SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on May 18, 2010 7:47:44 GMT -5
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Boz
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Post by Boz on May 18, 2010 8:03:09 GMT -5
I'll be interested to hear what he has to say at his press conference today. The heads on MSNBC this morning all seemed to agree that he was going to come out on the attack.
What is there to attack, though?
Yes, there is the standard ploy of just attacking the media for attacking the media's sake (admittedly, a favored ploy of Republicans), but it sure doesn't look like the NYT got anything wrong on this one. Hell, they are even pretty nice to him about it. I can think of a far more damaging -- yet still accurate -- headline than "Candidate's Words on Vietnam Service Differ from History."
I'd say that's putting it about as mildly as you can put it.
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on May 18, 2010 8:09:43 GMT -5
Alternative headline: "Blumenthal Lied About Service in Vietnam." Why can't the media use that word?
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TBird41
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Post by TBird41 on May 18, 2010 8:34:59 GMT -5
Just another example of the complete disregard for the military and those who served by the far left liberal extreme that is corrupting the Democratic party and turning them into a regional party confined only to cities on the coast.
/Ambassador'ed
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TC
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Post by TC on May 18, 2010 9:02:32 GMT -5
I don't get it - you're up by 20 points in the general at least and have the primary nomination locked down, why? Larry Sabato suggests on Twitter it's like an A student who cheats anyway to seal the A, I just don't get that.
Between Blumenthal and Louden's tour bus and the guy from IN-3, this is a huge scandal day and it's not even 10 AM.
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The Stig
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Post by The Stig on May 18, 2010 9:22:11 GMT -5
It sounds like he's been on this Vietnam kick for years, so it would be hard for him to back out of it now that he's ahead in the polls. It's almost as if he's deluded himself into thinking he actually served.
Hopefully this will be the end of the road for him. If so, good riddance.
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Boz
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Post by Boz on May 18, 2010 9:33:22 GMT -5
I don't get it - you're up by 20 points in the general at least and have the primary nomination locked down, why? Larry Sabato suggests on Twitter it's like an A student who cheats anyway to seal the A, I just don't get that. Between Blumenthal and Louden's tour bus and the guy from IN-3, this is a huge scandal day and it's not even 10 AM. What's the bus thing? I knew about the guy in Indiana (idiot!), but I tried looking up the other one and couldn't find anything. (Unless you mean Jeremiah Wright coming out and saying that Obama threw him under the bus, but I don't think that's what you were referring to.  ) |
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TC
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Post by TC on May 18, 2010 9:35:04 GMT -5
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on May 18, 2010 10:10:14 GMT -5
I don't get why the local press in Connecticut didn't pick up on Blumenthal's inconsistent statements about serving in Vietnam weren't investigated earlier. Protecting the liberal Dem in a liberal state??? And it sounds like opp research basically fed the story to the NY Times. Excellent timing on breaking the story -- a week+ or so before Memorial Day. Wonder what's on Dick "Five Deferments" Blumenthal's agenda for that day?
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TC
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Post by TC on May 18, 2010 10:20:59 GMT -5
I don't get why the local press in Connecticut didn't pick up on Blumenthal's inconsistent statements about serving in Vietnam weren't investigated earlier. Protecting the liberal Dem in a liberal state??? And it sounds like opp research basically fed the story to the NY Times. So let me grasp the tinfoil logic on this one : - liberal press protects liberal candidate - the mother of all liberal press, the NY Times takes him down |
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Boz
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Post by Boz on May 18, 2010 10:39:05 GMT -5
It's a valid question in that it's a mystery that, since he's been repeating these lies for years, no journalist ever decided to look into his background. Or his background at Harvard, for that matter. Particularly those who were busy writing very positive profiles of him.
"Liberal" may or may not play into it, but journalists and their editors doing their job certainly does.
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The Stig
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Post by The Stig on May 18, 2010 10:40:59 GMT -5
I don't get why the local press in Connecticut didn't pick up on Blumenthal's inconsistent statements about serving in Vietnam weren't investigated earlier. Protecting the liberal Dem in a liberal state??? And it sounds like opp research basically fed the story to the NY Times. Excellent timing on breaking the story -- a week+ or so before Memorial Day. Wonder what's on Dick "Five Deferments" Blumenthal's agenda for that day? I don't think the liberal press sat on this story. If they had the story, the least damaging thing to do for Dems is to get it out there right away, before the primary. That gives the Dems a long time to find a replacement candidate if this brings down Blumenthal, which it should. |
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Boz
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Post by Boz on May 18, 2010 10:53:37 GMT -5
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee communications director Eric Schultz put the blame for the story on Republicans and, in particular, former World Wrestling Entertainment executive Linda McMahon who is running for the GOP nod.
