Failing to meet even the usually lax journalistic standards of most Internet bloggers, “self-styled investigative journalist” Keith Olbermann — who also seems to have his very own prime-time show on a fairly major cable news outlet — offers a swell Christmas gift for Congressman Tom Feeney (R-FL) and his monied friends at Yang Enterprises, Inc.!
We have mentioned before our appreciation for Keith Olbermann’s willingness, virtually alone in the Mainstream Media, to cover a fair amount of the “Election 2004 Irregularity” issues.
We have also pointed out in the past some of Olbermann’s horribly embarrasing failures as a journalist in the course of those much-appreciated duties. Amongst them, criticizing another journalist for “distancing himself…from the purported original source of the information”.
Olbermann was condescending at the time to “self-styled investigative journalist” Wayne Madsen’s reporting. And though we’ve had at least a few words ourself about Madsen’s work, we bothered to contact Madsen to see learn if Olbermann had actually spoken to him, or even attempted to, before levelling the above — rather-ironic-in-retrospect – criticism of his work.
He hadn’t.
And yesterday, Olbermann did it again! This time in a report that mattered! In a blog item filed “from an undisclosed location” (scroll down to Item #4 at the link), Olbermann finally mentioned the Clint Curtis “Whistleblower Affidavit” story as first reported here over two weeks ago.
In those two weeks, Olbermann hasn’t mentioned a word about the stunning case which has rocked the vote from Talahassee to Capitol Hill to all corners of the blogosphere. That is, until he decided to botch a report on it from top to bottom yesterday. A report which violates the journalistic standards of even the laziest of Internet bloggers. Or at least this lazy one!
Amongst the most egregious errors and/or failures in Olbermann’s “reporting” here was his failure (and that of anybody on his staff) to actually contact Clint Curtis to get his reply to some rather scurrilous charges that Olbermann decided to pass on to readers, as offered up by Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) — the now U.S. Congressman, then Florida Speaker of the House — who is at the center of this controversy.
Curtis alleges that Feeney asked Yang Enterprises, Inc. (YEI) to create a “vote-rigging software prototype” for him in a 2000 meeting at the company when Curtis was a software designer with the firm.
Feeney was, at the time, the corporate counsel and a registered lobbyist for YEI even while he was serving as a member of the Florida Legislature.
Olbermann (or rather, one of his producers) seems to have gotten comment from Feeney on the matter. No small feat, as Feeney’s office has rebuffed most attempts by journalists to get comment over the last two weeks about this growing scandal.
Olbermann explains…
Firstly, the attorney for the firm for whom Mr. Curtis worked at the time of the purported skullduggery request, Yang Enterprises of Oviedo, Florida, insists that the company has never sold any voting software. Its lawyer claims Curtis has previously threatened the firm and its top officers, in writing, and that they were sufficiently concerned to file a police report as a result. Though the term ?disgruntled employee? is too easily thrown around (I can attest to that), if somebody has put it in writing, it’s a tough climb back to full credibility.
Wow…that’s a lot of oversights and unsupported charges in a single paragraph! Even by way of a reliable member of the “NBC News Investigative Unit”!
The BRAD BLOG Investigative Unit has already reported several times on some of those charges by “the attorney for the firm for whom Mr. Curtis worked”. But most disturbingly, apparently the NBC News Investigative Unit was perhaps too busy sipping eggnog this time of year to investigate the matter enough to learn that the unnamed “firm” mentioned was likely “Fowler & O’Quinn” — previously known as “Fowler, Barice, FEENEY & O’Quinn”.
As well, that unnamed “attorney” was likely Michael O’Quinn. Feeney’s old law partner, and a longtime contributor, along with YEI owners, Dr. and Mrs. Yang, to Feeney’s campaign. Including his 2004 campaign in which Feeney ran unopposed. See this BRAD BLOG Investigative Unit Report for several more details on the above. And this “Farewell Card” given to Curtis by the employees — including the CEO — of YEI at a “Farewell Party” thrown by the company in his honor! Suggesting that Curtis may not have been as “disgruntled” as O’Quinn enjoys painting him!
But we credit Olbermann for advancing the story a bit in reporting that YEI’s unnamed lawyer is issuing all-new, unsupported and unevidenced charges that “Curtis has previously threatned the firm and its top officers, in writing.”
