C-span this morning regarding Downing Street memo

[hertopos]

I think this is it.

I was listening to C-span Washington Journal this morning. A guy called in and basically said;' Two other callers asked same question yesterday and you did not answer. So I am asking you again? What is Downing Street memo?'

Here is what the host answered in nutshell.
'I don't know what the Downing Street memo is. So please Google it to find out!!'

What kind of answer is this? I don't think the host does not know what the Downing memo is... Then why? Ask yourself. I think someone if really afraid of the Downing Street memo.

Hertopos

[Carolab]

1. Let's all contact C-Span and tell them and insist they talk about it.

What do you say?

Here is the e-mail for The Washington Journal:

[e-mail]

[babylonsister]

3. I'm so mailing it to them! Easy, and titled,

"Please respond to your callers' questions!"

[chomskysright]

2. Downing Street MINUTES

item 1:

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/051705Y.shtml

"....The memo was written by British national security aide Matthew Rycroft, based on notes he took during a July 2002 meeting of British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his advisers, including Richard Dearlove, the head of Britain's MI-6 intelligence service who had recently met with Bush administration officials...."


THE MEMO IS A PDF THAT I CAN'T PUT MY HANDS ON RIGHT NOW. IT IS AVAILABLE VIA THE BBC. I REMEMBER THAT.

ITEM 2:
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2520


ACTION ALERT:
Network Viewers Still in the Dark on "Smoking Gun Memo"
Print media continue to downplay story


May 20, 2005

Following FAIR's call for more mainstream coverage of the "smoking gun memo"--the secret British document containing new evidence that the Bush administration manipulated intelligence to justify its plan to invade Iraq--a steady trickle of news reports have appeared. But that coverage has been downplayed in general and is still completely absent from the nightly news.

The Los Angeles Times published a page 3 story on the memo on May 12, and the Washington Post ran a page 18 story the following day. More than two weeks after the story broke in the Sunday Times of London (5/1/05), it finally made the front page of a major U.S. newspaper, the Chicago Tribune (5/17/05).

After referring to the memo (5/2/05) in a story on the British electoral campaign, the New York Times failed to report on the document's implications about the Bush administration until today (5/20/05); the one-column story didn't mention the manipulation of intelligence until the eighth paragraph. (Times columnist Paul Krugman also discussed the memo on the paper's opinion page on May 16.)

[peacetalksforall]

4. The design for their program is exactly what you witnessed. They have

two options -

guest appearances - they let the guest answer a question if the guest wishes to (sometimes they won't answer if the caller rants and the caller didn't really ask a question)

they also have -

open phones - the caller gets to speak or state what they would have asked the previous guest.

The hosts just don't answer questions unless they have to explain the format and theory of WJ. They are go-betweens and facilitors only. It is a guest and caller show as far as q and a.

They all will infrequetnly ask the caller a follow-up question to try to draw the caller out a little.

[Donailin]

25. C-span is republican leaning

Brian will answer questions, and when the question is rhetorical from a dem he plays devils advocate for the repubs, but when the rhetoric is from a repub, he lets it slide on by with a "thank you caller"

I've been studying very closely the slant, it's subtle, but it's there

[Pepperbelly]

30. everybody believes that their ox is gored on C-SPAN.

I watch them very closely and I could not state with any confidence whatsoever what any of the hosts support.

Brian Lamb loses patience pretty quickly. I think he has a problem with stupid more than anything else.

[paineinthearse]

5. We're gathering cspan dodging the downing minutes info

see http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3739384#

&

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=320x341#402

[Carolab]

7. Great! Let's hammer them on this!

What I sent:

Dear Washington Journal:

This was posted on the Democratic Underground forum today by a poster there:

"I was listening to C-span Washington Journal this morning. A guy called in and basically said;' Two other callers asked same question yesterday and you did not answer. So I am asking you again? What is Downing Street memo?'

Here is what the host answered in nutshell.
'I don't know what the Downing Street memo is. So please Google it to find out!!'

What kind of answer is this? I don't think the host does not know what the Downing memo is... Then why? Ask yourself. I think someone if really afraid of the Downing Street memo."

Why don't YOU Google it to find out? Better yet, let me save you the trouble:

www.downingstreetmemo.com

And then, why don't you COVER it? Congressman John Conyers has asked the administration to explain it, along with 88 members of the House. The response so far? NOTHING.

www.johnconyers.com

Dear Friend:

As many of you are aware, a classified memo was recently disclosed in Great Britain that I believe has serious ramifications for the integrity of the United States Government. Dubbed the “Downing Street Memo,” but actually comprising the minutes of a meeting of Prime Minister Tony Blair and other top British government officials, the memo casts serious doubt on many of the contentions of the Bush Administration in the lead up to the Iraq war. With over 1,600 U.S. servicemen and servicewomen killed in Iraq, the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and over $200 billion in taxpayer funds going to this war effort, we cannot afford to stand by any longer.

