Posted on 07/19/2004 12:39:30 AM PDT by L.N. Smithee
Where have you gone, Joe Wilson?
Now that the Senate Intelligence report has exonerated the Bush Administration of coercing policy-friendly intelligence interpretations(on top of the Senate's finding that Valerie Plame indeed recommended her hubby for the investigating it despite his colorful denials), and the UK's Butler Report reaffirms British intel's belief in Iraqi inquiries into acquiring yellowcake, I noted that all the coverage of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson-as-martyr had dried up, but it wasn't being replaced by Turns-out-Joe Wilson-is-full-of-it coverage.
Last Friday morning, I called ABC News in New York, and was referred to a Nightline staffer. I mentioned to him that the program had dedicated at least two entire shows to Wilson and his claims (in October 2003). The staffer pled ignorance as to how much Wilson had been featured on Nightline, but I made it clear that I saw Wilson being interviewed face to face with either Ted Koppel or Chris Bury.
Citing the fact that the Washington Post admitted that it was 'misled' by Wilson's allegation that forged documents were the basis of the famous "16 words" in Bush's State of the Union speech, I went on to suggest -- politely -- that since Nightline had invested so much in a Big Media Scandal story that is now Falling Freaking Apart, it would only be "fair and balanced" (yes, I actually said that) to follow up, and detail that Wilson and Plame's lucrative smear of the Bush Administration is based on the type of information that they would have called "lies" had they been on the receiving end.
The staffer I spoke with didn't attempt to say that Nightline wouldn't schedule such a show. If he had, I was ready to rebut with both barrels. The topic of debunking a media "lie" couldn't be credibly described as out-of-character for Nightline. Back in December 1997, Nightline was all set to show a two-part series on how talk radio and the internet were spawning unsubstantiated and unfair attacks on the President (Clinton). The controversy that inspired this topic revolved around allegations in Insight magazine that fundraising-happy Clinton had not only "sold" access to the Lincoln Bedroom, private jet trips with Ron Brown, and "coffee" with high-level officials in exchange for Democrat campaign contributions, but even plots in Arlington National Cemetery. Waivers, so the story went, were granted to persons who weren't veterans, and didn't meet other requirements to request burial there.
The main focus of the allegation was Democrat donor M. (for Maurice) Larry Lawrence, who was appointed ambassador to Switzerland by Clinton in 1992. He died in 1996, and was buried in Arlington after a full military funeral. He never served in the US Armed Forces, but claimed that as an 18-year-old, he was in the thick of it in the Merchant Marines in 1945, and suffered a head injury when his ship was hit by a German torpedo. Had he been an American soldier, Clinton's White House Counsel Lanny Davis declared, "[Lawrence] would have received a Purple Heart." He had already received a medal from the Russian Embassy in San Diego in 1993 for his part in the fight against the Nazis.
In the hours leading up to the second Nightline broadcast in which the Insight story would be trashed, Koppel & Co. was faced with an unexpected development: Larry Lawrence's name didn't show up on the manifest of the Horace Bushnell, the Merchant Marine ship he claimed to be aboard. The records of Wilbur Wright College in Chicago showed that someone by the name Maurice Lawrence was a regular full-time student the day the Nazi attack on the Horace Bushnell occurred in the not-nearby Arctic Ocean. No one could find independent confirmation of Lawrence's service in the Merchant Marines, and many longtime friends of Lawrence said they were never told about his "head injury" in World War II.
Finding Lawrence's tale of secret heroism hard to swallow, formerly conservative columnist Arianna Huffington did some digging. She spoke with his second wife, who said Lawrence never said anything about his heroism before, during, or after their time together. Then, Huffington spoke to his longtime personal assistant, who dropped a bombshell: she recalled being asked by Lawrence in 1982 to secretly research Merchant Marine ships that were torpedoed during WWII. Only after that information had been relayed to Lawrence did he come out of the closet and admit that he was Secret War Hero Boy. His conviction in telling the story apparently was enough for both the Russian Embassy in San Diego AND Clinton's Army Secretary, Togo West, to believe him. Said West: "...there [is] nothing about [Lawrence's] case that aroused suspicion."
The Clinton White House, after angrily dismissing the story and suggesting that those furthering it be taken to The Media Woodshed for a thrashing, suddenly announced it would accede to the (alleged) wishes of Democrat campaign honcho Shelia Lawrence -- Larry's widow and third wife -- to have her late husband's casket and headstone moved out of Arlington. As Dana Carvey's "Church Lady" character used to say, "How conveeeenient."
