This story was such an obvious - not mention pathetic! - effort to try to scare voters away from Kerry at the last minute that we actually laughed out loud when we saw it! We have been following the progress of the dollar against other currencies for FOUR YEARS. Since Bush came into office, it has dropped, and dropped, and dropped again. The world's leading financial experts DID NOT endorse Bush (The Economist, The Financial Times, etc.) because he has, among other things, helped drive the dollar's value downhill. But now, on election eve, we are supposed to believe that today's drop in the dollar is because Kerry might win? PUL-EEEEEEEZE! Hey Bloomberg! - No one is that stupid! Except maybe G.W.!

Media Matters: "An article in the November 1 edition of The New York Times passed along Republican accusations of voter fraud without making any apparent effort to verify them, even though journalists at other newspapers have raised serious doubts about the accusations.In the article, titled "Complaints: Charges of Fraud and Voter Suppression," [by Bushie sorry excuses for] reporters Kate Zernike and William Yardley. However, as an article in the October 29 edition of the St. Petersburg Times" had already discredited the fraud story. Why, three days later was the Times - supposedly known for its superior journalistic standards - trumpeting the baseless claim?

As we have pointed out, NBC is owned by NBC Universal, which is 80% owned by GE, which has benefitted HUGELY from Bush's endless war. The latest windfall was a $444.9-million contract awarded Oct. 21. NBC, through its "news" programs has, for three years, been a blatant Pentagon mouthpiece, pushing more loudly for the war in Iraq than any other network besides FOX. Since the start of campaign 2004, NBC has been pushing Bush with every means at its disposal - including the Today Show (Katie "Chicken Little" Couric has become the nation's number one cheerleader for 'scaredy-moms'). On Nov. 1, in an "interview" with Ann Curry , a "financial expert" claimed that if Kerry were elected, the stock market would plummet. There is NOTHING to support this outrageous claim - even this 'personal finance" story run on Oct. 30 by MSNBC news online!

350-plus tons of explosives that may claim hundreds - even thousands of lives - were stolen on the Bush coaplition's watch in Iraq. There is video footage, examined by experts and declared authentic to support the lapse. Weapons inspectors now report being denied a chance to secure the Al Qaqaa weapons cache. US soldiers report being told that guarding such sites was "not their job." Iraqis in the area report witnessing the looting of the site and seeing trucks being loaded with the materials. WE'RE TALING LIVES HERE - those explosives may already have killed some of our soldiers. Yet what does the LA Times, Washington Post, Ted Koppel, FOX, and other Bush-Pentagon minions do? They have participated in and promoted the Pentagon coverup of the event - with the only possible objective being to aid the reelection campaign of G.W. Bush. This is tantamount to aiding in the willful obstruction of a murder investigation - including lying. Martha got FIVE months in prison for less.

Media Matters reports: "On the October 28 edition of FOX News Channel's Hannity & Colmes, veteran talk show host Phil Donahue remarked on being fired from MSNBC in February 2003. As The New York Times reported at the time, when Donahue's MSNBC show, Donahue, was cancelled, "he was actually attracting more viewers than any other show on MSNBC." SEAN HANNITY (co-host): What happened at MSNBC?DONAHUE: Well, we were the only antiwar voice that had a show, and that, I think, made them very nervous. I mean, from the top down, they were just terrified." Why? Because GE, which owns an 80% share of NBC sees war as "ready cash" - as in Pentagon contracts. It was recently awarded yet another fat contract - $444.9 MILLION.

Go to Google News, Ask Jeeves, or Yahoo and you will see a pattern so obvious that one wonders just how stupid and clueless the media thinks Americans are! Every other political article headline reads variations on: "Bush, Kerry Trade Barbs," "Bush, Kerry Exchange Insults," etc. The scam? Lump Kerry in with Bush rather than give him real "equal time" coverage, while Bush automatically, as prez, gets plenty of "free" solo coverage ("Bush imports flu vaccines," etc.). This CNN article is typical - note how it leads in with Bush's slam of Kerry, then follows with Kerry, worded to make it seem as if it were KERRY, not Bush on the defensive ("Kerry countered with...etc."). This scam is a variation on what we call the "six of one, half dozen of the other" propaganda ploy - which tries to make Bush look better by implying everything in the two campaigns is somehow "equivalent."

