From Liz Smith's column:'I AM very upset that the Defense Department and the administration have not provided the facilities for the American people to know what their troops are doing in Afghanistan. It's been a total news blackout. We are not allowed to accompany troops into action, and this is a denial of the free speech and free press to which we're entitled - particularly when it's a matter of reporting our boys and girls going into action, endangering their lives to protect our democracy. We are entitled to know what they're putting up with and how they are performing."
That's what Walter Cronkite, still the most-trusted man in America, told this column during a chat about his involvement in the PBS series "Liberty's Kids." This is an animated program telling the story of the American Revolution through the eyes of teens working as apprentices in Benjamin Franklin's workshop. Walter provides the voice of Franklin. (Other voices include Whoopi Goldberg, Annette Bening, Michael Douglas, Arnold Scwharzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf). The show airs over the Labor Day weekend.
Cronkite told us that if he were back in the saddle, "I would do what I'm surprised the rest of the press is not doing, I would not let a day go by without my complaints that we were being denied the right to cover the story" [in Afghanistan].
And what of that other roiling world political pot, Iraq, and a looming conflict intended to oust Saddam Hussein? Cronkite says: "I think the main thing to do is what the Administration is indicating they're not very pleased to do-and that is to be sure that the American people discuss it thoroughly, that the Congress discusses it thoroughly, and that decisions are made in a Democratic fashion as to whether we should pursue such a desperate course of initiating a defensive war."
(snip)
BTW, is that capital-D "Democratic" in the last paragraph a Freudian slip?
1 posted on
08/27/2002 4:11:42 PM PDT by
GeneD
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To: GeneD
LOL - Cronkite the "most trusted man in America"?
What planet has this writer been on? The "most trusted man in America" has been G. W. Bush since January 2001.
To: GeneD
Who?
3 posted on
08/27/2002 4:22:14 PM PDT by
Arkinsaw
To: GeneD
Who's Walter Cronkite?
What did he ever do, besides read the News for CBS?
We should listen to what an aging
former News Reader thinks, like he is a god?
I don't care what Walter Cronkite says...what he thinks... or what he says he thinks!
4 posted on
08/27/2002 4:22:34 PM PDT by
A. Morgan
To: GeneD
Perhaps he would be happy if he were strapped to a JDAM.
To: GeneD
We are not allowed to accompany troops into action, and this is a denial of the free speech and free press to which we're entitled - particularly when it's a matter of reporting our boys and girls going into action, endangering their lives to protect our democracy. We are entitled to know what they're putting up with and how they are performing.Why, Walter? Not enough of our guys getting killed to suit you? So you can do to them what you did to our troops in Viet Nam? Fat chance. Stay retired.
6 posted on
08/27/2002 4:28:01 PM PDT by
Gumlegs
To: GeneD
It's been a total news blackout," [Cronkite] said in an interview with columnist Liz Smith.
TOTAL? What BS. How could it be 'total'?
Is Walter getting his info from his terroristophilic heir?
To: GeneD
We are not allowed to accompany troops into action, and this is a denial of the free speech and free press to which we're entitled.
Refusing to risk the lives of our soldiers by requiring them to escort journalists constitutes a denial of free speech?
How odd that Cronkite was allowed to say what he said, what with his free speech having been denied and all.
8 posted on
08/27/2002 4:32:22 PM PDT by
Asclepius
To: M. Thatcher
We are not allowed to accompany troops into action, and this is a denial of the free speech and free press to which we're entitled...What's his screen name?
To: GeneD
This old fart couldn't find his butt with both hands.
12 posted on
08/27/2002 4:35:54 PM PDT by
hgro
To: GeneD
And don't forget Liz Smith, "Journalist" extraordinaire.....another real heavyweight.
To: GeneD
"We are not allowed to accompany troops into action, and this is a denial of the free speech and free press to which we're entitled." Walter, you chucklehead. Your "Free Speech" screech only works here in America. Over there, you are treated like Daniel Pearl.
To: GeneD
"BTW, is that capital-D "Democratic" in the last paragraph a Freudian slip?" One can only assume that Liz, and/or her editor, believe democratic is a registered trademark...
19 posted on
08/27/2002 4:58:21 PM PDT by
okie01
To: GeneD
The reasons accredited "journalists" have been restricted from hot combat zones:
1. Too fat to keep up with grunts humping 100lb rucks (risks lives)
2. Lying, cheating, misrepresenting "stores" (fabricating the truth)
3. Risk of collateral deaths (journalist fragged)
In other words, get in shape, quit lying to the american people, and support this country and maybe, maybe we will let you hold an empty and cleared M16A2 for a few seconds.
20 posted on
08/27/2002 5:00:46 PM PDT by
3k9pm
To: GeneD
I can remember how the media met our boys during that night landing in Somolia in 1992....glaring video lights on the beach that could be seen for miles...telling any sniper or artillery battery, "here we are!"
To: GeneD
Would we all be so supportive of the government's position if Clinton were doing the same things?
To: GeneD
Former UPI War Correspondent huh? And I heard him complain when his UPI stories where subject to direct censorship during WWII? Did I hear old Walter complain about the total stranglehold the government imposed on the press in WWII? This old wheezer makes me sick. When he apologizes for his "the war is unwinnable" remark back during Tet then I will take him seriously again. Nothing was farther from the truth and he must know that now. Cronkite is a disgrace to this nation. He should apologize to the entire nation of Viet Nam whom he helped enslave as well.
To: GeneD
Is anybody surprised that "Cronkite" is pronounced just like "Krankheit",the German word for "Sickness"
To: GeneD
Walter provides the voice of Franklin. (Other voices include Whoopi Goldberg, Annette Bening, Michael Douglas, Arnold Scwharzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf). The show airs over the Labor Day weekend. Gag! Puke! Vomit!.... Ben will be shocked!
To: GeneD
Just amazing. How many journelists have died already. 8 maybe 12. Ours troops have enough to worry about without having to baby sit the reporters. Why don't they just ask the Afganistan government for permission to roam around the countryside!! Then we will see how many more Danny Pearle's(Sp) show up. Parley
To: GeneD
Aunt Walter hasn't been the same since Boner Bill grew that big chubby post-impeachment on Cronkite's sailboat off Martha's Vineyard. Can somebody post a picture of that spectacle?
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