Top GOP lawyer attempts to kill WMD ads with intimidation, irony

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2003 08:01:41 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Joseph Lorenzo Hall <jhall () astron berkeley edu>
>
>
>
> http://stream.realimpact.net/rihurl.ram?file=webactive/hightower/ht20030804.ra
> http://www.jimhightower.com/
>
> "GOP GOES FROM IRONIC TO INTIMIDATION"
>
> by Jim Hightower
> Monday, August 04, 2003
>
> Apparently the Bushites think that "Irony" is the name of a far off
> planet, for they never seem able to see it in their own work.
>
> Irony is George W standing adamantly against affirmative action,
> oblivious to the obvioius fact that he's the privileged poster-child
> of America's aggressive affirmative action program for the rich.
>
> But one of the latest actions by the Bushites proves that they
> couldn't find irony if we let them use the Hubble Telescope. It came
> in the form of a threatening letter sent to Wisconsin TV stations by
> the Republican Party's top lawyer, Caroline Hunter. It seems that
> these stations were airing an ad produced by the Democratic Party,
> that calls for a bipartisan independent investigation of the false
> information used by Bush and the White House to mislead the American
> people about the supposed "imminent threat" posed by weapons of mass
> destruction they claimed were in Iraq.
>
> The lawyer's letter to the TV stations demanded that they not air this
> ad because--get this--she blithely says that stations have "no right
> to willfully spread false information in a deliberate attempt to
> mislead the American people."
>
> Yoo-hoo, Ms. Hunter, call home once you zoom past Pluto. Oh, the
> irony! The White House willfully spreads false information to mislead
> the American people  but if anyone is bold enough to point out this
> deception, they get slapped with charges of being false and
> misleading.
>
> Bush's GOP henchwoman wasn't playing pattycake with the TV stations,
> either. "As an FCC licensee," she wrote station managers, "you have
> the responsibility to exercise independent editorial judgment... This
> letter puts you on notice... you are obligated to refrain from airing
> this advertisement." That's no small threat, given that the Bushites
> have politicized the FCC and can make life hell for a local station.
>
> This is Jim Hightower saying... This is more than ironic--it's crass
> political intimidation.
>
>
>
> (In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
> distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
> interest in receiving the included information for research and
> educational purposes.)
>
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> Joseph Lorenzo Hall
> Graduate Student                        http://pobox.com/~joehall

-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com
To manage your subscription, go to
 http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/