“In writing?!”
Excellent! Olbermann may have gotten us somewhere! Hard evidence to reveal that Clint Curtis may, in fact, have been up to no good by having sent written “threats” to the company!
Since the threats were said to be in writing, surely they asked the unnamed lawyer to supply that “writing” before reporting such an explosive charge to millions of eager fans on Mr. Bloggerman’s Internet site, right?
Well…apparently, they didn’t. Or at least Olbermann supplied no such “writing” along with his report from the unnamed lawyer.
Is it just us? Or shouldn’t he have done so before reporting repeating such a charge by an unnamed source for millions to consume? Or even such a charge from a named source for that matter!
Futher, Olbermann then writes, “they were sufficiently concerned to file a police report as a result”!
Aha! More hard evidence! And an easily verifiable police report nonetheless! Was such a report really filed? If so, when? And what did it say? I’m sure it included that very troubling threat — in writing!
Did Olbermann verify such a report was filed at the police precinct in question? We’ll assume not, since Olbermann gives no indication that they even tried, or any of the information we ask about above.
Did Olbermann find out if any police ever actually contacted Curtis concerning this written threat? Of course not! Because Olbermann never bothered to contact Curtis!
But we did.
According to Curtis — who a member of The BRAD BLOG Investigative Unit was able to contact within minutes of reading Olbermann’s report in order to inquire about this charge — the answer from Curtis is “No.”
“The police never contacted me about anything,” Curtis told us. “If a police report was filed, wouldn’t they have contacted me? If it happened, you should be able to get a copy of that police report.”
We agree. And to that end, attempts have been made over the last two days to confirm that such a report was filed with the Oviedo Police. (pictured at left, giving a “Certificate of Appreciation” to YEI CEO Mrs. Li Woan Yang to recognize YEI’s “generous contribution and continuing support to the members of the Oviedo Police Department.”)
We are still attempting to get word from the Oveido Police Department’s Public Information Officer and will report on what they may have to say…in the event we are able to get any further information from them in this matter.
So in lieu of official word from the police for now (we imagine an NBC Investigative Unit might have been able to get their attention faster than us), what could Olbermann’s unnamed attorney, and apparent-former law partner to Tom Feeney have been referring to in regards to such “written threats”?
Once again, our actual discussions with Curtis were revealing:
“I don’t know what they’re talking about…Maybe it had to do with some emails I had sent to [YEI executive secretary] Mike Cohen encouraging him to ‘come over to the good side’ before people started getting in trouble.”
Curtis explained that he had spoken with the Florida Attorney General’s office about the charges that he and another employee at the Florida Dept. of Transportation (FDOT) had filed against YEI for over-billing, employing illegal-aliens and more back in 2001.
“If that’s what they’re talking about, it wasn’t much of a threat,” Curtis told us. “From what the Attorney General’s office was saying to me at the time, I felt as if they were looking to pin the whole thing on Mike. He was saying Mike knows this and Mike knows that.”
Curtis apparently then tried to help his friend and former colleague Mike — who was apparently one of several in the room when Feeney discussed the “vote-rigging software” at YEI — telling him “you might want to come clean when you can.”
The Attorney General’s office, Curtis explained, was “asking alot of questions about how much does Mike Cohen know rather than what did the Yangs know…Basically it was a felony that [Mike] knew Henry [Nee, the alleged illegal-alien] was working there…and he didn’t tell the FBI about it at the time, and — you know, this was Top Secret Clearance stuff — and I figured they might be wanting to pin it on him, and I wanted to let him know.”
Nee plead guilty this past October to charges related to shipping missile components to China. See this BRAD BLOG Investigative Unit report for more details…Including actual evidence and court papers!
Back to Olbermann…
(One doesn’t have to wonder, Keith. Pick up the phone and find out. It’s not really that hard. We did it! And, according to Seminole Chronicle editor and reporter, Alex Babcock, things are going very well, thanks for asking! He reports that he’s had an overwhelming influx of positive email, and almost zero negative email…You know what that’s like, I’m sure.)
