my latest LTTE, sent to SA & local rag

[WolverineDG]

hi all! here's my latest attempt to get ink in 2 papers....last time i got online in san antonio, but apparently i am still on "ignore" at the local rag...they have a new editor now, let's see what happens. :)

dg

Dear Editor,

In the professions that I have held (teaching & law), I have learned the hard way how to spot a liar. First, they try to get your attention with something that is mildly sensational. If that doesn't work, then they repeat the story, making it more sensational than the last, until what they are currently telling you bears little or no relation to their original story, much less the truth. Such people also like to throw in catch phrases, such as "some people say" or "I have heard" in their attempts to add credibility to whatever it is they are trying to pass off on you. (Heard those on the "news" broadcasts lately on Fox or CNN? Down a shot each time you hear that on one of the "news" shows & see how quickly you end up on the floor.)

It is this experience that tells me that whatever it is the "Swift Boat Veterans" are for, it is certainly NOT the truth. First comes suggestions that John Kerry somehow didn't deserve his three Purple Hearts because they were merely "scratches." I've seen & heard many "accounts" of these assertions in letters to this column & on television. Next, in his appearances on behalf of the Swift Boat Veterans for "Truth," Larry Thurlow suggests that John Kerry did not deserve the Bronze Star because he did not come under enemy fire, yet Mr. Thurlow himself received a Bronze Star FOR THE SAME INCIDENT. (Is he so outraged that he turned in his unearned medal?) And when THAT story began circulating on Thursday & causing damage to the SBV "truth," along comes right-wing mouthpiece Michelle Malkin on "Hardball" claiming she has heard "some people say" that the shrapnel in John Kerry's leg came from a self-inflicted gun shot wound!

As a teacher, if a student had told me whoppers this big, I would have spoken with his or her parents. As a lawyer, when someone tells me a story on the stand that conflicts with what they earlier stated, I get to ask "Were you lying then or are you lying now?" As an American, I am saddened and angered that a person's military service, once a well-respected asset on a resume, has now become a target for character assassination because of political affiliation. I wish this garbage would stop. The men & women who make the choice to serve our country, especially those who volunteer for frontline duty, deserve better treatment than this.

Sincerely,

me
Texas

[PDittie]

1. *BOOM*

*thud*

(Hunters will recognize the sounds associated with shooting a malicious ring-tailed rumor out of the sky)

Nice going. :yourock:

[WolverineDG]

thanks pdittie!

:yourock: too!!

dg

[WolverineDG]

2. thanks pdittie!

:yourock: too!!

dg

[sonias]

3. excellent letter dg!

Hope it makes the papers. I sent a SBV liar letter too. Haven't had them call to confirm it. They always to that part so who knows.

Sonia

[liveoaktx]

4. Glad you did this... I was in San Antonio this weekend and

was astonished at the huge headlines about the SBV, especially the WaPost article today above the fold, with the counterbalance article in tiny headline print and started on an interior page. Course, that being Lackland, shouldn't have been surprised.

[WolverineDG]

5. at least they ran

the whole thing...are you talking about sunday's paper? it took me almost an hour to really read those articles. personally to me the "discrepancies" in kerry's recollection were minor compared to the flat-out lies being spread by the SBVs.

dg

ps. no, still no phone call :(

[Darby]

6. Send it to the Texas State Bar

and to the Houston Bar Association

[ginamac]

7. Good LTE! Are you working with Rapid Response?

If not, the Rapid Response Network would love to have you, and anybody else who is willing to monitor newspapers and/or write LTEs. We send out alerts both about things to rag on the press about and things to praise them for, and just opportunities to get out the Democratic or progressive message. We share our letters, ideas and sources for talking points.

To check it out, go to http://rapidresponsenetwork.org/
You can sign up for the "national" list and/or the Texas list. To get to Texas, click on the state map and it takes you to a page that tell you more about it and how to get on the YahooGroup, which is how we communicate.

This is totally selfish, BTW: I just got appointed "county coordinated campaign chair" by my precinct chair, so I need to outsource some online commitments to make room for "3-D world" activities.

SO...

Anyone out there up for monitoring the Austin American-Statesman or the San Antonio Express-News for "TXRR," *pretty please with sugar on it* email me or just sign up with Texas Rapid Response and send a message volunteering to do so! Moderator Jerry will be happy to explain the procedure for putting together alerts and sending them to the list.

Peace, justice, and victory

[WolverineDG]

8. can't pm you yet

but since i get the sa paper every day, i could monitor that paper for you. :)

dg

[ginamac]

9. woohoo!

I can't email or message you yet either--you can email me by putting together the email address in my sig line. Please do so we can discuss backchannel (or whatever the whippersnappers call it nowadays). :D thanks!