The Media Cannot Alter History

[Bicycleman]

I received the following this morning via e-mail. It's very good.

THE MEDIA CAN NOT ALTER HISTORY

YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT'S TRUE
Yes, this is a true statement by a famous Democrat Senator just three years ago.
It was true then and is equally true now.




WHAT SENATOR JOHN GLENN SAID : - - Things that make you think a little:

There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq in January.
In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the Month of January. That's just one American city, About as deadly as the entire war-torn country of Iraq

When some claim that President Bush shouldn't Have started this war, state the following: - - A. F.D.R led us into World War II.

B. Germany never attacked us ; Japan did.
From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost ...An average of 112,500 per year.

C. Truman finished that war and started one in Korea North Korea never attacked us.
From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost ..
An average of 18,334 per year.

D. John F. Kennedy started the Vietnam conflict in 1962.Vietnam never attacked us.

E. Johnson turned Vietnam into a quagmire.
From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost .An average of 5,800 per year.

F. Clinton went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent. Bosnia never attacked us.
He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three Times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on Multiple occasions.

G. In the years since terrorists attacked us, President Bush - -Has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled al-Qaida, Put nuclear inspectors in Libya , Iran , and North Korea without firing a shot, And captured a terrorist who Slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.

The Democrats are complaining. About how long the war is taking.
But ..
It took less time militarily to take Iraq than it took Janet RenoTo take the Branch Davidian compound.
That was a 51-day operation.

We've been looking for evidence for chemical weapons In Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton to find The Rose Law Firm billing records.

It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the

Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard Than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick

It took less time to occupy Iraq than it took to count the votes in Florida !!!!

Our Commander-In-Chief is doing a GREAT JOB! -The Military morale is high!

The biased media hopes we are too ignorant to realize the facts.

But Wait. There's more!

JOHN GLENN (ON THE SENATE FLOOR) Mon, 26 Jan 2004 11:13

Some people still don't understand why military personnel Do what they do for a living.

This exchange between Senators John Glenn and Senator Howard Metzenbaum Is worth reading. Not only is it a pretty impressive impromptu speech, but it's also a good example of one man's explanation of why men and women in the armed Services do what they do for a living.

This IS a typical, though sad, example of what some who have never served think of the military.

Senator Metzenbaum (speaking to Senator Glenn):
"How can you run for Senate When you've never held a real job?"

Senator Glenn (D-Ohio):
"I served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps. I served through two wars. I flew 149 missions. My plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 12 different Occasions. I was in the space program. It wasn't my Checkbook, Howard, it was my life on the line.

It was Not a nine-to-five job, where I took my tie off to take the Daily cash receipts to the bank."

"I ask you to go with me ... As I went the other day...
To a veterans' hospital and look those men ...
With their mangled bodies in the eye, and tell THEM They didn't hold a job!

You go with me to the Space Program at NASA and go, as I have gone, To the widows and orphans of Ed White, Gus Grissom, and Roger Chaffee...
And you look those kids in the eye and tell them That their DADS didn't hold a job.

You go with me on Memorial Day, and you stand in Arlington National Cemetery , where I have more friends buried than I'd like to remember, and you watch those waving flags

You stand there, and you think about this nation, And you tell ME that those people didn't have a job?

What about you?"

For those who don't remember . During W.W.II, Howard Metzenbaum was an attorney representing the Communist Party in the USA

Now he's a Senator!


Oh, in case you're interested in refuting this one. Here is what Snopes has
to say, since many of you treat this site as the gospel.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/glenn.asp

[The_Comedian]

According to snopes, Glenn never said that, am I getting it right?

Apart from that, the article itself tries to change history. There are so many distortions in it, it really blows my mind.
It begins with the often-altered, but always misleading statistic which compares the deaths in Iraq to murders (or in other cases traffic deaths) in a major US city. What the author ignores is that the Detroit area has nearly 40 times the inhabitants than there are US soldiers in Iraq. So the numbers would be comparable if there were more than 1000 murders in Detroit in January...

