Almost a full three weeks after the Chicago Tribune allowed their Public Editor, Don Wycliff, to write a foolish rebuttal to Robert Koehler’s watershed column — in which he said “the 2004 election was stolen, will someone please tell the media?” — they have finally allowed Koehler a response by way of a letter in their hallowed pages.
It should be noted that the Trib never ran Koehler’s original column, nor its followup, nor the original direct reply which Koehler wrote in response to Wycliff. In fact, the Tribune Media Services, in an unprecedented example of censorship at the organization, refused to allow Koehler’s response to be published at all via the syndication service where Koehler has worked and published as editor and columnist for nearly a decade. A hastily compiled column crafted of letters that Koehler’s received since the brouhaha began took its last minute place.
(We interviewed Koehler on our radio show a couple of weeks back discussing the spiking of that column. Here’s the .MP3 archive of the interview, the Koehler interview begins at the :22 minute mark or so.)
In regards to the Trib finally allowing a response to Wycliff’s article by anyone (they received hundreds of letters, only a single one of them was published, and that one didn’t even speak to the 2004 election mess), Koehler wrote to us yesterday…
You can read Koehler’s letter in the Trib here.
We should also note that Don Wycliff finally answered our calls inviting him to give his side of the story on our radio show with a call from his secretary who informed us that “Don does not do radio.”
We have no reason to doubt that’s the truth. Nonetheless, if any of you good folks out there in Chicagoland happen to hear Mr. Wycliff on the radio, please do let us know won’t you?
…CONTACTS…
Tribune Media Services Contact Page
Robert Koehler, Editor/Columnist/American Hero
Chicago Tribune Contact Page
Ann Marie Lipinski, Editor
R. Bruce Dold, Editorial Page Editor
James O’Shea, Managing Editor
N. Don Wycliff, Public Editor
UPDATE 5/18/05: Editor & Publisher, who has been doing a fine job of following the Koehler story, picks up on the latest story as well.
Here is a link to a list of jobs currently available at Diebold. If you really want to get to the bottom of the election fraud, there’s only one way to do it: INFILTRATE.
http://www.diebold.com/careers/.../careeropp.htm
These jobs are listed primarily in Texas, Ohio, and Florida (coincidence? not likely) If you live in any of these states (or in California), and have the skills they’re looking for, go for it! Once inside, you can start sniffing around for the rats. They shouldn’t be hard to find. Nor should the evidence we need to sink these bas….ds.
Whenever you find something of interest you can just forward it to Brad. I bet he’ll be happy to take it from there.
>>MONTANA OUTLAWS TOUCH SCREEN VOTING MACHINES
REPRESENTATIVE BRADY WISEMAN, BOZEMAN, MT – I saw your link to the Accuview story on IRV. I thought you might like to know that here in Montana, we just outlawed touch screen voting machines. House Bill 297, sponsored by
myself, passed the Montana Legislature by wide margins. It simply requires that paper ballots be used in all elections. The ballots may be counted by machine, and may be marked for the voter by a machine, but we will not allow electronic ballots, with a tiny exception for handicapped voters.
My profession is software engineering. I was able to convince my colleagues in the Legislature that touch screen voting machines are unreliable, badly flawed, insecure, and require massive amounts of acceptance testing that typically is not done or even thought about.
But the real winner was the suggestion that in a close election, the candidate on the short end of the count could not examine the ballots or the voting systems, because they are private property protected as trade secrets. A blatant appeal to the self interest of elected officials carried
the day, helped by a two-month recount in a House race last November and December, not decided until the weekend before the Legislature convened, that swung the balance of power. Spread the word, we can kill these machines….
re #2 thanks, Teresa … here’s a link to the page containing that comment …. you’ll need to scroll down about 1/4 of the page, or search for something unique to this article, like "WISEMAN" or "BOZEMAN" … that same page also gives this link to Brady Wiseman’s bill …
To "the machines":
We are 6 or 7. Prepare to be disassembled.
Thank you, too, Winter p. I was wondering where that came from and I was going to track it down later. You are definitely on top.
Here’s the letter I just emailed to several at CT using your email links.
———————
I would like you to explain the basis for your actions re: the Koehler columns about the 2004 election.
