Have You Wrote to Dana Milbank Yet ?

[stewert]

The Washington Post political correspondent Dana Milbank wrote an article about the downing street memo hearing that Congressman John Conyers had thursday. This article is an outrage, it is something you would expect from O'Reilly or Hannity, not a so-called real journalist.

Democrats Play House to Rally Against the War

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/16/AR2005061601570.html

The story by political correspondent Dana Milbank drips with a sarcasm that would never be allowed for a report on, say, a conservative gathering or on a topic involving any part of the American political spectrum other than the Left.

“In the Capitol basement yesterday, long-suffering House Democrats took a trip to the land of make-believe,” Milbank wrote. “They pretended a small conference room was the Judiciary Committee hearing room, draping white linens over folding tables to make them look like witness tables and bringing in cardboard name tags and extra flags to make the whole think look official.”

And the insults – especially aimed at Rep. Conyers – just kept on coming. The Michigan Democrat “banged a large wooden gavel and got the other lawmakers to call him ‘Mr. Chairman,’” the snide article said.

Washington Post editors – having already dismissed the leaked British government documents about the Iraq War as boring, irrelevant news – are now turning to the tried-and-true tactic for silencing any remaining dissent, consigning those who won’t go along to the political loony bin.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0618-30.htm

Now read Conyers letter to this piece of shit at the Post.

John Conyers' Letter to the Washington Post

June 17, 2005

Mr. Michael Abramowitz, National Editor;
Mr. Michael Getler, Ombudsman;
Mr. Dana Milbank;
The Washington Post,
1150 15th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20071

Dear Sirs:

I write to express my profound disappointment with Dana Milbank's June 17 report, "Democrats Play House to Rally Against the War," which purports to describe a Democratic hearing I chaired in the Capitol yesterday. In sum, the piece cherry-picks some facts, manufactures others out of whole cloth, and does a disservice to some 30 members of Congress who persevered under difficult circumstances, not of our own making, to examine a very serious subject: whether the American people were deliberately misled in the lead up to war. The fact that this was the Post's only coverage of this event makes the journalistic shortcomings in this piece even more egregious.

In an inaccurate piece of reporting that typifies the article, Milbank implies that one of the obstacles the Members in the meeting have is that "only one" member has mentioned the Downing Street Minutes on the floor of either the House or Senate. This is not only incorrect but misleading. In fact, just yesterday, the Senate Democratic Leader, Harry Reid, mentioned it on the Senate floor. Senator Boxer talked at some length about it at the recent confirmation hearing for the Ambassador to Iraq. The House Democratic Leader, Nancy Pelosi, recently signed on to my letter, along with 121 other Democrats asking for answers about the memo. This information is not difficult to find either. For example, the Reid speech was the subject of an AP wire service report posted on the Washington Post website with the headline "Democrats Cite Downing Street Memo in Bolton Fight". Other similar mistakes, mischaracterizations and cheap shots are littered throughout the article.

Full Letter Here:

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0618-23.htm

Then e-mail this slimeball and give him a piece of your mind, I know I did.

To reach Milbank and the Post:
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Main Phone: [phone]

[globalvillage]

1. Yes.

Mr. Milbank,

Regarding your article on the Conyers' Downing Street Minutes meeting, I have a few questions:

Why, do you think, was this hearing relegated to the basement of the Capitol, rather than in a more appropriate venue, and why won't you report that?
Why do you find it improper for our elected representatives to investigate this British government document?
Do you really think Rep Conyers should ignore the 120+ House members and over half a million citizens who signed the letter to George Bush? Do you think the President should respond to or ignore US citizens?
What do you have against the Constitution and the responsibilities of the Congress?
Is your loyalty to the United States, or just to your Washington Post paycheck?

Thank you for your time.


The Federalist Papers : No. 51

"Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit. In a society under the forms of which the stronger faction can readily unite and oppress the weaker, anarchy may as truly be said to reign..."

[converted_democrat]

2. Yes, I have ,and I wrote and called the Ombudsman too! n/t

[Democrat 4 Ever]

5. Yes, I wrote them yesterday. Have been waiting by my email

box with bated breath for a mea culpa, sorry, my bad ever since.:sarcasm:

My letter:

The Washington Post has stooped to a new low in reporting with the Dana Milbank article on the Conyers hearing of June 16, 2005. I'm not sure if Milbank actually covered the event or was writing on pre-supposed ideology of what he thought would take place (calling all Jayson Blairs!) or maybe a second hand account by one of the many republican Congressmen who tried to ensure this meeting did not take place but Milband's account was extremely flawed and certainly a stain upon The Washington Post's storied history.