Then there are 'facts' about former wars that are simply misleading; e.g. Germany did not attack the US but several US ships and was an ally of Japan. Of course, it is also dishonest to compare a World War to the war in Iraq. Yada Yada Yada.

The ridiculous assertions about how fast the war in Iraq seemed to have lasted are hard to proof sometimes or downright stupid. Esp. as they leave out the fact that the occupation of Iraq is still going on and is unlikely to end anytime in the near future.

[towski]

Did you get this in the same email that enumerates the coincidences between the Kennedy and Lincoln assasinations?

[Bicycleman]

So, it's all a lie. The media can to alter history. History is what the media wants it to be and what the Whistlestopper posters believe it to be, and if not, they will believe it into existence even if it is a lie.

[towski]

So, it's all a lie. The media can to alter history. History is what the media wants it to be and what the Whistlestopper posters believe it to be, and if not, they will believe it into existence even if it is a lie.

History is a matter of perspective, as you well know. There is no such thing as "true history".

[NetxMan]

Stop it with all your facts.... STOP I AM MELTINGGGGG.

Some of this is true, some of it doesn't really give the circumstances behind the truism.

Any who, I got this email from a Nigerian today telling me if I wire him 10,000 dollars and all my bank info, SS#, and address. That I would receive 6.5 million dollars. BRB folks, I got some money wiring to do.

[Bicycleman]

History is a matter of perspective, as you well know. There is no such thing as "true history".

History is what our leaders, past and present want it to be.

[JD3]

History is what our leaders, past and present want it to be.

History is written by the winners, but you miss the point. First the article is a distortion itself and by skewing the context of all events it misrepresents them. It is itself an attempt to frame things inaccurately.

[Camera I]

I guess for folks who are gullible enough to believe everything that flows through their e-mail, it is possible to alter history. :lol:

[Bicycleman]

I guess for folks who are gullible enough to believe everything that flows through their e-mail, it is possible to alter history. :lol:

Well, it's altered here everyday. I'm just simply appalled at how many times I am corrected here by those on a witch hunt against anything conservative or Christian oriented.

[towski]

Well, it's altered here everyday. I'm just simply appalled at how many times I am corrected here by those on a witch hunt against anything conservative or Christian oriented.

I know! And one hardly ever sees anything at all slanted against the left, leftists, liberals, atheists, or democrats. The inequity is palpable.

[Atticus]

Well, it's altered here everyday. I'm just simply appalled at how many times I am corrected here by those on a witch hunt against anything conservative or Christian oriented.Wow, Bike. That's a really strong statement. If there are people here how are "against anything conservative or Christian oriented" then it's hardly appalling that they would contradict you, right? "By their fruits you will know them," no?

BTW, Snopes says that Metzenbaum said something SIMILAR to "you've never held a job." He said "you've never met a payroll." Snopes points out that this wasn't quite accurate, but that Glenn interpreted Metzenbaum's comment in a convenient way that allowed him to make the defense he did.

It was a strawman argument, but it worked.

History is facts and the interpretation of those facts. You can have your own interpretation, but you can't have your own facts.

[steveksux]

The politicians alter the present, and then history will take care of itself. Especially if the media is asleep at the switch and can't be bothered to do basic fact checking, preferring to parrot whatever nonsense it is spoon fed.

For instance how did the majority of the US come to believe the following:
"Saddam was behind 9/11".
" Saddam has WMDs ready to strike the US mainland in 45 min[edit]"Saddam has WMDs" [edit]"WMD Programs" [edit]"plans to implement WMD Programs"[edit]Saddam is a really bad guy"

And so on. Did the media create these distortions? Or did the media merely pass them along?