“Mr. Curtis slandered and defamed a lot of people”? Superb! Does the Congressman or “a lot of those people” plan to file charges against Curtis?! That could be quite a story if so! And since Feeney himself is an attorney (his firm, “Fowler, Barice, Feeney & O’Quinn”, now “Fowler & O’Quinn” has represented YEI for about ten years), and he now sits on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, this could be quite a scandal!
And what “specifically” or “generally” did Feeney have to say beyond his bemusement at being charged specifically in a sworn affidavit [PDF] and in video-taped sworn testimony before members of that U.S. House Judiciary committee with the felony charge of conspiring to commit vote fraud?
And, how long and extensive was Feeney’s “connection” with YEI “prior to 2002”? Was it more or less extensive than the near $7000 that Dr. and Mrs. Yang personally contributed to Feeney’s campaign in 2003 and 2004 when Feeney was running unopposed for the 24th Congressional District in Florida?
While we’re at it…Did that “connection to Yang Enterprises prior (or after) 2002″…
Of course, we don’t know Feeney’s answers to those questions because our member of The BRAD BLOG Investigative Unit hasn’t gotten him to sit down for any questions.
We’re glad a member of NBC’s Investigative Unit was able to. But we wish they’d bothered to ask real questions of the embattled congressman, worried less about alienating powerful sources, and then offered readers more CONTEXT for the Congressman’s answers before passing them on to readers without bothering to fact-check, apparently, a damn one of them!
For the record — before filing this story! — we spoke this afternoon to an MSNBC Countdown producer who preferred we keep his name off the record on this matter. That producer told The BRAD BLOG that “this was Keith Olbermann’s writing. He didn’t work with me or anyone else on this.”
The producer further stated that while “an NBC News unit” was looking into Clinton’s charges, “Nothing that we have found so far meets the standards we would need to report further on this.”
Keith Olbermann was on vacation.
In a side-note, if any other “reporters” or investigative units are interested in following up with either YEI or their attorneys at “Fowler & O’Quinn”, please note that we have been informed the people available to speak on the topic at both organizations have announced they are “on vacation” until Saturday, January 1, 2005. Indeed we have been told that the Yangs have left (or are leaving) the country.
On the other hand, Curtis, in another sign of his remarkably indefatigable spirit, told us yesterday in response to all of this…”Good! I’m glad he covered what Feeney said! Now he’ll want to have us on the show to tell our side of the story…right?”
Um…apparently Mr. Curtis hasn’t yet learned how “Investigative Units” in America in 2004 actually work. The guy with the power, money and influence has already spoken. General Electric’s MSNBC has done their job. Time for the holidays and Christmas spirit and vacations to undisclosed locations!
Meanwhile, Clint Curtis is standing by the phone, prepared to speak to any and all media folks who are willing to ask him serious questions. And they needn’t be limited to seven.
The BRAD BLOG is willing to help such organizations contact Mr. Curtis. We can be emailed here. Mr. Olbermann, as he knows, already has our private telephone number. We too are standing by the phones and happy to help.
…CONTACT…
Keith Olbermann, MSNBC’s Countdown
KOlbermann@MSNBC.com
THANKYOU SO MUCH FOR FIGHTING BACK ABOUT THIS WHOLE SITUATION. IT SEEMS EVERYONE WISHES IT WOULD JUST GO AWAY. THE CLINT CURTIS ISSUE IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO FOLLOW THROUGH ON, BUT THERE IS STILL THE VOTER SUPPRESSION, POSSIBLE FRAUD IN OHIO AND OTHER STATES THAT NEEDS TO BE REPORTED
ON. WE ARE COUNTING ON YOU BRAD. DON’T LET IT GO QUIET, I HEAR THE RECOUNT TOTALS IN OHIO ARE COMING OUT THE SAME AS THE CERTIFIED VOTE. THIS WILL MAKE THE WHOLE RECOUNT SEEM LIKE A WASTE OF TIME. IT ISN’T.
THERE WAS STILL MASSIVE VOTER SUPPRESSION
AND WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE THAT WENT ON.
PLEASE KEEP REPORTING ON IT.
THANKS SO MUCH, BECKY
pls. get Clint Curtis to issue a press response to these and othr allegations
if Olbermann won’t go to him, then Curtis needs to defend the allegations and set the record straight
Becky, the Curtis story in large part (including elements I haven’t yet been able to report here) plus a few personal obligations, have kept me dreadfully unable to keep up with some of the important Election stuff!
