Posted on 09/10/2004 10:02:34 PM PDT by Tennessean4Bush
Like many of you I have followed with astonishment and delight the developments of the last couple of days. The New Media has run circles around the Big Media, exposing its corruptness and trying to hold it accountable for what is turning out to be an outright fraud.
It seems there are hundreds of threads that have sprung up that have taken different aspects of this case and has thoroughly convinced me that it is indeed a fraud that CBS was trying to pass off as authentic the now infamous memos.
I have heard on some news talk shows and seen on these boards where we all are recognizing we are witnessing history here (beyond just putting the lie to the forgeries). The New Media, Free Republic, Powerline, all the blogs and threaded discussion boards has really come of age in this historic event. In less than 24 hours, this media giant was shown to be the corrupt and morally bankrupt entity that we have all long suspected it was.
Yet, I sense that this "history in the making" is lacking its seminal event. An event that serves as a crescendo. A clear, loud, unable to ignore happening that will cause CBS News to disavow the memos and make "heads roll".
As I have pondered this, my mind has drifted to Luther. After years of back and forth with Rome, Martin Luther decided to nail his 95 Theses on the church door at Wittenburg. An event Rome could not ignore, and the main event historians point to as the seminal one of the Reformation.
After watching Rather play his hand tonight, it struck me that he might just get away with it. Oh sure, he has been discredited among many. But if he stonewalls it might be that we miss our seminal event. I have watched many stories on NBC, Fox, and others that have been questioning the authenticity of the documents. However, in each I have seen, the reporter does not really do anything but hit a couple of the more superficial things we have seen itemized on these threads (e.g. the superscript and the font type). This has been frustrating but not unexpected. We are expecting Big Media reporters to act decisively to pull down another Big Media power -- may not happen. In fact, it is naive to think it will.
So I am thinking: can we orchestrate a 95 Theses moment just as Luther did? Might we consolidate into one thread all the various and sundry facts about these documents and this story and act in unison in such a way that we have our Wittenburg?
I have some ideas, but they are not fully formed and others might have much better ideas. Anyway, one idea is to fax blast, email blast, snail mail, etc., this consolidated list to every single media outlet in the country simultaneously? Every reporter's email we can get our hands on, every local affiliate email, fax number, reporter. Post the 95 Theses on every website's homepage as a challenge to CBS News to answer. I mean, if every reporter, affiliate, newsroom, parent company, talk radio host, etc., got all of this all at once wouldn't it be an event? Rather ended his segment with a challenge: if they had conclusive proof they would revisit the subject. Let's engage CBS News and send Rather to retirement in a ceremony history will remember for a long time.
It would take quite a bit of effort on a number of folks part, but one thing these last few days have taught me: never underestimate the power of the Free Republic!
I would appreciate any thoughts you might care to share.
Looking for input.
I say, have every conservative in the country threaten to dump any stock associated with Viacom on, say, Wednesday, if CBS doesn't address this issue by Monday. Of course, to keep the market happy, everyone must by equal or more in another corp....
Echo
Yep, that would get their attention!
Someone who was good at it doing a bullet point J'accuse of CBS and its "un-nuanced" assertion that its claims are accurate, and sending it out across the Internet, would be a splendid idea. There are two many excellent bits and pieces that no one yet has had the energy to pull together, separate the wheat from the chaff, and publish it.
POST CONTACT INFO FOR CBS & THEIR ADVERTISERS for Freeping (vanity)
Spur any ideas?
My thoughts exactly. We have so many resources here, I bet we could get Drudge, Hannity, Levin, Limbaugh, and a host of other prominent people to talk about the "95 Theses" or whatever we call it.
I don't think Rather is going to survive with his reputation intact. This is about market share. The other nets see Kerry's campaign ship becalmed, and don't believe that it is worth saving. CBS is alone in its desire to do anything possible to save the Kerry campaign.
Watching George Stephanopolous on TV this morning told me something else: the Clintons want Kerry sunk, as well.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
In finance, we refer to this as "transparency."
The bloggers provide a degree of transparency to the news that has not existed prior to the past few years.
This election IS a seminal event in that the bloggers have eclipsed the MSM as the most accurate sources of information, and have highlighted the fact that the MSM is a tool of the DNC. After this event, I don't think that this point is debatable among sentient adults.
A splendid idea, but would require much more energy, organization, and discipline than the one I am proposing. Why not throw all these advertisers' contact information into the list of those that are made aware of our 95 Theses? They can be part of those that get the orchestrated blast.
Chris, you may be right but I still don't see Stephie, et al, putting the pressure on to the point Rather gets canned. Perhaps you are right, but I think we can control it ourselves if we orchestrate our "95 Theses" so to speak.
IMHO. We should focus on people that are not internet savy or do not have access to the "New Media". That means talking to friends, reletives, and whomever else, may not know about what is going on. It is easy to spread the word to the people on the internet, but we have to reach those not on the internet.
We could get a group of Freepers consolidating the points about the memos, another group putting the lie to the whole Ben Barnes pap, another group composing a fax list as CSV for use with jblast, another for email lists to reporters, etc. Another group could work on Drudge, Hannity, Levin, Hewitt, Savage, etc.
Yep.
Actually write them out. Have everyone email as you state, simultaneously calling on their congresscritters to launch a congressional investigation.
Announce that these 95 theses will be nailed to the door of congress on ___date....a media event. Walk up a thousand or two strong and nail it to the door.
And for you Dan..... 
Oh, I agree completely. That is why I included all the local affiliates. Think about it. I bet every local affiliate in the country is represented here by a number of freepers each. If we orchestrated it well enough, it would get coverage all over the US under the radarscope of the Big Media, or whether they covered it or not.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.