Randy

[JD3]

My personal favorite was wmd program related activities. Once you get away with that one, you can say anything without fear of anyone calling you on it. :(

[Turenne]

There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq in January.
In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the Month of January. That's just one American city, About as deadly as the entire war-torn country of Iraq

:rolleyes: Those above lines are enough to tell us the author's 'objectivity'. Stretching facts and language beyond their limits, and not doing a very clever job.

[steveksux]

My personal favorite was wmd program related activities. Once you get away with that one, you can say anything without fear of anyone calling you on it. :(Yeah, along with all the dire warnings about some evil empire somewhere that "wants to do" something.

Hell, little Muffy wants a pony. That doesn't mean you have to worry about running over horse **** with the lawn mower. Not much of a threat as long as Muffy is prevented from even getting a job that will enable her to get a pony over the next 5-10 years.

Saddam really wanted to win both Gulf Wars. Didn't work out so well for him.

I guess when you can't find any scary capabilities to get people frothy about, you have to resort to scary hopes and dreams and pray nobody notices the difference.

Randy

[patrickt]

Of course they can. The phrase, Nixon's War, was a media creation and when Senator Kerry used the phrase no one in the media pointed out that when he made his visit to Vietnam the President was Lyndon Johnson and, rather than Vietnam being Nixon's War, I seem to recall him ending it.

[Sgt Schultz]

JOHN GLENN (ON THE SENATE FLOOR) Mon, 26 Jan 2004 11:13

Talk about re-writing history...John Glenn served in the Senate from 1974-1999. He must have been making a guest appearance in the Senate that day.

[Atticus]

Talk about re-writing history...John Glenn served in the Senate from 1974-1999. He must have been making a guest appearance in the Senate that day.Actually, the odd date stamp is covered in the Snopes article.

[Sgt Schultz]

Actually, the odd date stamp is covered in the Snopes article.

I know, which just goes to show that these letters get passed around because there are those who don't pay attention and will believe anything they read. History is easy to re-write when that happens.

[Bicycleman]

Of course they can. The phrase, Nixon's War, was a media creation and when Senator Kerry used the phrase no one in the media pointed out that when he made his visit to Vietnam the President was Lyndon Johnson and, rather than Vietnam being Nixon's War, I seem to recall him ending it.

Yes, I mentioned the same thing to another liberal poster here on another thread about Johnson, a democrat escalating the Vietnam war by committing troops. I was met with derision and "What does that have to do with the subject?" A lot because it refuted the poster's argument that the Republicans are war mongers and always start wars.

After WWII, I distinctly remember my parents talking about the Democrats always getting us into a war and the Republicans getting us out of one. Barry Goldwater lost the election to Johnson when he told point blank that he was going to escalate things in Southeast Asia. Johnson's very own words: " I seek no further "wah" in Vietnam." Goldwater lost, and Johnson sent troops in 1965. So much for truths from the Democratic Party. But those on the left would want us to believe that only the Republicans lie about things like weapons of mass destruction. Gee, why did Hillary, Kerry, and all the rest of the hee haw gang claim that Saddam Hussein was a dangerous man, had weapons of mass destruction, and should be violently removed? They have forgotten they said those things, you know, selective forgetfulness? They love it when their constituency are ill-informed about current events because then they can manipulate history, can't they?

[JD3]

I wouldn't go that far. Even though Johnson started the VN war, Nixon more than laid claimed to his own responsibility to it. So, it isn't as simple as not being his war.

And depending on where you used this and in want context, it may well have been off topic. ;)

[Bicycleman]

I wouldn't go that far. Even though Johnson started the VN war, Nixon more than laid claimed to his own responsibility to it. So, it isn't as simple as not being his war.

And depending on where you used this and in want context, it may well have been off topic. ;)

I have noticed that most arguments that refute an argument made by a liberal poster are often deemed off-topic.

[JD3]

I have noticed that most arguments that refute an argument made by a liberal poster are often deemed off-topic.

Maybe because they don't refute but merely misdirect. I see a lot of that.