Don’t listen to Tea Party ‘lies’
I think it is important to mention first that the Wabash Valley Tea Party is nothing more than a voting mill for the Republican Party. The Wabash Valley Tea Party in their July 2010 meeting had as their guest speaker GOP congressional candidate Dr. Larry Bucshon and they praised him and couldn’t say enough about how great he is.
I would have you remember that during the 2010 GOP primary, Kristi Risk was their champion and Dr. Larry Bucshon was, to put it mildly, a swear word. The Wabash Valley Tea Party says and claims to be non-partisan, yet there was another person present in that meeting as well. That person was the Libertarian Party candidate, me, John Cunningham.
The big topic of the evening leading up to Dr. Larry Bucshon’s speech was third party candidates and where they stand on the issues. The tone was set when they announced that all Libertarian Candidates promote is legalization of street drugs (I don’t, please see my website) and that all Libertarians promote homosexual marriage (I don’t, please see my website), and that all Libertarians promote anarchy and hate our armed forces (that is a lie, considering I am a proud veteran of the United States Army and former member of the National Guard … again, please see my website).
The Wabash Valley Tea Party wants their people to think that all Libertarian candidates must conform to other Libertarians platforms. I don’t and won’t conform to anyone else’s platforms. I will serve the people, not my party. I encourage all the folks that were in that meeting to view not only my website, but also Trent Van Haaften’s website so that you can make an informed decision in November.
It seems as though the Wabash Valley Tea Party has been hired by the GOP to sell the patriotic men and women of the 8th District a slew of lies to help further their big government agenda. So, please vote smart and know the truth.
The 2010 election is too important to let people with special agendas control the outcome. The Wabash Valley Tea Party founders, Dr. Larry Lamb and Mary Wright, are telling deliberate lies on where I stand on the issues to further stretch their own vote and help keep the establishment in power, so let it be heard loud and clear, “Liar, liar, Tea Party for hire.”
In closing, when considering my platform, visit my website, www.cunninghamforcongress2010.com. There are things that I don’t necessarily agree with other libertarians on.
— John Cunningham
Libertarian candidate
8th District
Fox News receives unfair treatment
In a column on July 25, Stephanie Salter used the Shirley Sherrod episode to lecture her readers about inaccuracy and “instant judgment” in the media and lament how few of the guilty will say “I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
As it turns out, Salter’s column provides a graphic case of inaccuracy and biased judgment. She clearly had a desire to make Fox News look bad and misrepresented the facts to support her objective.
Near the beginning of her column Salter states that a “video … by [Andrew] Breitbart [a conservative blogger] with vitriolic comment” was “flagged to Fox News which could not get it on the air fast enough for condemnation.” In the next paragraph she infers that the NAACP and USDA reacted to Fox News and, consequently, forced Sherrod to resign.
Breitbart wasn’t the first website to air the video. An AP release, “AP Exclusive: USDA racial flap reconstructed,” dated Aug. 4, established that HOTAIR.com and USActionNews.com posted the video well before Breitbart. Indeed, as AP reported, Sherrod was alerted to these earlier postings and tried to alert the USDA days before Brietbart’s posting.
I don’t understand how Salter could possibly know or even surmise that the Breitbart posting was “flagged to Fox News.” She obviously wanted to tie FOX to Breitbart and infer that their rush “for condemnation” was a main cause of this episode.
In addition, FOX News did not broadcast the video or Sherrod’s name until the evening after Sherrod had resigned in the afternoon. The 4 p.m. (Shepard Smith), 5 p.m. (Glenn Beck), 6 p.m. (Bret Baier) and 7 p.m. (Shepard Smith) news and opinion shows did not mention the issue even though it had been on the web that day.
To counter the barrage of accusations that they were the cause of misinformation that led the Obama administration to fire Sherrod, Fox News ran “in quick time” their complete broadcast of the day that Sherrod resigned. I saw this rerun. The Sherrod video was not run and her name was not mentioned until 8:49 p.m. that night on the Bill O’Reilly show. The Washington Post, hardly a bastion of conservatism, reported that O’Reilly did not broadcast the story until after his staff received word from the USDA that she had resigned. The episode was also mentioned that night on “Larry King Live” in his 9 p.m. show and also on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360.”
Most telling about Fox News’ attitude is a report by The Washington Post that Fox Senior VP Michael Clemente directed his news staff as follows; “Let’s take our time and get the facts straight on this story. Can we get confirmation and comments from Sherrod before going on the air? Let’s make sure we get it right.” That doesn’t sound like an organization that was out to “get it on the air fast enough for condemnation.”
Fox has confirmed that an Internet affiliate reported during the day, as did many other Internet outlets, that “a video has surfaced showing a USDA official saying that she didn’t give full force of help to a white farmer.” But they also reported that they were “trying to get comment from the NAACP and USDA.” Two days later, VP Clemente said that it was a mistake to post without independent confirmation.
In my opinion, backed by these facts, Salter has joined the chorus of liberal media that is trying to paint Fox News as biased and racist. This faction of the media cannot tolerate Fox News’ reporting of stories that they would like to avoid or that don’t fit their agenda. For example, Fox News has taken the lead in reporting about voter intimidation by the New Black Panthers, the NAACP’s resolution accusing the Tea Party of racism, ACORN’s corruption and law breaking as well as the made-up charges against the Tea Party of racist acts at a Washington D.C. event. (Breitbart has offered $100,000 for any evidence of this).
Daniel Patrick Moynihan reportedly said, “You are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.” I’m sure Salter is proud of her opinions, but she had almost a week to verify the facts and form her judgment. Her facts were still wrong and worse, her judgment was not an “instant judgment,” just flawed. I would hope she would at least say, I was wrong. I’m sorry.
— Thomas B. Tucker
Terre Haute
Raw Video: Kim Jong Il Statue Unveiled
Authorities: Houston Found Underwater in Tub
Raw Video: Hearse Arrives at N.J. Funeral Home
Trial Opens for Ala. Man in Bride's Diving Death
Baltimore's 'Crime Stopper' Is a Basketball Star
Arm Wrestler Not Guilty Plea in Wife's Death
Raw Video: Houston Body Flown From L.A. to N.J.
Bacteria Keep Swimmers Off Some Fla. Beaches
First Person: Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
Police: Houston Found Under Water, Unconscious
Raw Video: Biden Greets Chinese VP for Visit
Raw Video: Whitney Houston's Last Performance
Obama's New Budget: The Winners and Losers
Israeli Diplomats Targeted in India, Georgia
Gregoire: Marriage Equality Is Right for Wash.
Raw Video: 5 People Injured in Bangkok Blasts
Attempted Bomb Attack Stopped in Georgia
Reaction to Houston's Death at Clive Davis Party
Raw Video: Israeli Embassy Car Attacked
Sandusky Can See Grandkids, Have Local Jury
Watch: Whitney Houston's Golden Hearse
Kate Upton MLB 2K12 Commercial
Olympic Swimmer Proposes on Podium After Big Win
Scarlett Johansson's Bikini P-D-A
Man Allegedly Drowns Wife While Scuba Diving
Sports Illustrated Cover Leaked
Wash. becomes 7th state to okay same-sex marriage
Romijn's 60 Pound Weight Loss
The 'Celebrity Apprentice' Cast Meets Donald Trump
Kissing contest heats up
Hugh Hefner's Son Arrested
Jacqueline Kennedy's personal papers released
Did Tyler Perry Have a Secret Wedding?
Iran denies Israeli embassy bombings
'Bachelor' Free Falls into the Ocean
Facebook Parenting: Father Posts Video Responding to Daughter's Post
Bobby Brown on Houston's Death