Koehler is a respected columnist. Wycliff’s column in response is pap, or less. He quotes one individual, Jones, to support his dismissal of Koehler’s points, against a mountain of evidence of Ohio problems documented in Conyers’ report. Similar problems occurred in other states. Wycliff’s ideas as presented in his column are old and tired. They do not address the complexity of current voting problems, including especially the many issues surrounding the use of electronic voting machines.
I note one part of Koehler’s recent letter (not column; no thanks for that) The deafening sound of media silence. This is as follows “in an e-mail to me Wycliff said the issue would only be worth media attention if John Kerry "and all the other folks who had the most to gain from the election" were crying foul, not ordinary citizens.” If this is indeed Wycliff’s view, and your and Tribune Media’s view, I find it deeply offensive, and also telling. Elected officials are public servants and are elected as representatives of the people, “ordinary citizens”. I’m sorry, but this is my country, and I care about the ramifications of election fraud, even if John Kerry doesn’t. Your approach thus smacks of “celebrity journalism” worthy of the tabloids.
It is with unknowing irony that Wycliff references Nixon– so graceful in defeat in 1960. “Winning isn’t the sole end of politics.” Oh, really, that was Nixon’s view? The same guy who, after losing the California election for Governor in 1962, said SO UNGRACIOUSLY “this is my last press conference…you won’t have Dick Nixon to kick around any more". Subsequent events gave us a lot of evidence that winning was the sole end for Nixon. Or, maybe Wycliff was brain dead during Watergate? Yes, that’s an offensive thing to say. Wycliff’s presentation of Nixon as an example to follow is offensive.
I am one of the “ordinary citizens” who happens to remember the events of the Watergate investigation. Woodward and Bernstein had the strong support of Katharine Graham (owner) and Ben Bradlee (vice president and executive editor) of the Washington Post. In every way that I can imagine, the Chicago Tribune and the Tribune Media Services have responded to the Koehler columns by giving a text book example of “what not to do”, as judged by an ordinary person such as myself, and more so, as compared with the highest of journalistic endeavors of the Washington Post during that era.
————————
I thanked the Chicago Tribune! Sure, they waited too long…but they did finally respond to the onslaught of criticism by running Bob’s letter…rather than turning their backs indefinitely. We’ve got to start building bridges if we are going to survive this pandemic. We need to nurture the shoots of friendship wherever we find them.
With just a few changes to the original traditional song "Rally ‘Round the Flag" — it seems to say it all!
Rally ‘Round The Blog
Yes, we’ll rally ’round the Blog, Blues
We’ll rally ’round again
Shouting the battle cry of Freedom
We will rally from the hillside
We’ll gather from the plain
Shouting the battle cry of Freedom
The Truth’s here forever, hurrah Blues, hurrah
Down with the Liars, up with the Truth
While we rally ’round the Blog, Blues
Rally once again
Shouting the battle cry of Freedom
We will welcome to our numbers
The loyal, true and brave
Shouting the battle cry of Freedom
And although he may be poor
Not a man shall be a slave
Shouting the battle cry of Freedom
So we’re springing to the call
From the East and from the West
Shouting the battle cry of Freedom
And we’ll prove a loyal crew
To the land we love the best
Shouting the battle cry of Freedom
Sorry — I didn’t mean to leave out all the other Truthseekers by the word "Blues." The original word is "Boys" and Blues came to mind. Ah well —
Valley Girl #6-
GREAT LETTER!
#10
Thanks, Steve. I very much appreciate your encouragement. I did my best to be as polite as I could be, and left out all of the swear words. I hope that you have written also, or done something else to keep stirring things up. I mostly cursed to myself about the rotten state of things, prior to finding the BB last November, but now I figure that I have to act, even if there’s a small chance that I will be heard. So, it’s great to be heard!
VG
Kira, as long as we’re using Union battle hymns from the War Between the States, let me contribute my own, based on "Marching Through Georgia."
___________________
Sound the good old bugle, boys, play it once again
Tell the world the U.S.A.’s a land of laws, not men
Sound it ’till they open up the Lemme case again
As we all march to Valdosta, Georgia!
Hurrah, hurrah, we’ll raise a jubilee!
Hurrah, hurrah, the truth will set us free!
Of Ohio and the White House and the Florida D.O.T.
