
Sorry, I missed it. You're right. Whatever Colmes said is a start. The main objective is to get Darryl or another Haditha Marine family member on Fox.
Its a beginning.. Wish they would expand and do a story in the MSM about it. A REAL STORY!
Further clarification through an interview such as you suggest is a good idea.
Thank you for your support. My only comment on your letter to Colmes is that at this point, I have no information that the prosecutors are releasing information. The way I practice law is to assume the other lawyer plays by the rules - unless I catch him cheating, then I do not hesitate to go after him. But, the lead prosecutor in the Haditha cases did not oppose my request that the Convening Authority , Lt Gen Mattis, order an investigation into the leak to the media of the NCIS report. The General did just that, and issued a protective order to all attorneys involved in the case to abide by the ethics rules, referenced in our request, or face the severe sanctions we requested. Therefore, you may want to consider omitting the allegation that the prosecutors leaked the information. If we learn later that that happened, it can be added. I like to take the high road.
LCpl Tatum responded to an armed attack in the manner he was trained to respond. That is the high road- let's stay on it. Again, your support is greatly appreciated. It is getting to the point in the preparation of the case where experts will be needed, and funds for their expenses are needed. All of the enlisted Marines accused of homicide will need that help.
Jack B. Zimmermann
I sometimes wonder if Sean understands why today's environment is so unforgiving!?! I know he does more to support our servicemen/women than almost anyone else in public life but it's more than a TV/radio debate for them. This is not the first time Colmes has grabbed a complete fabrication out of his head and hammered on it so hard that the guest can't even get a word in.
Yes he did, I'll give him credit for it. It was evident to me that he made the statement the other night and was not really up on what has happened, of course if a person isn't up on a subject they shouldn't try to make everyone believe they are.
How did Sean wimp out?
That's a good point, you might be right that he still doesn't realize but I know that Hannity does and he should explain the facts to him if that's the case.
Just got word that Cpl Trent Thomas of the Hamdania Marines is about to be interviewed on CNN, Anderson Cooper. (This just ain't a TV night for me.)
Thank you for sharing that. Serves as a good reminder these Hero's still need our prayers as well as any financial support we can give.
No cable. Keep us posted? Silly me, I know you will...
you're Semper Fi {{{{{{{{Red)))))))))
Red just got word that Cpl Trent Thomas of the Hamdania Marines is about to be interviewed on CNN, Anderson Cooper.
Thanks for the heads up, for this I'll watch CNN.
I'd love to post it here with a thank you to everyone who helped make it necessary (as Yogi Berra might say).
As lily said, we did win an apology even if we didn't get everything we wanted. Yet.
Night all. It's been a good day.
G'Night!
G'Night, Red.
If you find and post that, Smooth, would you ping all of us please.
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