I will be attempting to do so as time allows shortly…please forgive what I *can’t* do for the moment (hopefully you understand why). But I will do my best to catch up a bit shortly.
As well, I rest a bit more comfortably, in that there are atleast many others voice now besides my own (wasn’t always the case!) reporting on a lot of these items. I’d recommend RAW STORY for the moment, for some of the best, most up-to-date coverage available on those matters for the moment!
Olbermann is a paid MSNBC reporter: This means he’s been *bought and paid for* and there’s no way he’s got the guts to bite the hand that feeds him.
I wish people would stop counting on him and MSNBC for anything. MSNBC has been spreading disinformation in favor of the Bush administration for a while now:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200412220002
Don’t forget about Feeney and 2000. His claims of having no power are a bit hollow, eh?
—-
Sunday, Nov. 26, 2000
Tom Feeney may be the only man more influential in Florida than football king Bobby Bowden. So when the Bush campaign issued a midnight call-to-arms after the Florida Supreme Court’s decision last Wednesday, Feeney was ready. With the seething contempt of a coach behind at half time, the new Republican speaker of the Florida House of Representatives tore into the ruling. "The Florida Supreme Court could have given us a resolution," he said. "Instead, I fear, it has given us a potential constitutional crisis."
And with that, America reached DefCon 1, with Feeney’s finger just above the glowing red button. A state legislature hasn’t disregarded its popular vote and sent its own electors to Congress since 1876. But by joint proclamation with state Senate president John McKay, Feeney can summon all state legislators to Tallahassee for a special session to do just that, even as early as this week. That could precipitate an almost unimaginable series of constitutional nightmares, from a divided U.S. Congress fighting over what to do with the Florida electors to the U.S. Supreme Court having to choose our next president.
—
http://www.time.com/time/nation...,89439,00.html
I echo Becky’s sentiments resoundingly. For all our sakes, keep at this and keep us informed. If enough of us make sufficient noise about the "election irregularities" (i.e. scream our heads off whenever and wherever we can, SOMEONE will have to unbury his head and take notice.
Thanks Brad.
Oh, and do mention somewhere Jesse Jackson’s protest rally in Columbus, Ohio, on I believe January 2. Hope there’s a huge turnout in spite of the weather. As he says, it’s as huge an issue as Selma.
Peg
Correction to note above: Jackson’s rally is on the 3rd.
HAHAHAHA
You are such a hack.
Where is the dead dog!!!!!
You might want to revise your title….
T.V. anchor man laughs at outrageous claims made by wannabe internet blogger.
You really should just give up. You make liberals and lefties look ridicules and I for one will never stop trying finish off the last remaining shred of your credibility.
Good luck.
Hey Brad,
Your audio link does not work:
http://209.208.176.251/audio/Al...%20Hannity.mp3
AnonymouseArmy:
Perhaps if you are going to ridicule (even if you are most likely a low-life Republican), you should at least spell your comments correctly.
It’s "ridiculous"…not "ridicules." 😛
What about "Feeney says he doesn’t remember meeting Mr. Curtis."??? And what about the Yang employee purportedly saying that meetings with Curtis & Feeney never happened?
Even if Mike Cohen is in too deep or too scared to come to Curtis’ aid, with all the well-wishers who signed Clint’s Good-bye card, I would expect there is at least one who can and will corroborate the fact that meetings between Feeney & Curtis at least took place.
I know this is hard work and I don’t mean to be impatient for more details, but I can’t help it, I’m on pins and needles anxiously awaiting each new installment. Thanks for your supurb work!
Well, Olbermann does have limitations in what he wants to report and what he can report. Olbermann is a paid reporter whose paycheck comes from the MSNBC. There are Republican clout within MSNBC. Keith Olbermann has to do some balancing act.
Due to this balancing act Mr. Olbermann screws up some hard facts, like this Curtis story. Another one he did was on Wayne Madsen’s story. Olbermann discredited Mr. Madsen that his prediction of Americans attacking Iran just before the elections proved to be wrong. No, Madsen was not wrong! American could not strike Iran because Iran backed out and made a deal with EU. How can US attack then? There was no grounds for an attack on Iran. But Madsen’s prediction was right that US was going to attack.