These developments changed the direction of the second part of Nightline quite a bit. Koppel sheepishly admitted that they weren't expecting any of the 'Clinton-haters'' charges to be found to be legitimate. Nonetheless, correspondent Michel Martin (nee McQueen) found a way to put a pro-White House spin on the late events, according to the Media Resource Center:
Nightline devoted two shows to the matter, but treated it as an embarrassing new low in political attacks. ABC’s Michel McQueen ended her December 5 piece by asserting that Lawrence may have been eligible for burial "because he died while serving as an ambassador, but in the rancorous atmosphere of 1990s Washington, the facts may be almost beside the point." But as the Los Angeles Times discovered, "of six ambassadors granted burial at Arlington ...three died violently in the line of duty while two had records far more distinguished than that of the sixth — M. Larry Lawrence."
For more about the Lawrences and their shady financial and fundraising dealings, click here.
Now, with that said, back to my phone call. The fellow I spoke with said that it wasn't his role to suggest future show topics. I asked whom I should contact -- Koppel? Producer Leroy Sievers, who co-conceived the controversial show reading the names of the soldiers killed in Iraq? He didn't say, but promised that he would "examine" my suggestion, and 'pass it along.'
Our conversation was cordial throughout, as much as I wanted to rake someone there over the coals for needing me to call to request some balance. Maybe if additional dignified calls for a Nightline follow-up on Wilson come in to the ABC News switchboard, they might actually consider the idea.
Hey, it couldn't hurt to ask.
Bump for excellence in freeping!
Unfortunately, I am not nearly as optimistic as you. I don't believe for a second that a Nightline episode which corrects the record by reporting that Joseph Wilson has been exposed as a shameless liar and a fraud is forthcoming. Such a show simply would not fit the Nightline/ABC News agenda of helping their Democrat Party win elections.
Still, it would be a boring world if there were not people who were ready, willing, and able to tilt at windmills. Thank you for your efforts, and may you never, ever surrender or become jaded. God bless.
Regards,
LH
That is a great post BTW. Love the flashback. OK cue the camera!
Uh..the Russian Embassy is in DC and I could be wrong about this, but the Consulate is in San Francisco. They might have one in San Diego now, but '93?
Hey...you did wonderfully well! I'm sure that all of us on FR are proud of you;I know that I am .:-)
You're right. This was based on Arianna's column revealing Lawrence's assistant's admission. I jumbled the information, making it a ceremony in San Diego when in fact it was in D.C., but noted in the San Diego Union.
From Arianna Online, December 4, 1997:
My suspicions about Lawrence's "military" service were first raised when I read a Jan. 19, 1993, story in the San Diego Union describing an emotional ceremony in which Lawrence "was honored at the Russian Embassy for his part in helping the Soviet Union stave off Nazi assaults."According to the story, Lawrence slowly began "to recall the morning when, as an 18-year-old, he suffered head wounds during a German torpedo submarine attack on his ship in the frigid waters off Murmansk. ... 'From that moment until today, that 18-year-old boy lost a lot of innocence and a lot of trust,' said Lawrence haltingly. 'It is not a story that I'd care to relive today except to say we all believed we were helping mankind and our country as patriots.'"
Here was the catch. According to the story, this tragic incident in Lawrence's life was "previously unknown to most of his family and close friends." That, to me, defied belief.
.
On Green St. just above the 'Cow Hollow' section of town. Not that I'd know this..or anything about the massive short-wave radio antennas they installed on the roof and tried to hide behind 4'x8' sheets of plywood back in the mid-80's.
Nope...don't know a thing about that. Not a thing.
Bravo, L.N.!
Just heard Mr. Cokie Roberts state that the American people aren't able to interest themselves in this issue.......they're back to It's the economy, stupid.
Dang, we really knew how to have a good time in the old days!
bump
Needless to say, the rancor over the promo overshadowed the report itself.
bump
Great post, Smithee!
You are a front-line freeper warrior......and here's one freeper who appreciates it.
Leni
You should ask Mr. Cokie Roberts why Peetah Jennings used up about 3 minutes of the prime beginning of tonight's newscast to talk about how the commission and British commission found the uranium claim not wrong...and Joe Wilson a liar?
If it isn't important to the American people, why did even Peter mention it (surprisingly in a fair manner, I might add)?
I wonder if the advertisers on these shows in particular are unhappy about what went on between their products' commercials...Joe Wilson's lies brought to you by...
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