September 01, 2004

Inventing Excuses Already...
Posted by Jon Henke

Well, the Globe and Mail--a Canadian newspaper--seems to be working on the first draft of the Talking Points in case Kerry loses. This article is notable for getting almost everything wrong. For starters, the title....

Ads attack Kerry's patriotism
Of course, if you read the transcript of the ad in question, you'll find nothing at all about patriotism. Oh, sure...they're upset with the way he treated his "symbols" (read: medals/ribbons), but there's a very notable paucity of anything about his patriotism.

Fortunately, the Globe and Mail is not subject to journalistic anachronisms like "reporting the facts" or "accuracy". They didn't say anything about Kerry's "patriotism", but the ad did contain many of the same letters, so they're running with it.

Officially, a new television attack ad questioning Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's war record had nothing to do with the Republicans. But on the floor and in the corridors of the Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York yesterday, delegates enthusiastically embraced the cause.
Officially, the Globe and Mail had nothing to do with the terrorist attack on schoolchildren in Russia, but they quickly ran with the story.

Or, to put it another way: "Officially, a new ad had nothing to do with the Bush/Cheney campaign. But some Republicans who are not affiliated with the campaign like it."

Is it really "news" that Republicans embrace ads that paint their opponent in a negative light? Or is the Globe and Mail just damning by association....you know "sexing it up" in the parlance of their peer across the pond?

The ad, sponsored by the same shadowy group of veterans who have been dogging the Democrat's campaign for weeks....
"Shadowy". These guys have a website--now available in Canada!--with an "About Us" page and everything. This "shadowy group" even signs their names to the letters they send to John Kerry.

Who could they be?!?!

...highlights a 1971 incident in which the young Mr. Kerry, just returned from naval service in Vietnam, reportedly threw away his medals and ribbons to protest against the war.

"Reportedly"? Well, except for the fact that it's not just "reportedly" and he didn't--even "reportedly"--throw away his medals, that's exactly right. Which is to say, it's almost--but not quite--totally wrong. As John Kerry said...
"The point of the exercise was to symbolically give something up," Kerry recalled in his defense. "I chose my ribbons, which is what many of the veterans did."
Of course, while that information is readily available at John Kerry's site, it seems apparent that fact-checking is not a, let's say, Top 10 priority at the Globe and Mail.

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Comments

Canada is a stupid place. If you made Berkeley, CA its own country you would have Canada.

The Globe and Mail is from Toronto but it has a national delivery edition. It prides itself on being Canada's NYT. nuff said. ;)

The Globe used to be a right of center paper but more and more it has pulled to the left. Off course, nowhere as left as the Toronto Star which regularly has articles published by those who believe Bush was behind 911.

In a country where the ruling national party (for more than a decade) is identical in makeup to the Democratic party of this very year.

Canada used to be a reasonable place but now, what can you say about someplace which Michael Moore says the US must emulate.

Posted by: capt joe at September 1, 2004 02:44 PM

The ad doesn't attack Kerry's patriotism?! What Bizarro world are you living in? Take a look at the transcript:

MVO: “Symbols. They represent the best things about America.

Freedom … Valor … Sacrifice.

Symbols, like the heroes they represent, are meant to be respected.

Some didn’t share that respect…and turned their backs on their brothers.”

KERRY: “…renounce the symbols which this country gives… …and that was the medals themselves…I gave back – I can’t remember – six, seven, eight, nine…”

MVO: “How can the man who renounced his country's symbols now be trusted?

Swift Boat Veterans for truth is responsible for the content of this advertisement.

It's all hidden in plain sight. Paul is dead.

Posted by: Tongue Boy at September 1, 2004 03:04 PM

I find the nit picking of both left and right commentators fascinating. I read the Globe's article, reread your post and concluded that your statements are correct. But so what?

Posted by: MikeAdamson at September 1, 2004 03:11 PM

Tongue: The ad didn't say he'd renounced his country. It said he'd renounced his country's symbols. Well, that's exactly what Kerry had done...and had said he'd done.

You may draw whatever inferences you like, but the role of journalism is not to confuse their inferences with facts.

Mike: I criticize their journalism. That's all. No policy positions should be taken as a result of this blog post.

Posted by: Jon Henke at September 1, 2004 03:31 PM

Jon,

I've grown accustomed to leaving sarcasm tags off my posts. I may have to reconsider. Actually, the post would have worked better if I had been able to enable strikethrough on non-germane text. Since I couldn't, I tried bolding the appropriate text but it turned out to be a sorry substitution. Sorry for the confusion.

Posted by: Tongue Boy at September 1, 2004 03:38 PM

Ah....got it. :)

Posted by: Jon Henke at September 1, 2004 03:40 PM

Fair enough.

Posted by: MikeAdamson at September 1, 2004 03:58 PM