Olbermann’s problem in reporting is that he is moving away from being an investigative reporter to being an investigative report auditor.
Hey all,
Don’t be so "high" on Olbermann! Part of military and intelligence psy-ops is to lay the groundwork for discrediting potential damaging information that may eventually become mainstream news. By planting doubt about a story or personality as part of mass population conditioning. News stories that may appear to be supportive of our cause are actually designed to discredit both story and source in the public consciousness. NBC knows this as does their controller, GE, a military defense and intelligence contractor who wants Bush to remain in office. Time to rage against the machine folks!
Seems like Brad and the Raw Story are the only ones doing responsible reporting on this important story. If things are going to change, and I believe it is only a matter of when, the changes are going to be driven by the people, and those journalists that are outside of the mainstream.
We should be questioning every story that is quickly passed over as fact!
Being a software engineer and IT professional, I am not satisfied with the explanations given in the recent Hocking County scandal. There are long lists of questions that need to be asked before that issue is settled, not the least of which is what independent experts in computer and software where present, and what questions did they ask? I no longer trust laymen to know that they are doing in matters like this. Simply being an attorney or election official is not enough. And even it truly was maintenance; it illustrates a completely unacceptable system that is not secure and not accountable.
And what about this recent refusal of the media to hand over the exit poll information in a timely manner? That information belongs to the people of this country. Why are we not creating a storm over this? We should be demanding this information turned over to our representatives in congress. We should not expect to wait until the inauguration is over, until after they have thought of explanations to cover their interests, until they have an opportunity to change the data. They will do it if we let them!
When the truth eventually surfaces about this election, and about what is happening to this country, it will be something that cannot be ignored, regardless of who would like to see that happen. I believe that there will be a new source of media and enterprise that grows out of the current conflicts, and they will grow and prosper outside the mainstream.
The bloggers are just the beginning of what is to come. If we cannot trust the media, then we will build our own. If we cannot support the red companies, we will support the blue companies. If we cannot find representation in the current political system, we need to build a new one, with a new party that understands this.
Here is a little secret those in power don’t want you to understand: It is the people that truly have all of the real power in this world! If they will only get up off there collective assess and use it! If people truly decide to unite against a corrupt system there is no way that those in power can stand against tens or evens hundreds of millions of people that demand change. Lets get busy!
😀
…the voting machine that is! 🙂
Hey guys,
The house judiciary just listed a video of a Triad
employee being interviewed, but then the link
suddenly disappeared. However, you can still
access it at:
http://www.house.gov/judiciary_...triad_tech.mov
I think this says it all . . .
From ReDefeatBush.com
Brad, I will check out some of the other sites I’ve seen mentioned here. And Thanks again for all of your hard work. It’s appreciated. Becky
Big John –
Thanks for letting me know about the broken Franken/Hannity link. Glad I saved a copy of it. Have updated the link to point to my version. Should work now.
(And I need to add a lot of new stuff to that Audio list!…Oh, well…soon!)
To Olbermann’s credit, he has updated his story regarding the Triad employee. Instead of merely accepting the Hocking County Prosecutor’s assurances that no impropriety took place, Olbermann now gives Cobb et. al.’s complaints more proper treatment.
I have emailed Olberman asking him to do the same regarding Curtis/Feeney. Suggest others do likewise.
Let me know when we are supposed to "hit the streets’….we have a few thousand right here in little Carteret County..ready to take to the streets! :angry:
Go and hit the streets right now with your little band of rebels; but first make sure Mommy makes you a lunch and clean up your room like she told you.
Dear Brad,
Would it be possible to put up a countdown clock to the objections to the Ohio and Florida Electors in the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2005? Many people are surprised, and then elated, when they learn that the gentleman from Texas can still be stopped.
Thanks for all your hard work. Keep it up.
With best wishes,
Marvin
Feeney doesn’t remember meeting Curtis. That’s nothing, Cheney doesn’t even remember meeting Edwards. And Nixon probably doesn’t remember meeting Dean. What’s next, Pilate doesn’t remember meeting Jesus?