When we heard that Kerry's rally in Madison, WI drew over 80,000 people, we wanted, naturally, to find a photo of this historic event. But when we went to Yahoo/AP news photos and clicked on the political photo selection, it looked like we'd stumbled into the Bush campaign's PR files! We had to hunt through dozens of Bush photos before - finally- on the third or fourth page of selections, we found this one of Kerry - a lousy shot with the crowd out of focus. This is inexcusable! Not even the pretense of an effort has been made to present a fair balance. As any reporter will tell you, a lead story on any topic is "dead in the water" without a photo. so, by making Kerry photos scarce, it insures there will be more Bush coverage simply because it's easier. Here's a NYTimes photo of the rally: http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2004/10/28/national/28cnd-kerry.5.html

MEDIA FRAUD: NBC Uses Pundits to Push Discredited Coverup of the Missing Explosives Again, we preface this story with the gross evidence of conflict of interest at NBC: The NBC network is part of NBC Universal, which is 80% owned by GE. GE, in turn is "owned" by the Pentagon, which on October 21 handed GE a $444.9 MILLION defense contract. So now the "GE Network" is using every means at its disposal - from Tom Brokaw and Tim Russert to Chris Matthews and Joe Scarborough to push White House propaganda. The missing explosives story is only the most glaring and current case in point. Although NBC Nightly News on Oct 26 recanted a previous story designed to cover up the White House failure to secure the explosives, pundits Matthews and Scarborough were pushing the lie afterward. Here Media Matters reports the latest NBC fraud.

Yet More MEDIA FRAUD - Campaign Desk slams AP stenography of Cheney's lies about John Kerry's statements on Yasser Arafat. "Eight days left in the race and the Associated Press still can't bring itself to go further than he said/she said reporting... A logical question occurs (to anyone other than an AP reporter, apparently): Did Cheney take the sentence out of context?... A reporter practicing more than stenography would provide Kerry's actual quote so readers could judge for themselves -- something the AP time and again fails to do. In fact, an alert reporter would go further -- by making Cheney's obvious intent to deceive the central focus of its coverage of the event."

FAIR.org: "George W. Bush's new claims about Kerry "flip-flopping" on the war in Afghanistan quickly moved yesterday from the campaign trail to the nightly news [as usual!]. But some journalists who repeated Bush's charges made no effort to examine the truth behind Bush's claims-- claims which turn out, like many other Bush lines of attack, to be deceptive. Bush charged, "on national TV, he said this about Tora Bora: 'I think we've been doing this pretty effectively and we should continue to do it that way.' At the time, the senator said about Tora Bora, 'I think we've been smart. I think the administration leadership has done it well, and we are on the right track.'" But Bush is taking Kerry's words grossly out of context." Both comments referred only to the fact that Bush had resisted using napalm and flame throwers in caves.

Why doesn't it surprise us that the network that is directly benefiting from Bush Pentagon largesse - as in a $444.9 million contract to GE, the network's parent co, which owns 80% of the NBC "empire" - is the network leading the charge to try to help the Bush Pentagon try to spin off the disastrous disappearance of 380 tons of explosives in Iraq? NBC has also been feeding propaganda to rightwing pundits: on Oct. 26, Pat Robertson (for ex.) claimed that an "NBC embedded reporter" says the weapons were "always missing", so their absence could be blamed on Clinton! Call NBC and demand they stop this conflict-of-interest-motivated perversion of the truth. Also, check your stock portfolio for GE and NBC Universal stock. For now, contact NBC/MSNBC's news: http://www.msnbc.com/news/435157.asp?0bb=-m1&cp1=1

Jan. 2003 through October 2004: NBC/MSNBC promote the war in Iraq and the Bush campaign through continuous news spin, while undermining or suppressing John Kerry. October 21, 2004: Pentagon awards GE (which owns an 80% interest in NBC Universal, the parent co. of NBC and MSNBC) a $444.9 million defense contract. October 21 2004 to present: NBC/MSNBC pro-Bush spin intensifies. DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH PROFITING OFF WAR AND MANIPULATING NEWS. Call and demand that NBC stops colluding with the Pentagon and GE. This amounts to a criminal conflict of interest. If you get no response, maybe it's time to check your stock portfolio and do a little "weeding." Contact info: http://www.msnbc.com/news/435157.asp?0bb=-m1&cp1=1

Clevelandscene.com wrote in August, 2004 that although "The International Children's Games offered a fabulous boost for Cleveland," the fact that the Cleveland Plain Dealer carried a staggering 83 stories for an event drawing 2,300 seemed too much - especially when the 25th Annual National Sports Collectors convention, which drew 30,000, netted just ONE Plain Dealer story. "So why the relentless, wall-to-wall coverage? Punch suspects it was the work of publisher Alex Machaskee, who just so happened to co-chair the executive committee that planned and raised money for the games." Turns out the event was desdigned as a photo op/media stunt for the Bush campaign: see http://usembassy.state.gov/islamabad/wwwh04080302.html