Along with 88 of my colleagues, I wrote to the President requesting answers about this grave matter. Thus far, our search for the truth has been stonewalled and I need your help. I believe the American people deserve answers about this matter and should demand directly that the President tell the truth about the memo. To that end, I am asking you to sign on to a letter to the President requesting he answer the questions posed to him by 89 Members of Congress.

I will personally insure that this letter is delivered to the White House.

You can read the letter here and sign on to it below. You and I know the White House is just hoping that this matter will fade away, but in a few short weeks, with our steadfastness, the memo has found its way into leading newspapers and White House press briefings. With your help, we can hold this Administration accountable.

Please pass on this important letter to your friends and colleagues, and ask them to sign as well.

Thank you for your help and support.

John Conyers, Jr.

http://www.johnconyers.campaignoffice.com/index.asp?Type=SUPERFORMS&SEC={0F1B03E0-080B-4100-B143-36A5985EF1E3}

[hertopos]

12. I hope you don't mind

I am copying your post as an example to my local activist group message board.

Look let's spread it while we also sign petition!!

It is that important

Hertopos

[hertopos]

14. We can make this into our 'fake letter scandal' or

AT least force C-span to talk about Downing Street Memo.
The hosts telling us they don't know about The Downing Street Memo is such a blunt dodging!!

How can they not know the letter 88 congressmen signed.

Oh, we should let Congressman Conyers know about C-span!!
Let's flood C-span!!

Hertopos

[hertopos]

8. I am glad someone has posted already and...

I listen to C-Span radio in the morning while commuting. ( Well, I switch between C-span and other news channel.)

C-Span even let 'Vote Fraud' people speak. I am not saying C-Span is our side of anything like that. However, this is the very first time I ever heard such a blunt dodging. Ever!!

This is seriously worth pursuing!!

Hertopos

[paineinthearse]

31. Clarification

Information is being tracked in the CSPAN GROUP area.

[Dinger]

6. Those Fuckers - I'll Call Tomorrow Morning

In the meantime, I'll make a script out, and make them pay!

[hertopos]

9. Please do so and we should spead this!!

This can be our 'Fake document incident'!!
We can spread this over the net so that more people keep calling in on Downing Street Memo!!

It is almost funny because CNN this mentined about this memo once. C-span could have mentioned right away like CNN and then could have moved on. Instead they are actully making a scene!!

Keep reminding very one to call in about Downing Street Memo and don't forget to sign the petition!!

Hertopos

[Maraya1969]

24. Do you know their number right now? eom

[Mnemosyne]

10. kick

:kick: :kick: :kick:

[feelthebreeze]

11. Congressman Conyers continues to push for the truth

Congressman Conyers continues to push for the truth to answers that are deeply disturbing to America's best interests. Please take a few minutes to go to:
http://www.johnconyers.campaignoffice.com/index.asp?Type=SUPERFORMS&SEC={0F1B03E0-080B-4100-B143-36A5985EF1E3} and sign this needed petition. We are in the minority in congress so it is only through your pushing as America that we can get attention paid to this extremely urgent event that occured in 2002.
Below is a cut and paste from the site, but please show support for this hard working man's constant demand for the answers to the mounting lies. We have been damaged as a Nation by this horrendous Adminstration, it is time to demand it stop.