Let me assure you I watched every single minute of the hearing and what was reported by Milbank was nothing comparable to what actually happened. I can't imagine why he would choose to report the event in the manner he did.

Once upon a time a Washington Post editor took a chance on two unknown, untried reporters to dig out the truth about a corrupt administration. You might consider assigning this story to some one who gives a damn whether people are dying for another corrupt administration, an administration that is lying to Congress and the public, an administration that is actively and repeatedly engaged in a cover-up. If Milbank can not put aside his bias (and his blinders) on this subject then he needs to let another reporter - maybe a rookie take a stab at performing real journalism instead of allowing himself to put out such obviously uninformed material.

Milbank and the Washington Post owe Rep. Conyers and the other representatives an apology and a correction. They owe their readers a better report of the event and they owe the American people a free and open press. If Milbank finds that too taxing maybe he could train as an apprentice pressman.

Thank you for listening.

[converted_democrat]

9. What a wonderfully articulate letter....That was great!

Mine was not nearly as nice. I was very unhappy when I wrote mine, and when I read it a little later, I realized that I came across a little harsh. Oops. I called later after I had cooled for awhile, and "tried" to be kinder.

[LiberalEsto]

11. Excellent letter! n/t

[Nite Owl]

3. I wrote here

to Getler
[e-mail]


I guess writing to Milbank too wouldn't hurt though he is probably so arrogant he wouldn't even read it.

[mom cat]

4. Yes, and it was a real pleasure!

[kaitykaity]

6. Yes to both Milbank and the ombudsman.

Asked Milbank of Rove told him what to write
before or after the post-coital cigarette.

Asked the ombudsman politely if he would print
Conyers' rebuttal.

[patdem]

7. Yes, here are my comments to milbank

I have never sent you or anyone in the press or media correspondence of any kind, but the outrage about the Downing Street Memo and YOUR decision that lies to create a false fear in Americans in order to start a war is NOT NEWS, or is a subject of derision when it is investigated is beyond the pale!

If frightening the American people about 'Mushroom clouds over New York, based on a pack of lies is not news, what do you consider news? You need not explain what is news to you people, Michael Jackson; the Runaway Bride; Scott Peterson; Terry Shaivo, or some white, rich, missing women who can get press coverage.

I have NEVER been so angry over press coverage or the lack thereof. Even the way politicians are trashed in the press has never gotten me to the point of rage I feel about the arrogance and pettiness of the press I have witnessed since the Downing Street Memo's first came to our attention!

[Botany]

8. My e mail

Have you no shame? John Conyers should be sitting on his butt and enjoying his latter years yet he shows up and fights for all of us and
you belittle him. I will cancel my subscription to the Washington Post national weekly as soon as this e mail is sent ..... I have been getting
it for @ least 18 years but as long as you draw a paycheck from the post I want nothing to do with that paper.

Go visit Walter Reed and look @ the amputees do they not have the right to know how we got into this bloody mess?

Shame on you.

[converted_democrat]

10. Also, the Ombudsman's # is ---[phone] Just in case you want

to call too!

[The Doctor.]

12. Milbanks should have his recent finances put under a microscope.

It is quite likely that he is accepting money from the GOP. The integrity of the Washington Post has been compromised.

[converted_democrat]

13. That is a terrific idea! I have extra time on my hands, who should I be

lobbying to do this? I'll help! Tell me how!

[Algomas]

14. My letter to the Post:

I just read John Conyers response to the non-coverage you gave his DSM meeting, the first tentative step down the road to impeachment of a president of the US of A.

Stories like these used to be considered pretty hot news not so long ago:
A phony war on terror,
the tax cuts for the rich,
the looting of Social Security,
the trashing of the environment,
the electoral fraud,
the military cronyism that benefits corporations like Halliburton which pay no US taxes,
the overt manipulation of the media to the extent that credibility is dead,
the medieval war tactics of these so called Christians,
the suppression of free speech,
the prison industrial complex,
and last but not least
the steady decline of the Middle Class.

This malicious Bu$hinoma is attacking the planet, it is metastasizing and there is a real danger it will destroy the host.
Please get your craniums out of their rectums and do your duty to (not on) the Constitution.
Have you really gone over to the dark side, do you not want a successful America, don't you care about the poison our children will inherit????
WTFU and fight back. It is your job goddamit, don't betray us.

I'm just sayin...
or is this now considered "thoughtcrime"?

[sundancekid]

15. boy howdy, did I ever! short, sharp, sensibly skewering but not sweet