Media Matters: "FOX News Channel's on-screen text falsely suggested that the latest poll from The Pew Research Center for People and the Press shows George W. Bush with a sizeable lead over Senator John Kerry among white Catholic voters; however, the opposite is true.During the October 22 edition of FOX News Channel's Hannity & Colmes, the on-screen text cited an outdated Pew poll conducted October 1-3, which found that white Catholics favored Bush over Kerry by a margin of 49 percent to 33 percent. Yet a more recent Pew poll conducted October 15-19 shows Kerry leading Bush among white Catholic voters, 50 percent to 43 percent."

CNN has violated every ethical standard of journalism in recent weeks in its self-aggrandizing quest to shove Bush into the White House at the expense of truth, fairness, and the American public's welfare. They have made all but pro-Bush polls "disappear," have padded polls outrageously toward Repugs, and manipulated or suppressed news of vital importance to Americans. Here's a classic CNN example of poll spin, designed to make Bill Clinton look a "big liability" to Kerry - even tho 100,000 turned out to see him in Philly today. "It was a move that could push undecided voters either way since a July poll showed 54% of Americans have a favorable impression of Clinton but 43% hold an unfavorable view of the former president." This is BAD? - the latest mainstream polls shows Bush with an approval rating of just 45-47%, with only 48% saying he deserves another term! Yet a 54% Clinton favorability (which we all know is phony - it's much higher) rating is supposed to be a LIABILTY?

We watched Katie 'Bush Attack Poodle" Couric play "journalist" this AM (she seems to think that a dark dress and glasses perched on her nose is all it takes), interviewing John Kerry. Couric's interview was essentially a hatchet job - she assumed an arrogant, harping tight-jawed manner, looking much older and harder-faced than we've ever seen her. Her "questions" were essentially regurgitations of Bush campaign/Rush Limbaugh accusations. Then Dick Cheney came on with the "last word" (of course), and was fed only questions he WANTED to answer, all directed against Kerry. Selected attack dog clips were spread liberally about the network. Newsmax, CNS and other rightwing sites are spreading the "ambush bytes" ("Katie Couric doubtful" of Kerry; "Couric attacks Kerry," etc.) TELL KATIE COURIC AND TODAY and tell them what you think of them! Today@nbc.com

This weekend, the Washington Post revealed that CIA, FBI, and law enforcement officials have, after a five-week investigation, found NO CREDIBLE EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER of an "election terror plot." But the Bushie media has made sure that this story was suppressed everywhere and replaced with bogus bilge like this article by Jennifer C. Kerr. So who are Kerr's "sources?" Gee, we have several "unnamed" and "anonymous officials," along with a spokesperson from the ultrarightwing Heritage Foundation (which would do print, say, or do ANYTHING to keep Bush in power).

We were stunned by the blatancy of NBC News' (TV and online) pro-Bush spin this week. For example, having Lisa Myers run a dubious story claiming a former Guantanamo inmate is now suddenly a Taliban kingpin the SAME DAY the Bush administration lost a court case on the Guantanamo issue. Or running a slam of outspoken pro-Kerry actor Ben Affleck as headling story: "Is Ben Affleck's Career Beyond help?" We did a little poking and discovered that this week, the Bush administration handed GE a huge defense contract - $444.9 million to be exact. This is very good for GE - and very good for NBC, which is 80% owned by GE. But it's very bad for America, which deserves an honest media that places public welfare over corporate greed.

The Tribune Co., the third largest news mogul in the US, which owns the LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Newsday, and other papers, has since 2000 worked hard for G.W. Bush. So sure of the rewards they'd reap by such support, "The Tribune Co. bought Times Mirror with the expectation that the [Bush FCC] would reject the newspaper-television cross-ownership rule... In fact, the FCC did loosen the rules." (The tug-of-war between the public interest and the FCC goes on, however). The Tribune also got caught inflating circulation figures at Newsday and Spanish language publication Hoy so they could jack up their ad rates( just the tip of an ugly iceberg of similar manipulations in the media, we hear). Looks like the Trib is hoping for a new Bush bail out: the Chicago Tribune has endorsed Bush, while other papers in its chain continue to suppress Kerry and pump Bush.

