Moveon.org – 2008-07-28 09:23:11
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3974&id=13323-5104720-Z9GVlix&t=5
CBS Covered-up for John McCain by Editing his Statements.
Help Send CBS a Message:
CBS let down the public by covering up John McCain’s lack of understanding about Iraq. CBS should correct the record by airing what McCain actually said and explaining why he was flat-out wrong.
This Tuesday, the media did it again: CBS watched McCain say things about Iraq that were clearly, factually wrong-and they let it slide.
But this time, they took it one step further. CBS covered up McCain’s mistakes by editing his statements out of the video-in violation of their own standards. (1)
Ironically, John McCain is now saying the media are too soft on Barack Obama. But if Obama showed himself to be as uninformed on his top issue as McCain did on Iraq, the media would have a field day. In fact, this is just the latest of many times the media ignored McCain’s mis-statements, flip-flops, and extreme positions. It has to stop.
Can you watch this video showing CBS’s coverup, and sign a message demanding that CBS correct the record on the air? When you sign, you can also join our new 2008 Media Accountability Team. Click here-and then please forward this email to others:
• Click here to watch the video and help us hold the media accountable.
• Sign the petition!
Here’s What Happened on Tuesday
Barack Obama’s been making the case that much of the progress in Iraq isn’t related to the “surge” — including the so-called “Anbar Awakening” where Sunnis in the Anbar province turned on Al Qaeda. In a taped interview, Katie Couric asked McCain about it. McCain insisted that the Anbar Awakening was caused by the “surge” and even dismissively said “that’s just a matter of history.”
Here’s the thing: the Anbar Awakening happened in 2006, months before the troop escalation was ever announced.
And this CBS incident is just the tip of the iceberg. Throughout this campaign, the media have given McCain a free pass. Here are some things that would be big national stories if the media were doing its job:
• McCain recently called Social Security a “disgrace” and blatantly lied about his past support for privatizing Social Security. (2)
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• At least six times, McCain has talked about his policy toward Czechoslovakia-a country that hasn’t existed for over 15 years. (3)
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• McCain consistently makes foreign policy mistakes-he talked about the “Iraq-Pakistan border” when they don’t share a border and confused “Somalia” with “Sudan.” (4)
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• At least four times, McCain said Iran is helping Al Qaeda in Iraq — but Iran is Shiite and Al Qaeda is Sunni. They are fighting each other! McCain’s campaign admitted the mistake and then McCain did it again! (5)
he CBS incident is just the tip of the iceberg. Throughout this campaign, John McCain has made countless mistakes on foreign policy, and stated one extreme position after another, but the media give him a free pass.
That’s why we’re forming a new 2008 Media Accountability Team. We’ll monitor the media, push back on reporters who go soft on McCain, and even do some paid advertising highlighting examples of bad journalism.
Our first step is to hold CBS accountable for their cover-up.
If we do that, other media will get the hint that it’s not okay to cover up for McCain’s lack of understanding about foreign policy and his extreme positions on the issues.
• Click here to watch the video and help us hold the media accountable:
Resources
• 1. “CBS Spokesman distorts Standard of Editing on Couric-McCain interview. Here’s the proof,” CrooksandLiars.com, July 23, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3973&id=13323-5104720-Z9GVlix&t=6
• 2. “McCain: Social Security funding system a ‘disgrace,'” USA Today, July 10, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3971&id=13323-5104720-Z9GVlix&t=7
“John McCain on Privatizing Social Security,” YouTube video posted by the Democratic National Committee
• 3. “For Second Day In A Row, McCain Cites The Non-Existent ‘Czechoslovakia,'” ThinkProgress.org, July 15, 2008
• 4. McCain Conjures a Border Between Iraq and Pakistan
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3969&id=13323-5104720-Z9GVlix&t=8
“McCain confuses Sudan and Somalia,” ThinkProgress.org June 30, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3968&id=13323-5104720-Z9GVlix&t=9
• 5. “McCain Conflates Shiite Iran And Sunni Al Qaeda, Needs To Be Corrected By Lieberman,” March 18, 2008
“McCain compounds al Qaeda gaffe by repeating for a fourth time,” The Carpetbagger Report, March 19, 2008
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/14944.html
Contents of the Sign-on Letter
CBS, Don’t Cover Up for McCain!
Click the video on the right to watch CBS’s editing of McCain (made by politics blog JedReport.com–when you hear overlapping audio at one point, that’s intentional).
Then add your name to the message below that we’ll deliver to CBS. The video will keep playing even after you sign.
“CBS let down the public by covering up John McCain’s lack of understanding about Iraq. CBS should correct the record by airing what McCain actually said and explaining why he was flat-out wrong.”
Signed
