14 Day Pushback - Protesting the Protesters
Day 1: Andi with The Sin of Omission is Costly. What the MSM doesn't report can hurt you.
Day 2: Toni of Bear Creek Ledger with a Look to History to Understand Today. A fascinating look (with original columns, no less!) of how the MSM covered the reconstruction of Europe 60 years ago.
Day 3: Doug Petch with a two-fer Part I - Setting the Conditions followed by The Wrap-Up. The predictability of the MSM.
Day 4: Rightfielder with Break with Al Qaeda. The media doesn't like stories about the terrorists losing support.
Day 5 - me with "Protesting the Protesters"
The MSM loves sensational "sexy" stories about corruption, graft, greed, murder and mayhem. They fall over themselves pushing and shoving to get an interview with the mother of a missing child or, even better, the Congressman "most likely to be the murderer" (remember Chandra Levy?) and will thrash the story on the front pages for months. Given just a whiff of a rumor of an unsubstantiated innuendo about a "high ranking Administration Official", they'll play judge and jury in the court of public opinion and hang the miscreant from the largest headline font. Even the conservative's favorite FOX News is obsessed with "Misery-TV" stories like the apparent murder/kidnap of Natalee Holloway in Aruba that everyone I know is sick to death of hearing about.
Every so often their interest will be piqued by some "peace activists" who are receiving negative coverage in the blogosphere or "new media". Take for instance the FreeRepublic.com article by Kristinn Taylor about CodePink's $600K grant to Fallujah terrorists. It got no notice in the MSM who saw nothing newsworthy about a clear-cut case of treason. *Yawn* we don't care what commies do. Add Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) to the story via FrontPageMagazine.com To Fallujah, With Love by Ben Johnson and what do you get? *Sigh* give us a story about Haliburton. It took Marc Morano's CNSNews article Anti-War Protests Target Wounded at Army Hospital to get some real attention.August, 25 2005 - The Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the current home of hundreds of wounded veterans from the war in Iraq, has been the target of weekly anti-war demonstrations since March. The protesters hold signs that read "Maimed for a Lie" and "Enlist here to die for Halliburton."[sic]
The anti-war demonstrators, who obtain their protest permits from the Washington, D.C., police department, position themselves directly in front of the main entrance to the Army Medical Center, which is located in northwest D.C., about five miles from the White House.
Among the props used by the protesters are mock caskets, lined up on the sidewalk to represent the death toll in Iraq.
Code Pink Women for Peace, one of the groups backing anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan's vigil outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, organizes the protests at Walter Reed as well.
For the next couple of weeks there were reporters from all over with cameras rolling and "journalists" asking probing questions like "Why do you support this illegal war?" The usual MSM response is to report a counter-protest from the perspective of the leftists, describing the opposition as "far right", "religious fundamentalists", "hard-right conservatives", etc., who are harassing peace-loving, patriotic citizens at their candlelight "vigil". Despite some positive coverage by FOX News and Sean Hannity, the media quickly lost interest. Since the end of August, I've found just one article in the WaPo A Weekly Battle Over War In Iraq from October 30. *Ho hum* has Rove been indicted yet? Move along folks, nothing to see here.CodePink has always been anti-Military. They team with other similar groups and protest recruiting stations across the country. In July, Rocco DiPippo wrote an article for FrontPageMag.com The Left's War Against the Military at Home, describing the people and projects involved in the increasingly vicious attacks against military recruiters.
The latest attack on the U.S. by its Fifth Column enemies is aimed at stopping the Armed Forces from enlisting new recruits. Faced with a flagging anti-war movement, leftist agitators have shifted gears and are now subverting the War on Islamist Terror by trying to destroy America's ability to maintain a fighting force. Though so far limited in success, this counter-recruitment movement is growing quickly and threatens to wreck Americas's ability to defend itself from its enemies.Most recently they began a campaign to counter-recruit at area high schools while continuing to harass the legitimate recruiters. Sharon Hughes picked up on the Pinkos plan and exposed it in her article Red Alert on Code Pink! for Accuracy in Media (HT: Insolublog - who is, btw Ann Coulter's alter-ego). On Nov. 17th the Pinkos got a lot more attention here in MD than they expected when members of ProtestWarrior and FreeRepublic showed up in front of the Silver Spring center to protest the protesters. MSM reaction? Another yawn.