Media Matters: "Bob Schieffer, CBS chief Washington correspondent and host of Face the Nation, is scheduled to moderate the third and final presidential debate on October 13. As moderator, Schieffer will be responsible for formulating the debate questions and following up after the candidates respond. However, Schieffer has described in the past his 'golfing friendship' with President George W. Bush 'during the 1990s' and has said, 'It's always difficult to cover someone you know personally.' These and other past statements by Schieffer raise the question that Schieffer himself suggested: Can he perform the role of objective moderator given his 'difficult[y] cover[ing] someone you know personally'? Once again, the media is doing its best to trash America's principle of fair play.

Back when the rightwingers were boasting about the incredible sales of "Unfit to Command," we ran across an ad in the Wasington "Moonie News" Times that said "click here to get a free copy of Unfit to Command." Now Media Matter's Jim O'Brien reveals that Ann Coulter's book is also being given away for free on Newsmax and other sites. This means that Washington Times, Newsmax and other rightwing outlets are creating bogus "best sellers" by buying up these "literary efforts" (snicker) by the truckload, then giving them away. But try randomly asking anyone at a crowded mall if they've actually read any of these books - they answer is NO. However, ask if they've read Clinton or Michael Moore's books: many say yes. The reason? Those books were bought by real people, not a handful of media barons with an agenda. Scroll down righthand side to "Currently under Discussion: The World According to Ann Coulter."

AMERICAblog.com: "Folks, this is the most outrageous thing I've read this election. A conservative group that owns TV outlets that reach into nearly a quarter of the nation's homes is FORCING its local stations to PREEMPT ITS REGULAR PRIME-TIME COVERAGE, just days before the election, to air a film attacking Kerry's military record. I won't even bother repeating the story here - you can read it all in the Los Angeles Times. The conservative group is the same one that refused to air Nightline's homage to our fallen troops. Read the article and then someone out there find out which EXACT local stations belong to this Sinclair Broadcast Group. We are going to take those stations down. I want to know the exact stations, with proof (find me the source), then I want to help coordinate a campaign to kill their advertising." The anti-Sinclair movement will be as coordinated and hopefully as successful as its model, the Stop Dr.Laura campaign. GET INVOLVED!

We have, since being alerted by readers to possible problems, been monitoring how the major search engines are "behaving" when it comes to liberal/Democratic blogs and writers.. We have discovered a VERY interesting trend: the closer we get to election, and the higher hits go (liberal blogs have been smashing records for numbers of hits and links), the FEWER number of google results - in fact have actually been shrinking! The opposite trend is found for FreeRepublic.com, which gets no more hits (probably fewer) than Democrats.com and Buzzflash: .while Democrats.com now gets just 45,000 or so results and Buzzflash.com 28,000, FreeRepublic shows nearly 400,000. Molly Ivins whose work enjoys a higher number of outlets than Ann Coulter (who has been dropped from many news outlets), show 96,000 results to Coulter's inflated 205,000. The same pattern is repeated over and over. CALL GOOGLE AND DEMAND AN END TO THEIR FRAUDULENT SYSTEM!

Put the words Kerry Iraq into Google, altavista, google news, Ask Jeeves, or Ask Jeeves news. You know what you will get? Rightwing slams of Kerry - You will find it very hard to find links to stories actually stating Kerry's position. The worst of all is Ask Jeeves. A completely fraudulent site comes up as the NUMBER TWO LINK KerryonIraq.com. These sleazoids have actually bought up a domain name that pretends to be a Kerry site, but in fact is a rightwing anti-Kerry site. We believe that this sort of suppression of information is consistutes FRAUD. It should be investigated and the search engines held accountable. Contact your legislators and these search engines.

Well, really - what can you expect? Tim Russert is a close neighbor and cocktail party regular with Dick Cheney. They both live in the swanky Kalorama suburb of D.C. Russert has been a White House mouthpiece for years now, so no one expects real journalism from him. But hey, wait! Isn't this America? And isn't a US election for president underway? And isn't the US supposed to get the facts they need from the "free press?" Guess that makes Tim Russert a little more than a sleazy PR guy for the White House. It makes him a MEDIA FRAUD, one helping to undermine the integrity of the American democratic process, which is inexorably intertwined with the public's NEED TO KNOW THE TRUTH.

