Posted on 10/28/2008 2:58:08 PM PDT by CitizenM
If anyone can, please help me.
I have some friends in Pittsburgh who are both liberal and conservative. We had been chatting about the woman there who said she was attacked and a "B" etched into her face. One particularly liberal friend is now saying that the McCain people PRESSURED the news media there to run the story about the woman.
She has said this after I sent her the original article, and then sent the report that it was a hoax. I even commented how these "hoaxes" hurt us all, of both parties. But this woman INSISTS that now, in Pittsburgh, PA "all the media is scrambling because they gave into the McCain pressure."
How she knows this, I don't know, she gave no proof. She just said it is happening. I have been looking for articles in papers that state that any of the Pittsburgh media has claimed they were PRESSURED. I can find where it was reported that the McCain people (including Sarah Palin) called the woman just after the original report, but find none afterward saying the media felt any pressure to report this by anyone from the McCain staffers.
I did hear that the woman was not a McCain supporter, but actually a former campaign worker for Ron Paul. Is that true or not?
My friend is very liberal and, of course, is more concerned that the media was PRESSURED by McCain people, and that has turned her totally against even considering voting for him, which, actually, she had been doing. (Of course she won't listen to the stories, or believe the articles I have sent her about how Obama has pressured the media and tired to silence them, how he threatend networks if they ran ads he did not like, and how they have canceled interviews on stations where they were asked what Obama supporters felt were "hard" questions,etc. She calls those "smears", LOL. I am trying to address that.)
Naturally, this has caused me concern and I want to be able to counter the claim for others who still are on the fence about voting for either McCain or Obama. If it is true that McCain's people used Pressure about reporting this, it won't be well accepted and votes for McCain might be lost.
So - I need proof, and I think it would help many people if we knew if or not any press members are actually saying they were pressured in any way. Maybe that is they way they are playing CYA, but we need to know. Personally, I would also be upset if this is true.
If any of you find any stories confirming this, or know of any, or even heard of this, Please let me know, and print what you have found out so others can dubunk this if it is not true that any media was pressured to release this story.
Thank you, CitizenM
Facts are irrelevant. You won’t change her mind.
Leave her alone, she’s a lost cause. If she gnaws off her fingernails over that story, something will cause her to relapse in the next 5 days.
You’re better off calling voters and GOTV operations. In the time it takes to persuade a shaky single nut case, you could have 10 sure votes for McCain.
A Ron Paul worker? No idea, but for what its worth there were three mentions of Ron Paul on her MySpace page. No mentions of McCain. She was a McCain volunteer at the time of the hoax.
Michael Malkin, noted conservative, and others called “BS” on the story immediately.
McCain was notably quiet, so much so that FR was pissed at McCain.
Yes, the lying witch was a Ron Paul supporter.
You can also search FR for the story of the McCain supporter that was attacked by an Obama supporter in NYC.
The B cut into her face stood for BOZO or BIMBO!
She supposedly was kicked out of Paul’s camp due to something similar, a claim of somebody going after her for supporting Paul. I think some reports stated that McCain’s campaign had brought the event to the media’s attention, long before it was known to be a hoax. Probably because the media doesn’t cover anything like this as they would for the other side. It should have been vetted, first, in my opinion.
Does anyone really believe that McCain could pressure the media? If your friend is not willing to listen to the fact that the Obama campaign is in bed with the media and has tried to silence those who don’t comply, she probably wouldn’t be open to the truth if it jumped up and bit her. As for the girl’s campaign affiliation, I think she was a member of the Paul campaign and was kicked out for some bizarre behavior, at which time she joined the McCain camp. News reports have stated that she has a history of mental issues.
I have a few employees like this. They can't be helped or swayed, they fall under the definition of "Beyond Help". Don't waste anymore of your breath on politics with her, enjoy her for what she is, a friend. You'll be a lot happier and you'll have more energy left too!
You say your friend wants proof that McCain didn’t pressure the media ... you can’t prove a negative. Your friend is making the accusation, so the burden is on her to give the proof.
Michelle Malkin early on went with her story -- just hours after this broke.
The McCain campaign would have only done this if they were incredibly stupid and the Media would listen to them.
The Media has consistently attacked the McCain campaign -- with the exception of Fox News...
Now, I am sure the story was going to be reported anyway, which it was. But it is the issue of "Pressure" that I want to debunk.
I know this would have an impact with people in Pittsburgh, PA either way. Pittsburgh (my hometown)is pivitol in this race, and I know many there who are on the fence. All Pittsburgers, I am sure, would react one way or another and it could harm either candidate if the Pressure issue is or is not true.
I would like to have certainty to give friends that there was NO pressure from McCain people, and hope that is the case.
It is inaccurate to say that the McCain campaign “pressured” the media.
It has been noted that the McCain campaign hyped the story before the fact on the ground were clear. They promoted “incendiary” details of the story which, of course, later turned out to be completely false.
As others have pointed out, significant bastions of the conservative “blogosphere” expressed distrust of this story up front. It was foolish of the McCain campaign to dive in the way it did. You might say that they “pushed” the story, but “pressured the media”? That’s overstating the case.
You can’t win. Enjoy your friendship for whatever it is and don’t broach politics with her, or allow her to broach politics with you.
The press/MSM do something to try and help McCain’s campaign look good and “The One’s campaign look bad?
