Memos and Guns
Reported by Eleanor - September 13, 2004 -
Fox & Friends (Sept. 13, 7:00 a.m.) bashed the CBS memos and talked to the NRA, thus establishing their talking points for the day.
The memo bashing started with the quote "Docs forged as hell." Then the discussion went to the machine used to create the memos; the photocopy makes the issue "iffy;" Staudt, with the "sugar coating" comment, was retired; the expert says he was "misled;" CBS won't say where they got them. Col. Earl Lively, Texas National Guard and head of Operations in 1972-73, said they have to be forged because Staudt was gone, and "out of the Guard is out of authority." He noted that "someone is trying to discredit President Bush. I resent anyone trying to put words in the mouth of a dead man for political purposes."
Brian Kilmeade speculated, "How come there is no internal investigation?" (at CBS) Steve Doocy mentioned a phone call to CBS asking if Kerry or the democrats are involved, and the response was: "I can't talk about that, and click."
On the gun issue, the ten year ban on 19 weapons is scheduled to expire today. Summarizing Kelly Wright's report: Supporters say police fight crime better because of the ban. Kerry is critical of Bush for letting it expire. Kerry says that Bush is cutting cops off the streets of America and putting guns back on the streets. Republicans have no plans to renew the ban, citing second amendment rights.
This report was followed by an interview with Wayne Lapierre, CEO of the NRA. His bottom line was that similar weapons have not been banned, so why ban these particular weapons? It has to do with accessories. The fire power is the same. He said to let the ban expire. "Lies don't get extended when found out." He referenced Kerry holding up the shotgun last week, when for twenty years he has voted against the second amendment.
Comment: The Friends mentioned a new initiative by the DNC called "Operation Fortunate Son" that appears to be a battery of attacks against Bush focused on a history of lies, including a failed congressional race and a claim to have served in the Air Force. I guess we'll hear more about that later. There was a story about the mysterious cloud in North Korea, confirming Powell's comments yesterday that it wasn't nuclear, but the Iraq story was minimal or missing altogether. It seems that the war is not important enough to make the news. But there was a story about a dog riding on the front of a surf boat.
