New Story Evolving
Reported by Eleanor - September 14, 2004 -
Special Report with Brit Hume (Sept. 14, 6:00 p.m.) covered a lot of political topics with some repetition of what has been covered before. A few stories that offered new information, or a specific slant on the news, are provided here.
Jim Angle reported on the CBS document flak with the new information that Killian's 86 year old secretary said she didn't type the memo, but the content reflected the sentiments she heard at the time. Mara Liasson stated later that she had superscript on her typewriter, but she wasn't sure it was a real memo. It sounded like Killian's "grumbling." The story of special favors might be true. Scott Johnson of powerlineblog.com was interviewed to discuss how his blog helped break the story of the possible forgery of the CBS documents. Hume reported that the CBS experts were not certified document experts. (So the criticism of CBS continues.)
Hume quoted John Kerry as saying he never meant to slander all Viet Nam vets. He was repeating testimony he heard from others at the conference in Detroit. Major Garrett reported conflicting stories from the "Winter Soldier" witnesses - some claiming they were pressured to testify and some not pressured.
A rare report about Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip with their representatives voting 9-1 to compensate them for giving up their homes in the Gaza Strip, with some people getting a quarter million dollars. A protest took place outside Sharon's house demanding a pull out from the Gaza. Sharon's government is on the verge of collapse. The cost of the plan is $1 billion. Americans would pay for it from U.S. aid to Israel. Americans paid for the settlements, and may pay them to leave.
Hume posed this question for the panel discussion on the escalating violence in Iraq: The bloody day was not in outlying cities, but in Baghdad. Are we looking at something that will delay the election, and is it spiraling out of control?
Mort Kondrake: It's not the country, but some places in the country, spiraling out of control. We can't provide security, and we are killing civilians. We shot civilians from a helicopter. The population is becoming radicalized. There is a question about the election if they can't vote in some areas until we get control. Mara Liasson: There are real questions if the timing of the election can be met. How to protect the voters. Fred Barnes: Two mistakes were made. We stopped the Marines from clearing out Fallujah. Al Sadr was indicted and not arrested. He may become a martyr. 80% of the country can't have an election.
Comment: So the memo story continues with the emphasis on the documents, and not the lack of service. The focus of the new swift boat ads is reinforced with a story of Kerry's Viet Nam protests. The U.S. financial support for Israel is highlighted for a not-so-obvious reason, other than that Sharon is in trouble. The mess in Iraq is finally presented as the mess it really is, rather than a temporary insurgency leading up to the election in January; where the Iraqis will have a democracy just like ours; it will settle its own problems; with our troops there as benign protectors rather than involved in a shooting war. That's the old story. The new story is evolving with shades of Viet Nam. Maybe that ancient story of Viet Nam is timely after all.