How can you stop yourself from doing the biggest “BWaaaaH, Haww, Haww, Haww” in her face?
But this news about McCain people PRESSURING the media has upset her, and others there. Sorry, but I want to find the truth. That was what I was hoping for, and I think most FReepers are fair minded and understand that and not chose to make a nasty comment about my friend.
And, as I said, since Pittsburgh is pivitol...the news either way could have a large effect on voters there. If the Pressure story is made-up, and just a rumor, for example, and not being reported in the Press or on TV, I would like to know.
“but that McCain people supposedly PRESSURED the media/press in Pittsburgh to release the story.”
The point is that the McCain camp and noted conservatives immediately raised the red flag. This is shown by a thread on this very website where people were pissed at McCain.
Raising a red flag is inconsistent with “pressure.”
Come on.
I’ve never heard that McCain pushed the story.
Yes, she was a Paultard down at A&M, she was too crazy for them, they kicked her out of their group. (how crazy do you have to be to be too crazy for the Paultards?)
I am not a psych professional, but it sure seems she has Borderline or Histrionic Personality Disorder. It seems she has a problem with attention-seeking behavior and honesty.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported:
Ms. Todd's job as a field representative for the College Republican National Committee brought her to Pittsburgh about two weeks ago to recruit college students. She had worked for the committee since August. Yesterday, the organization fired her.
Ashley Barbera, the organization's communications director, said workers initially were concerned for Ms. Todd's safety.
"We are as upset as anyone to learn of her deceit. Ashley must take full responsibility for her actions," she said.
In March, Ms. Todd was asked to leave a grass-roots group of Ron Paul supporters in Brazos County, Texas, group leader Dustan Costine said. [...]
"She would call the opposing campaign and pretend she was on their campaign to get information," Mr. Costine said last night. "We had to remove her because of the tactics she displayed. After that we had nothing to do with her."
About a month earlier, he said, Ms. Todd sent an e-mail to the Ron Paul group saying her tires were slashed and that campaign paraphernalia had been stolen from her car because she supported Mr. Paul.
Huh?
Sure you can. Maybe in this case it would be difficult, but "you can't prove a negative" is not a true generalization.
Suppose someone said, "Prove that Barack Obama has NOT stayed in Illinois his entire life." Could you prove it? Of course...just show a single example where he is outside Illinois.
Sure you can. Maybe in this case it would be difficult, but "you can't prove a negative" is not a true generalization.
Suppose someone said, "Prove that Barack Obama has NOT stayed in Illinois his entire life." Could you prove it? Of course...just show a single example where he is outside Illinois.
No, you can't possibly prove that McCain hasn't pressured the media. How would you possibly do that? By contacting and getting statements from every news organization that reported the story? Your example is not a negative because, just as you have pointed out, it would obviously be very easy to prove Obama had "stayed" outside of Illinois. Now, if the original poster said to his liberal friend, "prove that McCain pressured the media," that is provable if the evidence is there.
In other words, you can't present evidence to prove something that never happened.
“…..My friend is very liberal and, of course, is more concerned that the media was PRESSURED by McCain people,……
“….Personally, I would also be upset if this is true…”
The burden of proof about the ‘pressure’ is on her. Ask her to provide it to you, from reliable sources, because you very much care about this. Then, seat back and relax.
If you're from P'burgh, then you MUST know that the local media has been on the bandwagon beating the drums for Obama and there is NO WAY any Republican, let alone anyone from the McCain campaign, could possibly influence, pressure, etc., any of the local media into doing or saying anything that would assist any Republican running for any office, let alone somebody challenging the Obamassiah. The local press/media is just not subject to Republican pressure and if you or your friend don't know this, you are very out of touch with "your hometown."
I have an aquaintence who is convinced that Bush is somehow driving the price of gasoline down in order to put McCain in the White House. You can't respond to that. I just told her that I don't believe in conspiracies and she dropped it at that point.
So my friend's words were not exact, but as you know, people might have thought something more severe, and then it became exaggerated into Pressure. Anyway, now I know how the story got started.
And, thanks so much more for your time, efforts and for being resourceful rather than criticize my request, or my friend. You answered my question and that was what I needed. This was important to me for my own personal reasons, and for those in Pgh. who also wanted to know. You are a good FReeper!
I have 16 friends in and around there, now each one of them will know the truth. Of course, many didn't believe the story anyway, but couldn't find a way to counter the tale spreading there (about the Pressure, I mean). But now we are all able to debunk it.
Each of those 16 people I know can tell 16 others, and so on. This is part of how the theory of "grass roots" works, isn't it? You have surely helped us all who have to face the opposition when they come up with tall tales.
Thank you for your kind words. Not everyone agrees with you...I was once given an estimate that 30% of FreeRepublic wants me dead. But I think that helping to get truthful information shared is important, whether it’s pleasant news or not.
The Ostrich Brigade and Kneejerk Battalions don’t gain us any ground, IMO. I believe Conservatism can stand on its merits, without distortion. If I didn’t believe it’s the right path, able to withstand honest scrutiny, then why should I follow it?
And why should I not help a fellow FReeper find information he might need, for whatever his personal or political reasons?
I tend to criticize those who make unsupportable claims. There are lots of those around, and I don’t criticize just for criticism’s sake, but to encourage us to remain grounded to strong true principles.
Thank you again for your words, and for restoring my faith that some still find benefit in my posts. :-)
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