Re: OT - right-wing smear machine

"Mr Soul" <google@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1193169364.672756.309950@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

No - I admit that the Bush DUI story was a story that would hurt
Bush. The main issue for you seems to be timing - correct? If the
story had come out several months before the election then it wouldn't
be smear in your eyes?

No, the source's motive is more important than the timing, that two
prominent local Democrats were responsible for this reporter getting ahold
of the story is what makes it a smear, although it's certainly very
significant that this judge had Bush's court records for four months and
chose to launch them four days before the election, wouldn't you agree?
That's why the judge didn't want his name attached to it, because he knew he
was doing something that would look bad.

BTW, can you think of any good reason why the lawyer who did the hand-off
from the judge to the reporter told several different versions of how he
came to learn of Bush's old DUI arrest? Isn't that just a bit suspicious?
And personally I think it's hilarious that this lawyer once defended a Dem
candidate for Governor against a DUI charge and complained that just being
arrested for DUI had "brutalized" his client's reputation, now that's irony
at it's best.

As for this being a matter of a reporter being told about something somebody
overheard as opposed to a political spear-job, check this out. Warning,
it's long and erratic, but then it's a summary of media coverage.

http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2000/cyb20001104.asp#3


[quote]
ABC and CBS on Friday night questioned Tom Connolly about whether in
providing the Bush drunk driving information to a reporter he was working in
cahoots with the Gore campaign, but both also gave him the opportunity to
deny that and contend it's not a dirty trick when it's true.
All three broadcast networks noted Connolly's Democratic activities as a
convention delegate and gubernatorial candidate, but CBS skipped his
anti-Bush Web site. Connolly "now operates an outlandish anti-Bush Web site
called 'W Is for Wiener,'" NBC's Pete Williams noted over a shot of a Web
logo with Bush inside a hot dog bun. But none told viewers how on the Web
site, as the Saturday Washington Times observed, Connolly declared: "Wiener
Boy Bush is 97 percent filler with 2 percent pig lips and snout and 1
percent pure bull, coupled with .001 percent rodent feces."

[snip]

ABC, CBS and NBC did not touch on the Democratic Party connections or
agenda of the judge who provided the crucial court docket *** to Connolly.
ABC's Dan Harris only noted that Judge Bill Childs "was pedaling the story
of Bush's arrest for operating under the influence."

FNC's Carl Cameron, however, uniquely explored his suspicious role.
Cameron revealed "that Mr. Childs is himself an activist Democrat who some
four months ago requisitioned a document about the Bush arrest," but since
they are stored-away paper documents, "it is said by a number of sources
that the judge used his influence as a member of the court in order to get
the papers pulled."

-- ABC's World News Tonight. As already quoted in item #2 above, ABC's
Peter Jennings introduced the November 3 look at Connolly by sympathizing
with Democrats:


"In political terms this is obviously difficult for Mr. Bush, obviously.
But neither is it easy for the Democrats. It was leaked to the press by a
well-connected Democrat who very much dislikes Mr. Bush."

Dan Harris traveled to Portland to find Connolly. Harris asked Connolly
at the top of his piece: "How are people not supposed to be suspicious that
this is Democratic dirty tricks."
Connolly responded: "Because it's the truth. So you're saying it's a
dirty trick because we're revealing the truth that he suppressed."

Harris outlined Connolly's background: "Thomas Connolly, who works as a
defense attorney, is a staunch Gore supporter. He was a delegate to the
Democratic National Convention this summer and runs this anti-bush Web site.
[shot of button proclaiming: "'W' is for Wiener" with Bush inside a hot dog
or, shall we say, a wiener bun]."

Harris continued, as transcribed by MRC analyst Brad Wilmouth: "How did
Connolly get a hold of the information about Bush's arrest? He's told
varying stories. It appears he was tipped off yesterday by either a client
or a colleague. That colleague may be Bill Childs [picture on screen], a
probate judge. Several lawyers who were in the Portland courthouse yesterday
say Childs was pedaling the story of Bush's arrest for operating under the
influence."
John DeGrinney, attorney: "Judge Childs was indicating to anyone who
would listen, the fact that he had first-hand knowledge of court records
which indicated George Bush had an OUI conviction from 24 years ago."

