My letter to the Merc
Dear Susan Goldberg,
In todays paper (Sun, June 12) you claim to be "improving the paper for
readers. Also in the same paper, on page 3, you give brief lip service to
THE MOST IMPORTANT STORY OF THE CENTURY. The Downing Street Memo and the
subsequent revelations that PROVE that George Bush had planned the Iraq
invasion well before he said he did and deliberately LIED to Congress and
the American people, taking us into a war that has ruined countless lives
and bankrupted our country.
Since you seem incapable of gathering any "news" other than what is fed to
you by the wire services, I will try to help you by "phoning it in" so you
don't have to actually work to do your job. I will even provide links so
you can get the info at the touch of a button.
1. September 2000. Plan For a New American Century (PNAC)
http://home.earthlink.net/~platter/neo-conservatism/pnac.html September
2000 report produced for Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Jeb
Bush, and Lewis Libby That outlines the plan to take over the middle
eastern oil supplies and states that "A Pearl Harbor like event" would be
necessary to rally the American people behind this strategy.
2. November through Jan 2000. Bush made President, Cheney V.P.
3. Shortly after Bush appointed, Cheney has secret energy meetings. Rumor
has it that maps and plans for the mid east invasion were laid out to oil
execs. Also note: California had a large budget surplus which was quickly
stolen by Enron et al shortly after this "secret" meeting, setting the stage
for Arnold.
4. September 11, 2001. A "Pearl Harbor" type event takes place. U.S.
attacked by Saudi Nationals so U.S. attacks Afghanistan.
5. July 23, 2002 . Downing street memo says Bush determined to attack
Iraq. Must fix facts to fit policy.
http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/6. November 12, 2002. White house declares War with Iraq "Only as a last
resort"
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/11/20021112-5.html7. March 20, 2003, Us Attacks Iraq.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Iraq_war_timelineDo you think you can connect the dots?
Do you think it might be important to help your readers connect the dots.
Do you think it might be important to the country at large to connect the
dots?
We have proof of high crimes and misdemeanors by the current administration
that have lead us to war, killed, wounded, bankrupted our men and women in
the armed services and bankrupted our national treasury while heaping
literally Billions of dollars to Halliburton (Dick Cheney) Carlyle Group
G.H.W. Bush and Tony Blair, Oil companies have so much cash they can't even
spend it and you feed us the Jackson distraction.
We are forced to look for REAL news to sources outside of this country,
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,564-1649071,00.html or on line
because you ignore it or maybe, like Bush, because it's "hard work".
And you wonder why the public finds you increasingly irrelevant? Wake up!!!
Even your own industry is finally figuring it out.
http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1118484370150942.xml?oregonian?ycocpe&coll=7#continue
Are you aware that John Conyers has asked the White House for answers on the
Downing Street issue and been stonewalled. Are you aware that he has the
signatures of about 90 members of congress and over HALF A MILLION concerned
citizens asking for those answers, that he plans to hand deliver to the To
the White house next Thursday.
Will you bother to cover it?
Maybe fit it somewhere on page 13?
It is truly sad that I have to tell YOU the news.
And you wonder why, after 20 years as a subscriber to your paper, I now find
it only useful as fish wrap.
Sincerely, and I really do mean sincerely,
Buddy P. Gill
The Merc Response
Mr. Gill,
Susan Goldberg is traveling but she asked me to get back to everyone who has
sent us feedback. I've responded to most people already, but I wanted to
take some extra time to research what we have written about the Downing
Street memo. You are among the readers who commented on this coverage.
Knight Ridder, our parent corporation, was the first U.S. news organization
to write about the memo in detail, on May 5. The Mercury News published that
story, by Warren Strobel and John Walcott, on May 6.
The headline was, "MEMO: BUSH WAS SET IN '02 ON INVADING -- WHITE HOUSE
DENIES IT 'FIXED' DATA FOR IRAQ ACTION."
Since then, we have published two follow-ups.
June 8, "BUSH, BLAIR DISPUTE MEMO ALLEGING IRAQ DATA FALSIFIED," by Ron
Hutcheson of Knight Ridder.
June 12, "BRITISH MEMO DETAILED IRAQ FEARS -- 'LITTLE THOUGHT': '02 BRIEFING
FOUND POSTWAR PLAN INADEQUATE," by Walter Pincus of the Washington Post.
This piece was about an eight-page memo from July 21, 2002, two days before
the meeting that led to the Downing Street memo.
Many readers missed or forgot about that original story in May because it
did not contain the words "Downing Street memo."
Thanks for taking the time to write.
Rich Ramirez
San Jose Mercury News
-----Original Message-----
From: Comrade Bud
Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2005 1:17 PM
To: feedback@mercurynews.com; Buddy Gill
Subject: Why I no longer subscribe to the Merc.
My letter to them last night:
Richard, first of all, thank you for responding to my letter. Unfortunately, you did not answer my most important question. Will the San Jose Mercury news be covering tomorrows hearing by the ranking minority member of the judiciary committee, John Conyers, hearing on this issue? Are you aware that the majority member, Sensenbrenner at first tried to deny the minority a place to hold this hearing, then, confronted with public outrage, finally conceded them a room to hold the hearing that held ONLY 20 people? Don't you think this is news? How mny people do you Think would have sighned this petittion if the main stream media had actually covered it? I mean, 550,000,00 people signed it WITHOUT your help! Please, it is time for you folks to stop with the wire feed from APPI and start doing actual journalisim! Isn't that what we pay you for? Or should I just suscribe to A.P.I. After all, that's where the "NEWS" comes from.
Bud 
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