Letter to Pres Bush Concerning "Downing Street Memo"
------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States of America
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005
Dear Mr. President:
We the undersigned write to you because of our concern regarding recent disclosures of a “Downing Street Memo” in the London Times, comprising the minutes of a meeting of Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top advisers. These minutes indicate that the United States and Great Britain agreed to by the summer of 2002 to attack Iraq, well before the invasion and before you even sought Congressional authority to engage in military action, and that U.S. officials were deliberately manipulating intelligence to justify the war.
Among other things, the British government document quotes a high-ranking British official as stating that by July, 2002, “Bush had made up his mind to take military action.” Yet, a month later, the you stated you were still willing to “look at all options” and that there was “no timetable” for war. Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, flatly stated that “he president has made no such determination that we should go to war with Iraq.”
In addition, the origins of the false contention that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction remains a serious and lingering question about the lead up to the war. There is an ongoing debate about whether this was the result of a “massive intelligence failure,” in other words a mistake, or the result of intentional and deliberate manipulation of intelligence to justify the case for war. The memo appears to resolve that debate as well, quoting the head of British intelligence as indicating that in the United States “the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.”
As a result of these concerns, we would ask that you respond to the following questions:
1) Do you or anyone in your administration dispute the accuracy of the leaked document?
2) Were arrangements being made, including the recruitment of allies, before you sought Congressional authorization to go to war? Did you or anyone in your Administration obtain Britain’’s commitment to invade prior to this time?
3) Was there an effort to create an ultimatum about weapons inspectors in order to help with the justification for the war as the minutes indicate?
4) At what point in time did you and Prime Minister Blair first agree it was necessary to invade Iraq?
5) Was there a coordinated effort with the U.S. intelligence community and/or British officials to “fix” the intelligence and facts around the policy as the leaked document states?
These are the same questions 89 Members of Congress, led by Rep. John Conyers, Jr., submitted to you on May 5, 2005. As citizens and taxpayers, we believe it is imperative that our people be able to trust our government and our commander in chief when you make representations and statements regarding our nation engaging in war. As a result, we would ask that you publicly respond to these questions as promptly as possible.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely,

[Ksec]

13. which host was it?

[Ksec]

15. Was it Pedro?

Hes strange.

[hertopos]

17. It was a guy, who

is better than female.

He was almost sounded like upset. The way he said 'You can google it' was actually funny. It was like he wanted to say it but he was not allowed to.

I listened to C-span for last 2 and half years. They never was afraid of touchy topics.

I mean, if some caller asked to do certain topics, they typically and eventually accomodate. This is so so weird. I was so 'What!!' I yelled in the car...

Hertopos

[Dr Fate]

16. Dean, Kerry, Hillary, Reid & Obama dont know what it is either.

Go ahead- do a google- none of them have had the courage to mention it even once.

It's no wonder no one has heard of it- the Top DEMs wont do their jobs and talk about it.

[hertopos]

18. Of these 4, I would push Dean first!!

After all, I am a local member of DFA charter.

Did you noticed that Washington Post editorial suddenly accused Bush of War crime a few days ago?

We should push this. I seriously think this is the strongest smoking gun since it reveal the total lie of this aweful killing called Iraq WAR.

Hertopos

[Dr Fate]

19. Well, Dean had a whole hour on Meet the Press last Sunday...

...but he "forgot" to spend the 15 seconds it would have taken him to mention it.

He was also on Judy Woodruff and he "forgot" to mention it then too.

Either that or he has never heard of it, I guess.

[hertopos]

20. Actually, I don't get it. How can not knowing something 88 congressmen

signed.

How things are going with the Down Street Memo in U.K.?
Is there any update?


Any case, C-span even picked up 'Vote Fraud' topic, which some people want to claim as a fringe element stuff...

Is there any senetor who mentioned about DSM yet?

Hertopos

[splat@14]

21. Un-fucking believable!

I live in the Houston area. I have called the three major network local affiliates, the Houston Chronicle (the only major paper here), I followed all this with emails and then called again to all these entities. I have written my Congressman (Kevin Brady)and both senators (Hutchinson and Conyers) twice. I've sent this to CNN in general, to CNN Blitzer, CNN Amanpor (sic), and the idiot that used to do "the Mole".... all this and still nothing except a small venue on CSpan.

What the hell does it take to get their attention!

%$#%%#$@@ frustrated,

Splllaaaaat!

[Wilms]

22. kick n/t

[Maraya1969]

23. My letter - too harsh? HEHE

WHY won’t you address questions concerning the Downing Street memo? Are you that much of a patsy that you won’t say something that may rock the boat? Come on now and get some guts. The average Democratic Joe is reporting it to all their friends and family. What are they going to say when they realize that the mass media are a bunch of sissies?

[Kazak]

26. He's got no business hosting the show if he doesn't know what the memo is.

What utter bullcrap!!

[lonestarnot]

27. We all need to call! They know what the fuck the memo is! Piss me off!

Dummy up like a bunch of potato bugs gett'n squirted with the hose!

[Nothing Without Hope]

28. That is a BLATANT, BALD-FACED LIE!!!!! n/t

[Califooyah Operative]

29. i will email and pass on the actino alert to others. nt

[rockedthevoteinMA]

32. I heard that ... and was like

:wtf: ? What is your job description fool? Why do we have to do the research for you? Do you think that the order came down from on high to not cover it, even on CSPAN? :tinfoilhat:

[donsu]

33. the host did ask the caller where he saw the info and the caller

said it was in many places on the internet. I was hoping the caller would at least give a site name. but I'm so glad the caller got through and asked the question.