Media Matters: "Following the debate, Bush distorted Kerry's 'global test' remark to claim that Kerry 'would give foreign governments veto power over our national security decisions.' The Bush-Cheney '04 campaign launched a new advertisement called 'Global Test,' which claims that Kerry would 'seek permission from foreign governments before protecting America." Despite the fact that this was a deliberate misquote designed to mislead, the corporate media has disseminated the lie as if it were "news." Add to the Bush-colluder fraud list: Washington Post, NY Times, Chicago Tribune, CNN, NBC, and FOX. All repeated the lie like dutiful Bush minions. Call and demand retractions! http://www.fair.org/media-contact-list.html#Network%20television

Check out this latest round of polls You will soon notice a glaring bit of information: in the non-media poll (Democracy Corps, American Research Group), Kerry now leads Bush. But in the ABC, CBS, and FOX (i.e. corporate media) polls, Bush is still magically ahead - although even FOX could not get Bush to come out ahead under its untweaked results (registered voters). If ever there were proof of media poll manipulation, this consistent disparity between media and nonmedia polling is it. Worse, this manipulation may be designed to "legitimize" the results produced by widespread pro-bush poll rigging on Nov. 2. Call the networks and tell them they will be held accountable later for the fraud they are committing against America now! http://www.fair.org/media-contact-list.html#Network television

We believe that it is a gross violation of ethics amounting even to fraud that Andrea Mitchell, wife of Bush administration insider Alan Greenspan, should be doing ANY campaign 2004 analysis, let alone covering the debates. Media Matters caught Mitchell - whose hubby's job depends on Bush's reelection - not just trying to undermine Kerry, but intentionally misstating Kerry's proposal to deal with Iran's nuclear weapons program AND experts' response to it." In fact, the approach that Kerry supported involves providing Iran nuclear material that is usable for energy -- not weapons -- in exchange for Iran agreeing to verifiably halt weapons development. Many credible experts favor this approach." CALL or WRITE MSNBC and demand that Mitchell be barred from campaign coverage to prvent a gross conflict of interest. (contact info at end of article)

LA Weekly: "On any given day, the major TV networks rarely demonstrate good judgment, much less morality, when it comes to accepting a litany of nauseating advertisements. Hemorrhoid creams. Vaginal ointments. Erectile dysfunction. Army recruiting ads that portray war as a gee-whiz video game. [not to mention ads for heart-attack-inducing Vioxx] And...Bud Light's farting horse during the Super Bowl. But ads for the October 5 release of the new Fahrenheit 9/11 DVD? Now that makes Big Media gag. CBS, NBC and ABC all refused Fahrenheit 9/11 DVD advertising during any of the networks' news programming. Executives at Sony Pictures...were shocked when the three networks explained why: 'They said explicitly they were reluctant because of the closeness of the release to the election.'" I.e., the ads might compete with the relentless Bush propaganda being dished up nonstop on the network news and commentary shows!

FAIR reports: "On the September 24 NBC Nightly News, Tom Brokaw gave this brief report: "The RNC now has acknowledged sending mass mailings to two states that say liberals want to ban the Bible..... Some Christian commentators say liberal support for same-sex marriage could lead to laws that punish sermons denouncing homosexuality as sinful." But Brokaw not tell his viewers that the RNC smear isn't true. Worse, he gives "Christian commentators" a chance to justify one deceit with another: that gay marriage could lead to censorship of sermons. Why does such an unsubstantiated and frankly bizarre claim deserve space on a national newscast?" Easy - Tom Brokaw is one of the most despicable sell outs in America - a seasoned journalist who knows better and thus has NO EXCUSE.. Here is his contact info. TELL HIM WHAT YOU THINK: http://www.randomhouse.com/features/brokaw/contact.html

MSNBC (NBC) has a HUGE stake in getting Bush reelected. Not only will they scoop up the promised benefits of deregulation, they are 80% owned by one of Earth's biggest defense contractors, GE, and would thus welcome endless Bush wars. So it is little wonder that MSNBC is planning to rig its coverage of the debates to favor Bush by using as their "analyst" Frank Luntz, a Republican who was once caught rigging polls, and whom, The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports, "advised Republicans to never talk about Iraq or homeland security without first mentioning how 9/11 changed everything." MSNBC has committed fraud against the public by failing to mention that Luntz is a Republican who is actively campaigning for Bush and that he has been reprimanded by a polling ethics board for manipulating polls.