Here’s one for you, Gary: Bush doesn’t remember saying he wasn’t concerned about bin Laden. 😉
Hey attorneyjim,
Are you an attorney or do you need one? Nothing wrong with being young and rebellious. I was the same during the Vietnam War and I’m still the same, rebellious that is! Taking to the streets against a fraudulent democracy is perfectly appropriate. It helped bring an end to the murderous war in Vietnam and it’s going to bring Bush’s Iraq Nuclear War to an end as well. Just give us time to pick up our lunch and make our rooms.
Ok…ok…so maybe 4 million pounds of radioactive dust from our Reaganesque depleted uranium bullets and bombs isn’t a per se nuclear war, but don’t tell that to all the Iraqi’s and US soldiers now getting cancers and illnesses from it. Hey, Baghdad doesn’t need electricity, they can just glow in the dark!
And why are Republicans and Democrats helping bankroll rebellion in the streets of Ukraine, but not in America? Go figure! Seems we’re making all sorts of fusses over elections in places like Ukraine and Venezuela, strategic oil and gas locales, using American made exit polls which declare frauds in those countries. But not in our good ‘ol USA, where the frauds here are even more blatant! So with George Soros packing their lunches in Kiev, all of a sudden not a dime for our kids (sorry…young people) to take to the streets in America.
Sorry Brad for taking some of your space, but let’s face it, the Olbermann’s and NBC’s of the world can continue to make a mockery of free press while our forged President can go on playing pretend democracy on behalf of his buddies in the oil and gas industry and military industrial complex. What a better way to become a facist imperial world leader then by corrupting the electoral process of not only America, but of countries all over the world. Look out Iraq, here comes your democracy courtesy Diebold, Triad, ES&S…tipped with our finest grade uranium laced vote rigging software.
Get your people ready T-Rod, pack your lunches, clean your rooms, then remember what Mick and the Stones would sing, "We’ll be fighting in the streets, with our children at our feet…" Yea Baby! Peace, love, and revolution all…to honor a real revolutionary…Jesus Christ! And I’m not talkin’ your televangelical $129.95 DVD Jesus either, you right-wing pukes. Ok…ok…I’m outta here!
:hehe:
Great comment, freebird … except:
It was The Who, not the Stones. Roger sang it, not Mick. And Pete wrote it. Here’s the first verse, for your dining and dancing pleasure:
We’ll be fighting in the streets / with our children at our feet / and the morals that they worship will be gone / and the men who spurred us on / will sit in judgement of all wrong / they decide and the shotgun sings the song / I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution / take a bow for the new revolution / smile and grin at the changes all around / pick up my guitar and play / just like yesterday / then I’ll get on my knees and pray / we don’t get fooled again
I lived through the sixties. Those songs made millions for the groups. It was NOTHING but about the money for the bands, SUCKER.
Don’t forget to put your pimple cream on before you go protest too because they don’t let you shower in the city jails.
You are just a bunch of America hating wanna be rebels; no different than the 2 percenters I grew up with. In 20 years you will laugh at what an idiot you were and worry about your own kids maybe being wannabe rebels.
Now go do your schoolwork so you can get a decent job and support a family.
Attorney Jim –
I’ve been very tolerant of you up until now. You are free to say what you wish about the issues discussed here.
You are NOT free to treat other commenters with disrespect and insults. Particularly when they are simply meant as personal insults, not even based on a position expressed.
Consider yourself warned, knock it off, or your banned. It’s up to you.
LOL…sorry and thanks winter patriot…must have been "Stoned"! Brad, please let attorney jim rant and rave as long as he stays somewhat clean? And attorney jim, I’m not worried about my kids being rebellious…they better be, and alot of other kids, or otherwise we’ll have a nation of right-wing brown shirts who listen to the subtle mind control of Christian music and military video games. Somehow bombs, depleted uranium, and death by lethal injection doesn’t sound very Jesus-like, but since our President talks to a Christian God, guess we better just listen and stay ignorant?
While we’re on subject of The Who and "Won’t Get Fooled Again", I feel I should point out that it is not [as commonly believed] a revolutionary anthem. In fact it’s at least cautionary, and possibly downright anti-revolutionary. And that’s why it ends like this:
The change it had to come / we knew it all along / we were liberated from the fold / that’s all / and the parting on the left / is now a parting on the right / and the beards have all grown longer overnight / … / Meet the new boss / same as the old boss!
