U.S. Servicemen React to Bush Guard Memos (The Associated Press's Leftist Bias)

The Associated Press ^ | 9/11/2004 | The Associated Press

[BattleFlag]

ALBANY, Ga. - Frank Jones says he's angry about newly revealed memos that indicate President Bush (news - web sites) got preferential treatment in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam war, but he's not surprised by favoritism in the Guard.

Jones, a Republican from Troy, N.Y., served in Vietnam in 1970 and 1971 before doing 16 years in the Guard himself. As the presidential election nears, Jones says controversy over both candidates' military records and the mounting death toll in Iraq (news - web sites) are important issues.

[BattleFlag]

When I was in radio years ago, the AP and UPI were known as providers of pure, factual information, not editorials. Editorializing was left up to those news organizations who used the news wire's services.

But now it's obvious the AP at least is in the editorial and news "creation" business, and it's equally obvious who they carry water for, the left.

The article above is a prime example.

With very little suggestion of the real, substantive contoversy surrounding the recently "discovered" memos, they go out in search of indignant reactions to them. I would be willing there was little or no mention of all of the factors pointing to the probablity the memos are fabricated to those who were sought out and interviewed.

We, and hopefully most of America have come to expect the hard left slant of 95% of the American and 99% of the world mass media organizations and it's time to also recognize that the major "producer" of raw data feeds for these big media organizations has it's left wing agenda also.

I'd be willing to bet that there are alot of honest Americans who are still laboring under the same illusions I had that the AP could be trusted not to engage in the same tactics of trying to appear unbiased while consistantly pushing a one sided agenda.

[MamaLucci]

First CBS, then AP.

[johnny7]

They are leftist... maybe even more so than the Dim Party.

They're our version of Reuters!

[Free ThinkerNY]

The Leftist media is the propaganda arm of the enemy within.

[TXBubba]

Does this guy even exist or he is the figment of some AP reporter's imagination? I wouldn't trust anything from AP after the fact boo'ing report from WI.

[Semper Paratus]

they go out in search of indignant reactions

The MSM on their evening news shows do this all the time by showing an family unable to make ends meet because of something President Bush did. You'll never see a clip about an 18 year girl whose dreams of getting that college scholarship were dashed because she had the wrong skin color, white.

[BattleFlag]

Like the other players in the slanted news game the AP is clever about how it's done.

They could argue that they were very fair in their inclusion of all sides in this instance as they interviewed a Republican who was troubled by the memos, a Republican who was a "staunch" support of the president and a democrat.

But all of this merely advances their goal of legitimizing the memos, even in the face of non partisan opinion that they are fake.

They could care less about what anyone thinks about the memos, they want you, I and everyone who reads their article to believe the memos are real.

And sadly, on that count, they will meet with some success.

[BattleFlag]

"You'll never see a clip about an 18 year girl whose dreams of getting that college scholarship were dashed because she had the wrong skin color, white."

Ha! Yeah, like the "I had an abortion and I deeply regret it" story.

[JoJo Gunn]

Actually the AP was taking a little bit of heat last week before CBS caught fire (and likely they're somewhat relieved)....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1206700/posts

[Mike Bates]

The Associated Press's Leftist Bias

I am shocked. Shocked.

Michael M. Bates: My Side of the Swamp

[SkyPilot]

You should this mess:

One article quoting the same men

Second article quoting the same men

[SkyPilot]

I forgot one thing--the tone of the articles was completely different, and the negative article reporter used this source:

Ahmad Majied of Albany says the latest allegations about Bush's military record are more troubling to him than allegations about service honors leveled at Democratic challenger Kerry. Majied, a Democrat from Albany who served 30 years in the Navy, including five years as a SEAL in Vietnam, said the memos support his belief that Bush was a "playboy" during his service years. "He had enough money to get what he wanted," Majied said. "I think his main concern was not to go to Southeast Asia. I bet he never dreamed it would come back to haunt him."

How much do you want to be Majied was not a Navy SEAL in Vietnam?

[BattleFlag]

"Actually the AP was taking a little bit of heat last week ..."

Good, as I remember the temp to achieve sterilization is quite high. And no, I don't think all news/op/ed purveyors should be sterilized. But I do think raw news data sources should be.

This is only a layman's opinion, not what the average "Mass Media" professor would say no doubt.

[Admin Moderator]

Please include original titles.
Thanks.

[BattleFlag]

" How much do you want to be Majied was not a Navy SEAL in Vietnam?"

I think the smart money would be all over that bet.

But, I did some checking and it does appear that an Ahmad Majied of Albany, Georgia was in the Navy, achieving the rank of E-9, Master Chief Master at Arms (basically law enforcement). Since for whatever reason he's a democrat, I doubt that knowing the odds are better than even that the memos are bogus would have influenced his comments at all.

And really the fact that he appears to have been in the Navy does not really prove or disprove anything as my guess is most of, if not the majority of SEAL posers were actually in the Navy thereby having at least enough knowlege about the Navy and the military in general to be able to fool all but the most knowlegable people they run into.

[BattleFlag]

I didn't include the original title because I meant for this posting to be a vanity (opinion) about the Associated Press, this article was merely an example of the larger point I was trying to make.

This is why I did not put the posting in the "News" or any other category other than Vanity.

Should I have still used the article title even though it was only an example and not the main subject of the posting? Or, how could I have done this better?

Thanks.

[SkyPilot]

Thanks for the research. If he served, then he did. We at FR are after the truth--and we won't denigrate true vets. But none of the sources mentioned can be trusted because reporters today are out for quick blood--because Kerry is behind 9 points.

You know that--and I know it. They would rather publish a retraction on page 59 than miss an opportunity to get a slam on Bush in the www.yahoo.com hompage AP headlines.

You are correct about SOME former Navy impersonating SEALS. I saw a TV program that talked about it once--and you are right---the imposters needed to "talk the lingo" a bit in order to pass themselves off.

In most cases, the program said they were disguntled Navy enlisted who held various service jobs.

Here is the link to the SEAL Hall of Shame