The good news is that the New Media has been paying attention and continues to follow and report on the activities of the Pinkos. Sharon Hughes again exposed the laxity of the MSM with an article in NewsBusters, the Media Fails to Report on Anti-War Group's 'Letter from God'.
Why would failing to report on an anti-war group's openly displayed 'Letter from God' be a case for media bias? Because every time President Bush makes reference to his belief in God the mainstream media is all over it, like fleas on a dog.FreeRepublic members are probably the most focused on CodePink. FReeper Kristinn keeps the pressure on and recently pointed out an article written by Susie "Medea" Benjamin, Support Our Troops, in TheNation (and picked up by CBS News) in which she wrote:
Iraqis don't want us there? A war that increasing numbers of soldiers don't even believe in? This is most certainly a surprise to those who are in Iraq and interacting with the citizens. It also doesn't wash with an Iraqi immigrant and fellow FReeper IraqiKurd. In his post Open Letter to Gael Murphy and Medea Benjamin: Why did you donate to my killers? IraqiKurd reveals just what the Pinkos have contributed to the war effort.What is the impact on soldiers still in Iraq to learn that the Bush Administration manipulated the intelligence about weapons of mass destruction in order to justify an invasion? How must they feel when they learn that Iraqis don't want us there or understand that their acts of bravery are not making their families safer at home? How demoralizing must it be to see their buddies die in a war that increasing numbers of soldiers don't even believe in?
No one would like to see CodePink "go away" more than the Pushback originator Andi. She has an archive full of reports from the protests and insights into that miserable bunch of commies.I was speaking with a cousin of mine in Iraq and asked them what that kind of money could buy in terms of weapons or military supplies and he told me enough to raise an entire infantry batalion [sic] fully equipped with assault rifles, uniforms and enough high explosives to blow up half of Baghdad. The answer wasn't good enough so I asked him how many Ak-47's he could buy. He told me 7500 ak-47's brand new in the box straight from Russia. So I then asked him how [many] IED's and I was told anywhere between 9,000 and 11,000 powerful enough to take out a humvee.
[...]Medea Benjamin and Gael Murphy why did you send thse guns and high explosives to terrorists? You didn't send money, you sent weapons. You know as well as I that they were not going to buy food, medicine or rebuild schools. If you truely cared about the Iraqis why didn't you donate that money to build a school and hire teachers for the children of Iraq?
Why is it important to continue protesting the anti-war protesters? For one thing, because the troops have asked us to. In a Letter from an American soldier... to Marc Morano following the CNSNews story comes the following:
In closing, I would like to thank you for bringing their conduct to the public eye, not only in your article, but on "The Sean Hannity Show." I actually began to have some faith in the media again when I heard Morano stand up for us soldiers like he did. I wish there was something that I could do to personally thank him for your actions. But I am going to ask that you please do not stop speaking of these actions at Walter Reed. Please find a way to help stop the protesting at Walter Reed. Please write more articles, ask why they were granted permission, get public officials to speak out on the record and petition people to withdraw their right to protest within a certain distance from a military hospital. It scares me that next will be a fellow soldier's funeral. That is the next step! Please, I ask that you continue to investigate this protest and their rights to be there! Not to stop people's freedom of speech, but protect and respect my fellow soldiers.Some comments that have been left by Defenders on this site:
Sgt. Mark Leach, U.S. Army
Afghanistan
For me, they're all that matter. Semper Gratus!Thanks to all of you who go down to oppose our country's pet moonbats...they mean well, God love 'em. Problem is
they're just crazy little animals who have to be kept indoors...especially that nut bag holding the "Armistice" sign. I saw that and blurted out "W...T...F...!?" and I was all alone in the room at the time. Appeasers are dangerous and shortsighted people. Last two times we had an "Armistice" led to: 1. Another world war, and: 2. Being in Korea forever (by the way, that war isn't over yet, because we have an ARMISTICE!) Someone hit moonie the moonbat upside the head for me please. - CW
Next time you see one of the wounded warriors, let em know we too remember them. Thank you for taking the Whooop Ass to the streets. Keep attacking! - Capt B
Thanks for the support. It really does matter. -WarriorJason
Can't wait till I get there and we meet. Those Pinkos better run while they can!! I don't need signs to get my point across. Thanks for what you're doing. - CJ
Next up:
Day 6 - Air Force Wife will host an active-duty guest blogger.
posted by GunnNutt at 12:05 AM
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