Alan Greenspan's job depends on G.W. Bush's continued residence in the White House. Bush's continued residence in the White House depends on the media suppressing unfavorable facts and spinning off everything else. Andrea Mitchell, a correspondant for NBC spends much of her time suppressing unfavorable facts and spinning off everything else. Guess who Mitchell is married to? Alan Greenspan. For Mitchell to continue to work as a commentator on political matters is as criminal a conflict of interest as it was for Dick Cheney to lobby for no-bid contracts for his former company Halliburton. We can't wait to see these people PROSECUTED in a future, less corrupt regime. We also applaud Maria Shriver for having the integrity to step down from political reporting once Arnold became governor.

'Moonie' Times: "Due to erroneous information from Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican, an item in the Inside the Beltway column in yesterday's editions incorrectly quoted Sen. John Kerry in a 1997 appearance on CNN's 'Crossfire' as arguing for a unilateral, pre-emptive war against Iraq. In reference to a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding access to Iraqi weapons sites, Mr. Kerry actually said: 'I think that's our great concern [-] where's the backbone of Russia, where's the backbone of France, where are they in expressing their condemnation of such clearly illegal activity [-] but in a sense, they're now climbing into a box and they will have enormous difficulty not following up on this if there is not compliance by Iraq.' " Trouble with the "correction-after-the-fact" strategy is that as the Times WELL KNOWS, very few readers look at the corrections - the initial smear is what will stick and that is what the Times and the other media liars count on.

Every corporate media exec and talking head is in that golden income bracket on which Bush so strategically dumped the vast bulk of tax breaks. For the rest of us poor chumps, after getting our average $400 bucks back, we've had to turn around and pay out $1,100 more per year in energy bills, thanks to Bush policy. Such a deal! But Bill Schneider and the rest of the media Mr. Creosotes (from Monty Python's "Meaning of Life" - image at http://www.trashcity.org/BLITZ/BLIT1243.JPG) are making out like bandits and they want it to stay that way - by trying to fix the election in Bush's favor. Schneider must REALLY like that extra cash, because he has resorted to the most despicable sort of slander and fearmongering in his quest to keep it comin' in. Don't let these creeps keep suckin' off America at the expense of Democracy and journalistic integrity. MAKE SOME NOIISE, PEOPLE!!

In their frantic, greed-driven fever to try to keep their Sugar Daddy in the White House, the corporate media have become mutant hybrids: part pig, part hyena, part shark. The pig-like snout has been swilling deeply from the federal trough - scooping up billions in tax cuts and increased revenues via pro-media legislation. The hyena part sneaks, lies, and cheats to try to make sure it gets its share of the 'kill." The shark circles its victims, waiting for just a drop of blood in the water as a signal for a savage attack. Here's just the latest "Pigenark" sighting, this one from Media Matters, who caught the Washington Times (one of the greediest Pigenarks) in a flagrant act of media fraud in its neverending efforts to smear Kerry.

Whoa!!! This is an "investigation?" Why not just ask Karl Rove and Dick Cheney to investigate? Because it doesn't get any more "rigged" than this: asking Dick Thornburgh, former attorney general for both Reagan and Bush I, and Louis Boccardi, ex-Prez of AP to determine how the apparently faked Bush TX National Guard documents came to be used on 60 Minutes.

Hey, anybody out there know how Judy Woodruff got her job? Cause it sure wasn't talent - at least not in journalism! Media matters reports Bushie Woodruff's latest affront to journalistic integrity: To try to deflect the powerful positive impact of Kerry's Sept. 20 speech on the Iraq war, Woodruff crossed the line from spin to lies. "During an interview with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Woodruff claimed that when Kerry said "my answer is no" when he responded, as Woodruff put it, "to the question whether he [Kerry] would do again what he did before: authorize that the U.S. should have invaded Iraq." In reality, Kerry was answering "no" to a different question entirely; further, in his NYU speech, Kerry stood by his vote giving Bush the authority to use force in Iraq." Call CNN and tell them what you think of Woodruff - tell 'em with the amount of corporate dollars they rake in, they can afford to hire REAL journalists there! http://www.cnn.com/feedback/

As soon as Kerry launched his more aggressive attacks on Bush's incompetence, dishonesty, and manipulative abuse of power, his poll numbers started to leap, wiping out Bush's bounce in non-corporate media polls, and even paring it down in tweaked media polls. So now they are trying to silence Kerry by convincing him that his "aggressive tactics may not be working," using as "evidence" a new round of tweaked corporate media polls. DON'T LISTEN TO 'EM JFK! The Repugs and their media pals pulled the same crap on Gore. They also pulled the same crap on the Democrats in fall 2002, convincing them that the public wanted them to take a more pro-war stance - the OPPOSITE, of course, was true and when the Dems caved in to the pressure they lost big time at the polls in a punishment vote. It's a con!