"Its no surprise Republicans would want to smear Dick Blumenthal, considering all of the debauchery at [WWE] under Linda McMahon's watch," said Schultz.Yeah. See how far that gets you, Schultz. 
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CTHoya08
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Post by CTHoya08 on May 18, 2010 10:54:38 GMT -5
The New Haven Register has the story this morning (below the fold!) beginning "[t]hough widely reported that state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran, the New York Times reports today . . ." The rest of the article seems to be reporting on what the Times reported, along with a quotation from the campaign attacking the Times story.
I expect this time of inadequacy from the Register, but I'm surprised that the Courant didn't pick this up at some point in the past.
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theexorcist
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Post by theexorcist on May 18, 2010 10:57:29 GMT -5
I don't get why the local press in Connecticut didn't pick up on Blumenthal's inconsistent statements about serving in Vietnam weren't investigated earlier. Protecting the liberal Dem in a liberal state??? And it sounds like opp research basically fed the story to the NY Times. So let me grasp the tinfoil logic on this one : - liberal press protects liberal candidate - the mother of all liberal press, the NY Times takes him down Politico was mentioning that McMahon's campaign took credit for passing the info to the NYT. They would look VERY bad if they passed on it, but the scuttlebutt in Politico was that this was what lots of money into opposition research buys you. |
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TC
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Post by TC on May 18, 2010 11:05:48 GMT -5
Politico was mentioning that McMahon's campaign took credit for passing the info to the NYT. They would look VERY bad if they passed on it, but the scuttlebutt in Politico was that this was what lots of money into opposition research buys you. I know you guys dislike the Times but you're in absolute fantasy land pretending that they only print this because they'd look bad otherwise. They printed it because it is newsworthy and because they're being cited all over the place today. A paper can have Maureen Dowd and Frank Rich on the opinion page and still report news. Ironic thing is that even though McMahon might have discovered it, Rob Simmons would be the better choice now for them given that he is a veteran. |
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Boz
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Post by Boz on May 18, 2010 11:18:35 GMT -5
Oh, there's no question it's newsworthy. No paper would turn away from this story, regardless of ideology.
(I do think, if this was a Republican, the NYT headlines and content would have been a little more scathing, but that's a separate issue.)
My question is why now? From Slate magazine to The Hartford Courant to all the other outlets mentioned, he's been saying these things for years, and none of the reporters or editors who worked for those papers bothered to even do a little fact checking it seems. Yes, I realize that not every paper has the resources of the NYT, but if you can't look into the background of someone you're profiling, you probably shouldn't be profiling him or her.
This story will likely be the end of Blumenthal's campaign, but I think it's also a pretty harsh indictment of the journalists who have covered this man. Not their ideology necessarily, though that might play into it, but their work ethic.
I can tell you, I have to write quite a lot of communications for my company. If I ever put something out in writing that was as demonstrably false as this., I wouldn't have a job tomorrow.
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on May 18, 2010 11:18:36 GMT -5
I am certain that the crack journalists in CONN/NY are scouring Simmon's war record. Right?
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rosslynhoya
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Post by rosslynhoya on May 18, 2010 11:34:51 GMT -5
Wow, I haven't seen a New England Democrat's exaggerated military service debunked like this in almost six years. Thankfully it was published in the New York Times this time so it must be true.
Next step: find out if Blumenthal has repeatedly referenced his Irish heritage for the last thirty years.
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TC
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Post by TC on May 18, 2010 11:38:47 GMT -5
I am certain that the crack journalists in CONN/NY are scouring Simmon's war record. Right? So now you think it is bias if they look at the area of a candidate's bio that they just got totally burned on and look totally incompetent for ignoring? I'm totally with Boz on this one. You can argue bias in tone (and I agree, if it were a Republican the lede might not be something so muted as "Candidate’s Words on Vietnam Service Differ From History"). But arguing that there is some sort of liberal media coverup is total tin foil hat territory. |
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