Harris then described how Connolly got the word to WPXT-TV reporter Erin
Fahleau who denied anything was orchestrated.

-- CBS Evening News. Jim Axelrod began by running down what happened in
Maine 24 years ago and how Bush had a .12 blood alcohol level and that the
police officer recalled Bush was cooperative. Axelrod then got to how the
story came out:
"Thomas Connolly is the source of the story. A lawyer, former Democratic
nominee for Governor here and delegate to this summer's Democratic
convention. He says he was tipped by a friend of friend who was in court
with Bush 24 years ago."
Axelrod to Connolly: "Was the Gore campaign involved in any way, shape
or form with this revelation?"
Connolly: "None, zero, absolutely not."
Axelrod: "Connolly, a bit of an eccentric who wears his fly-fishing cap
everywhere but court, says he tried to get the information to the Gore
campaign, but couldn't get through."
Axelrod to Connolly: "But they can say this guy is a Democrat,
dyed-in-the-wool, delegate to the convention. And so that it in some way
compromises the nature of the disclosure."
Connolly: "It doesn't because you look at the truth. Trust the tale not
the teller."

-- NBC Nightly News. Pete Williams also opened by going through what
occurred in 1976. Williams insisted: "The arrest and court documents were
never expunged or deleted." Williams also elaborated on Bush's good
attitude: "The policeman who arrested him now says Bush was quote, 'the
picture of integrity' that night and says Bush's father later thanked him
for arresting his son."

Now there's an angle not yet explored.

Williams arrived at the instigator of the big controversy: "Tom
Connolly, who began spreading the word yesterday, and then confirmed it to
reporters, says he heard about it from a fellow lawyer at the Portland,
Maine, courthouse, who heard it from a doctor, who in turn, heard it from
someone who was in court when Bush paid his fine 24 years ago. But Connolly
says he gladly spread the story after checking court records."
Connolly: "It came out only because a citizen was concerned and because
public records are kept public, giving me free access to those."
Williams: "But Connolly is more than just a concerned citizen. An active
Democrat, he lost a run for governor two years ago and now operates an
outlandish anti-Bush Web site called 'W is for Wiener.' He passed out
hundreds of buttons like this one in Maine in a successful bid to become a
delegate to the Democratic National Convention [button with Bush caricature
inside a wiener]. Tonight Connolly insists he acted on his own and had no
contact with the Gore campaign before spreading the story."

Carl Cameron related unique information about the Democratic connections
of Judge Childs and the special effort he must have had to employ to obtain
Bush's record. On Friday's Special Report with Brit Hume, Cameron disclosed:
"Maine attorney Tom Connolly, a staunch Democrat, revealed the story
Thursday. He runs a Web site called 'W is for Wiener,' also the title of his
book. He attended the Democratic convention in Los Angeles two months ago.
He's acquainted with various top Gore campaign staffers and was Maine's
Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate two years ago. Connolly makes no
apologies about his desire to help Gore and hurt Bush...."
"Connolly will not say how he heard about it other than that he was told
of a rumor. But Fox News has learned that it was a judge, a probate judge in
Maine by the name of William Childs, Billy Childs. The Childs family,
prominent Democrats, Mr. Childs' father, in fact, once the House Speaker in
Maine, and that Mr. Childs is himself an activist Democrat who some four
months ago requisitioned a document about the Bush arrest. The documents
were in cold storage. Computer records were not available at that time, and
it is said by a number of sources that the judge used his influence as a
member of the court in order to get the papers pulled. How it was that for
some four months the documents did not come to light remains something of a
mystery. It was just yesterday, however, that witnesses say Judge Childs, as
well as Mr. Connolly, were talking about it in a courtroom in Kennebunk,
Maine, and as one witness described it, Mr. Childs was actively peddling the
story."

[unquote]


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