If this song has a moral, it’s probably: Be very careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.
I’m wishing very carefully this year; how about you?
I’m wishing for a good house cleaning! 🙂 White House has gotten pretty filthy. LOL 🙂
FROM MSNBC 12/27/04:
Several e-mails noted that the programmer, Clint Curtis, testified before the Conyers Voting Forum in Columbus, Ohio, earlier this month. Well, yes and no. He did tell his story there, but it’s instructive to note that he was not asked to do so until after Representative Conyers left the forum, and had turned the chairing of the meeting over to a local politician. This wasn’t a case of Conyers rushing to catch a bus, nor a problem with too many witnesses, nor a coincidence.
For weeks, say sources at various levels of the formal investigations into the voting irregularities, Mr. Curtis has promised them corroboration of his accusations — even if it was just the statement of someone to whom he said, in 2000, ‘hey, this guy just asked me to write a vote-switching program.’ These sources say they’ve received no such corroboration, and certainly none has been presented publicly.
One e-mailer complained that the denial by the politician accused by Mr. Curtis of soliciting the program seemed pretty tepid, and confined itself largely to his comment “I don’t remember meeting Mr. Curtis.” Well, the ambiguity of the denial is partially my fault. Much of the remarks were boilerplate and repetitive, but I did leave out a fairly salient one, in which he said these were: “some of the most ridiculous, fictional charges you could ever imagine.” I wouldn’t classify that as a ‘non-denial denial.’
Two readers asked why we didn’t simply put Mr. Curtis on ‘Countdown’ or otherwise interview him. Unfortunately, there is a question of the size of the platform here. If the details of his charges can be found on an innocuous website with limited readership, it doesn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things if the possibility that they are partially or totally untrue, turns out to be the correct one. But if that’s the case — if this is actually the story of a guy out to hurt a politician — and we put him on national television, I will have effectively recreated the Swift Boat Veterans fiasco. Under those circumstances, especially in the absence of corroboration, the truth becomes secondary, and the damage is the only verifiable thing.
Lastly (and, for my money, most entertainingly): I noted that an attorney for Curtis’s former employers, for whom he was working when he claims to have been asked to develop the nefarious program, described him to MSNBC as a ‘disgruntled former employee.’ However, an e-mailer writes, at the time of his departure from the firm, the company gave him a going-away card. I had to smile at this evidence. When I left ESPN in 1997, the company gave me a tape of my oddest moments on the air, a huge farewell banner, and a going-away party that lasted until sunrise and was so joyous that the authorities were summoned. Still, I have to be the first one to say it: if anybody has the right to call me a ‘disgruntled former employee,’ it’s ESPN.
HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!
jim
Quoting one of the oil-soaked corporate media whores is not going to win you any arguments or score you any points around here.
If you ever learn to think and speak for yourself, by all means come back and tell us what you think.
We already know what Keith Olbermann thinks — and what kind of journalistic standards he is ‘upholding’ … He is part of the problem, for crying out loud. Quoting him here is not going to be part of the solution.
Jim, so you know..I am over 40 and mama quit telling me what to do a long time ago…
Just a note of thanks for what your doing. It’s certain your base will grow. Just don’t shoot yourself in the foot. It’s going to take time to expose the president and his administration. Just grab that mask he’s wearing and keep pulling and don’t let go. Battles are often decided by the last man standing. Try not to needlessly offend converts by meaningless foolish comments. It’s going to take alot of us to make this happen. Thanks again for keeping us focused.
Well, this is an extremely interesting story, but there is one glaring thing which makes reading this blog a serious chore. That is the snide comments every other sentence. Try just reporting, if you want to be a reporter. It’s not often you see a self-styled investigative journalist crew like yourself resorting to ad-hominem arguments so incredibly often. In effect, you’re putting yourself on Keith Olberman’s level. Sure, it’s fun to poke such people in the gut with little comments like that, but:
(1) Those aren’t news, they’re personal opinions and count for nothing in relation to this story. Basically, they’re wasting our time by making us read them.
(2) All your readers stopped making comments like that in serious conversations back around senior year in high school.
So, just deliver the story, stop with the childish stuff. It’s ridiculous.