Media pollsters are feigning amazement over the current conflicting spread of poll results. But there is no REAL conflict here. The divergence did not come until the GOP convention. Obviously something happened then. The clue as to what that was lies in WHICH polls show Bush with a huge lead: ALL are mainstream media polls: USA Today, CNN, NY Times, Washington Post, ABC, etc. Polls less connected to the Bushie media show a pattern that is consistent with the entire campaign (Harris, Rasmussen, Zogby, et al.). This is not coincidence. We know for a fact that several of the media polls began manipulating their "weighting" system in a dishonest manner (non-media pollster John Zogby spotted Newsweek's scheme right away). The media publicize their own manipulated polls, not the traditional pollsters' results. Thus, they are using their skewed polls as "marketing devices" - selling Bush like their latest name brand coming out ahead in a rigged "national taste test."

This clear "at a glance" chart reveals the outrageous - in fact, anti-American - derailment of fair news coverage during one of the most critical elections in US history. The chart is not based on opinion - it is based on ACTUAL statements recorded during the course of news programs. It is a sad day from the American free press with its once-proud tradition of independence and quest for the truth that it has come to this. The irresponsibility of the media has so far led us into a bloody, pointless war. It is now is using all its resources to try to railroad Americans into reelecting a man who will most surely lead us into more bloody, pointless wars, while undermining the very principles upon which our nation is based.

Media Matters: "According to an analysis by Media Tenor International (an independent and nonpartisan research organization), ABC, CBS, FOX News Channel, and NBC evening news reports on Kerry's military service far outnumbered reports on other topics relating to Bush and Kerry. The analysis surveyed the period of August 1 through August 29; the 'other topics' included campaigning and campaign strategy; foreign and domestic policy; personality; and terrorism. Negative statements about Kerry's military service significantly outnumbered positive statements on both the network evening news programs and on FOX News Channel's Special Report with Brit Hume.' More outrageous still, the networks slams of Kerry relied heavily on 'anonymous sources', with FOX (naturally!) the worse, citing anonymous sources for 12 negative statements."

The same media that ran the fraudulent Swift Boat smears for MONTHS without question has, within a few days, aggressively mobilized to discredit the Bush AWOL documents. Here Media Matters exposes the misinformation being disseminated by nearly every mainstream news outlet in their scramble to protect Bush's butt. For example, "Many news outlets and conservative publications have falsely reported that the documents' 'use of the superscripted letters 'th' in phrases such as 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron' raise suspicion because 1970s-era typewriters were incapable of producing such letters. In fact, journalist and weblogger Joshua Micah Marshall has pointed out that superscripted letters appear on other documents in Bush's military file that are known to be authentic. Moreover, IBM released a typewriter in the 1960s, the Selectric II, which was capable of producing superscript type." And that's just for starters!

John Byrne and Jessee Kanson-Benanav write: "Internet 'journalist' [snicker] Matt Drudge has posted a claim which suggests the new documents that indict Bush's failures in the National Guard are actually fakes." Guess who the source of this "claim" is: L Brent Bozell III, via Cybercast News Service, a rightwing media service owned by Bozell. Bozell is a fanatical rightwing activist (backed for years by Richard Mellon Scaife) who serves on various "conservative think tanks" and as the head of the Conservative Victory Committee. He has dedicated himself for years to getting rightwing politicians elected to the federal government. No agenda here, eh?! One of Bozell's past campaigns: a drive to wipe out PBS.

John Zogby, one of the nation's most respected pollsters, was so mystified by Time and Newsweek polls showing Bush with a sudden 11-point lead, he checked into the methodology. Time wouldn't divulge theirs, but he checked out Newsweek's and found the reason for the "miraculous bounce": "Their sample of registered voters includes 38% Republican, 31% Democrat and 31% Independent voters. If we look at the three last Presidential elections, the spread was 34% Dem, 34% Repub and 33% Ind. (in 1992 with Ross Perot in the race); 39% Dems, 34% Repubs, and 27% Indies in 1996; and 39% Dems, 35% Repubs and 26% Indies in 2000." So add 3% for the "shaved off " Dems, and pare down the inflated Repug representation by 4% and suddenly, Bush's bounce drops to a modest 4 points - which has already faded according to tracking polls. CALL NEWSWEEK and tell them what you think of their fraudulent practices! For contact info see : http://www.msnbc.com/modules/newsweek/info/nwinfo_contactus.asp

