*NEW* REPUBLICAN EDITORIAL PLAGIARIZED ACROSS THE NATION!

[Pryderi]

Google, "resolution to censure is a bad idea."

I first found the editorial in my local paper, the Cincinnati Post, then found it posted in numerous places!

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060318/NEWS02/603180306/1003/EDIT

This is bullshit!

Sen. Russ Feingold, a liberal Democrat from Wisconsin and possible candidate for his party's presidential nomination, is asking fellow senators to censure President Bush for misleading Americans about his secret eavesdropping program.

A resolution to censure is a bad idea.

First, it is divisive and futile; the Republican Congress would never pass it. