A moment, not a revolution (Free Republic in first sentence!)

The Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | September 22, 2004 | Ben Wasserstein

[2banana]

Early morning last Sept. 11, a poster on the conservative Free Republic Web site exulted, "[A]ll of us can say we were there when a few people from Free Republic kicked CBS and Kerry ass."

The John Kerry part may or may not come to pass, but there is little doubt that a few people using their computers certainly gave CBS News and anchor Dan Rather a beating. Right-wing blogs and forums such as Power Line, Little Green Footballs, and Free Republic were the first to question the authenticity of four memos released by CBS News, purportedly written by Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, who supervised George W. Bush's Texas Air National Guard unit in the early 1970s. The memos were part of a 60 Minutes story reported by Rather, questioning President Bush's fulfillment of his Guard service. The buzz created by the blogs became deafening, and the story moved like lightning onto the Drudge Report, and from there to talk radio, cable news and newspapers' front pages - and it's not over yet. On Monday, CBS said it could not prove that the memos were authentic and that it should not have used them. Bloggers cheered that the new-media David had slain the old-media Goliath.

[Frapster]

Ummm... I missed the part where they proved that the attacks on Kerry's war records were spurious. Can someone please enlighten me? Thanks.

[SE Mom]

Mr. Wasserstein, the point is not we win, you lose. So perhaps revolution is the wrong word. This IS about some of the principles liberals and conservatives espouse to cherish. Freedom. Equality. Words, and their power to enrage, convince, persuade and enlighten. So while this may not be a revolution in the classic sense, it DOES represent a major change. We, as citizens through the power of communication via the internet, daily, even hourly, express our doubts, hopes, ideas and most valuable- our questions. Sometimes, we can track down our own answers. We check one another for facts, validation, critisism. We are in an odd way, in partnership with "professionals" like yourself.

When we uncover facts of import, we share the information- openly. Since the MSM pays a great deal more attention to places like Free Republic nowadays- your reporting is sure to be richer and more in-depth- it has to be since we have the ability to research stories as well.

To my way of thinking, this is a marvelous civics lesson for us- and you. Rather than denigrate- you ought to celebrate.

[Old Sarge]

Sort of like, "Freeper Echo Syndrome", right?

[longtermmemmory]

Pajamahadeen

That one is less frilly.

[bert]

Remember that Philadelphia is the town where union thugs can beat up Freepers on the street and get away with the crime.

Zealot Presstitutes with names like Wasserstein have FReeper blood on their hands.

[MaryFromMichigan]

Yes, "Pajamahadeen" has my vote, too.

[Ditto]

Neon Knigh hit the same thing as we did.

He just types faster than us. ;~))

BTW. I heard some Rat "spokesman" on Fox this morning commenting on the latest Swiftie Ad. He said F'n never had any contact with Hanoi Jane. If that's their party line, we can easily prove them to be liers.

He was in Detroit with her at Winter Solider. He was in DC with her and Ramsey Clark on the same "anti-war" (read pro-NVA) stage.

[Teflonic]

Sort of like, "Freeper Echo Syndrome", right? Exactly. Unfortunately they sometimes seem to think that DU is a reliable source as well.

[P-Marlowe]

First, it's worth remembering how many other news stories - basically, er, all of them - have not been broken by the blogosphere. Think of last month's spurious attacks on Kerry's military service in Vietnam. Though decried by lefty bloggers, the charges were not adequately debunked until newspapers such as the Washington Post and Chicago Tribune reaped the reward from Freedom of Information Act searches of decades-old military records and published eyewitness testimonials. Old-fashioned reporting won that round.

Did I miss something? Have any of the old fashioned reporters demanded that Kerry sign the 180? Or are they just going to rely on the docs on Kerry's web site?

[P-Marlowe]

Yeah MSM will start stealing the Pajamarazzi opinions soon I'm sure. Once a story breaks all a reporter has to do is come here to get informed enough to compile the follow-up report.

It seems they've been doing that over at DU for years.

[WorkingClassFilth]

"ANYBODY WITH A MODEM CAN REPORT ON THE WORLD."
--Matt Drudge, before the hostile National Press Club in 1998.

View the text of his address to that august body here:

http://web.archive.org/web/20000815053701/www.frontpagemag.com/archives/drudge/drudge.htm

[planekT]

He doesn't mention SBVT specifically. To my knowledge, not one word of "Unfit For Command" has been debunked. But certainly some of it has in fact been confirmed (Christmas in Cambodia, self in flicted wounds for two of the three purple hearts, etc.)

The Navy did conclude that proper procedures were followed. But this finding does not address the questions raised by the SBVT. It's kind of the opposite of the forged CBS memos. In this case the documents are real, but the content is fake.

Of course the question of did Kerry deserve the medals is only half the story, and not the most serious half at that. Kerry's treason after he returned from Vietnam is irrefutable.

Kerry has still not signed form 180, and as we all know, he never will.

[bmwcyle]

[mewzilla]

It's the end of the world as they know it, and I feel fine :)

[Tom Bombadil]

I keep hearing the SBVT have been debunked....but I have not personally heard the evidence. Can someone enlighten me?

Same here...How can you debunk video clips of jfk (lower case intentional) from the early 70's?

[WorkingClassFilth]

You didn't miss a thing. This hack is simply engaging in the time honored practice of low-level lying to provide material support and reference for high-level lying later on - with footnotes, of course!

Take your pick of the standard J-school styles in MSM:

1. LIES!
2. MORE LIES!
3. EVEN MORE LIES!
4. NEW AND IMPROVED LIES!
5. NOW WITH 25% MORE LIES FOR THE SAME PRICE!
6. PREMIUM CLASSIC DELUXE LIES!

[TomGuy]

Well, Mr. Ben Wasserstein, you miss the point.

The point is, we are watching.

Rather and Co tried to pull off a scam, a hoax, a fake report. Bloggers caught them. Not investigative reporters, not MSM journalists. No, it was interested citizens who now have the capability to scrutinize without the MSM filters.

The point is, Mr. Wasserstein, we are watching. Have a good day.

[longtermmemmory]

They also forget that the internet has been a home for groups like the Swiftvets. You can see their ads and even tell more to see it.

It also bypasses fundraisers.

Basically the MSM does not have the power to block stories any more.

[Dog Gone]

We'll never replace the MSM because we don't cover the news. We don't have camera crews or White House correspondents.

But we do have more resources than any news organization. We have thousands of people who are experts in their respective fields who can challenge anything that is incorrect in MSM reporting. The Blogosphere collectively has millions of them.

What's new is that there is a place to express those opinions that can be viewed by virtually everyone on the planet.

It's instant feedback.

Would the AP have ever corrected its bogus story about the Bush supporters booing the news of Clinton's heart scare had not this forum existed? Absolutely not.

What the mainstream media needs to understand is that the new media is not out to destroy them. They should view us as part of the news process, another set of eyes. If they truly care about getting the story right, of reporting accurately, then they should welcome constructive criticism. And if they don't welcome it, then their commitment isn't to honest journalism, but to some other agenda.

[RottiBiz]

Take a look at the number of new signups Free Republic has received since 60 Minutes aired on 9/8/04:

FR Daily Stats

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
2004.09.20	286	331	not available
2004.09.13	280	329	367	390	369	303	275
2004.09.06	203	201	169	249	277	345	242
2004.08.30	157	161	159	178	204	223	133