Thank God for Media Matters. At least SOMEONE is exposing the outrageous, sick lies, spin and phony polls being disseminated by the nation's grossly irresponsible media. Some samples cited by MM: MSNBC uses discredited, partisan pollster to run "focus groups;" Gingrich's claim that Geo. Soros wants Kerry to win so he can "legalize heroin;" Brokaw's complete failure to question Swift Boat fraud; Limbaugh's claim that Kerry coined the term 'babykiller" (which was used BEFORE Kerry even went to Vietnam); Wall Street Journal used as mouthpiece for Swift boat frauds; Bob Novak's use of his column to promote the Swift boat lies (this coming from the guy who outed a CIA agent then lied about it) & ad nauseum. Bookmark this site! Then pass it on to everyone you know!

Today's Media Matter's main page is filled with article links that detail the sorry story of the corporate media's subversion of the American election and the public's right to know during one of the most critical moments in US history. From phony polls to coverage shamelessly skewed in content and time allotment to Bush and the RNC, to the unabated dissemination of damaging misinformation - here's a veritable smorgasboard sampling of the corporate media's rotten wares. SPEAK OUT AMERICA! Call, write, fax, e-mail or personally visit your local network affiliates and tell them you've had ENOUGH: Get the contact info for your state and networks at: http://newslink.org

Want to peek behind the rotten corporate media curtain at how they come up with "survey" results to support news claims? Here's an example from CNN, reported by Media Matters: "To support his claim that New Hampshire 'could be bad [for Senator John Kerry] because they do know so much about him,' CNN Boston bureau chief Dan Lothian cited the opinion of just one New Hampshire voter: a delegate on the floor of the Republican National Convention." In short, the "survey" consisted of Wolf Blitzer asking RNC delegate Dan Lothian what he thought of Kerry's chances in NH. Lothian gave his highly biased opinion, and that became the "supporting survey" Blitzer used to predict Kerry might be "in trouble" in NH. In any case, more and more evidence of media fraud and manipulation is beginning to surface.

The case of Lord Black and the Hollinger media empire is probably typical of many corporate media systems - flagrant abuse of power and funds undoubtedly being rampant. But don't expect to hear any real investigatory writing on the issue from the corporate meda! They're putting their wagons in a circle to spin any widening scandal away. Here's an example: a Bloomberg article suggesting the misused funds were approved and the whole thing's just a big misunderstanding that's been blown out of proportion is now running in the Washington Post, linked as a headline to Google News, which is linked to AOL/Time-Warner. What a joke!

Media Matters: "On the 8/31 on CNN's NewsNight with Aaron Brown, Washington Post chief political correspondent Terry Neal 'misrepresented' [a nice word for LIED] John Kerry's answer to Bush's public challenge to Kerry to state whether 'knowing what we know now, he [Kerry] would have supported going into Iraq.' Neal stated that Kerry said that he 'would have done the same thing that Bush did' regarding the Iraq war. But that's not what Kerry said. [He said]: 'Yes, I would have voted for the authority. I believe it was the right authority for a president to have.' An 8/10 article in The Boston Globe stated Kerry made a clear distinction between giving the president the authority to take action and the actual invasion of Iraq. Kerry sharply challenged the timing and manner in which Bush conducted the war."

Media Matters: "On August 31, the morning after former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani addressed the Republican National Convention, MSNBC.com's 'Question of the Day' offered only two possible answers -- both assuming that participants support the Bush-Cheney '04 ticket. The poll question asked: 'Did Rudy Giuliani's speech reassure you or move you to support the Bush-Cheney ticket?" The two response choices were: (1) "Reassure"; and (2) "Move you to support." This is just one more piece of evidence supporting what we have been saying for months: corporate media polls are manipulated, tweaked and - as this case shows - blatant frauds.

This story involves just one corporate media "octopus," the one that included the Daily Telegraph, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Jerusalem Post. But you can bet it's just the tip of the iceberg formed by the world's corporate media cartels. "Lord Black of Crossharbour, the former CEO of the publishing giant Hollinger International, and his associates ransacked more than $400 million from his former empire. Lord Black...illegally took the money to fund lavish parties, expensive possessions and massive salaries for himself and his friends." It was also revealed that at least one media commentator was slurping up a lavish "expense account." We are sure similar goings on are occurring with other media cartels, and that similar lavish parties - like those entertaining the "Kalorama Kocktail Klub" of Repug politicos in D.C are funded by media bucks.