And that motel in Valdosta, Georgia
One day the bell will ring, in red states and in blue
Freedom’s flag again reveals, all its colors through
We’ll rid ourselves of W., and Richard Cheney, too
They’ll even smile in Valdosta, Georgia
Hurrah, hurrah, prepare the jubilee!
Hurrah, hurrah, the truth has set us free!
Feeney’s lies pollute the skies, with Jeb as company
But we’re marching to Valdosta, Georgia
Here’s one more (apologies to Julia Ward Howe)
__________________
Mine eyes have seen the gory and there’s no one left to laud—they have trampled on the visage of the freedoms we’ve adored—they still juice the hateful lightweights who respond with one accord—their lies go marching on.
Gory, gory old Fallujah, Gory, gory old Fallujah
Gory, gory old Fallujah, their lies go marching on
I have seen him setting brushfires underneath opponents’ camps—they have placed him on an altar next to all those sleazy tramps—he can’t speak an English sentence without fooling with the amps—his lies go marching on.
(refrain)
We are sounding forth a drumbeat that will never call retreat—we are blowing off the farts of one who stole his judgment seat—the swift boat soul who answers us will now be in retreat—our truth is marching on
(refrain)
Wycliff the dishonest coward. Didn’t he even admit he didn’t read Mr. Conyers 102 page report? I got a copy and read it. It’s easy to get and easy to read. Mr. "lying" Wycliff said he "couldn’t get a copy". He’s soooooo pathetic. A complete idiot. But the whole country’s being run by idiots…everywhere you look…can’t get away from them…
Well, the Chicago Tribune’s publishing of Koehler’s letter is a good step in the direction of fairness.
However, the only true fairness is to publish his column article in full. The article containing the criticism of it was published, so how are people to compare the two in such a one-sided presentation?
Anything less than publishing his full article is helter skelter journalism.
It dictates what the readership is to believe and at the same time claims to be touching upon the concepts of a voting democracy. Pathetic.
"Couldn’t get a copy." "Didn’t read the Conyers report." "Doesn’t do radio."
Responds to detailed letters with one-liners, just like an illiterate troll. "You mean the Earth isn’t flat?"
Well, that’s all he is, right? A troll?
Oh no, that’s right. Wycliff is the Public Editor of the Chicago Tribune. Holy smokes.
RLM #16 Good point.
We see juvenile behavior, at best, in what should be a respectable and dignified office.
Hmmm, Dredd #17, and that’s how our pResident behaves as well. As though his development was arrested in high school.
I’ve heard for many years that TV programs are geared for 6th grade intelligence level. Have they successfully "dumbed down" the masses?
Al Franken’s written an interesting piece on Huffington Post: What in god’s name is going on?
Senators & newspeople who say they’re ignorant of news reported in NY Times back in January — BIG NEWS — $8.8 BILLION LOST (unaccounted for) that was to be spent for construction in Iraq.
I remember reading about it – don’t you?
For Kira and Dredd: The analogy between goverment misinformation and TV advertising is apt. Only the motivation is different.
TV gears its programming toward a 6th Grade-level audience very deliberately. Sponsors want people to take their ads at face value and buy the crap they’re selling, which they hype with loud music, bells and whistles, and sexy dames in miniskirts.
Young, impressionable viewers (especially those with IQ’s under 100) are their prime targets, because intelligent folks and people over 50 have developed an immunity from TV advertising over the years.
Karl Rove uses more sophisticated techniques, because he’s trying to reach a wider audience that includes older and smarter people. He’s succeeded well enough to almost win two presidential elections.
Considering that the product he’s pushing is the governmental equivalent of the Edsel and "New Coke," we have to give him credit for cleverness. And considering that he has twice committed election fraud, we have to give him an indictment as soon as we can prove it.
Wycliff’s secretary tells Brad "Don doesn’t do radio". I don’t imagine he does. After reading his articles, I don’t think he does much of anything.
Wycliff is like Bush, really. He talks in one-sentence sound bites. That works with the anti-intellectual audience Bush caters to, but against people who know how to read and speak the English language, it sounds like what it is…crap. Wycliff is Public Editor of the Chicago Tribune, so we should expect more from him than dumb cowboy talk.
Wycliff "doesn’t do radio" because he knows he’ll be asked questions that demand real answers, not one-liners like the one he gave to me when I told him he couldn’t have been more wrong if he’d said the Earth were flat…"You mean the Earth isn’t flat?"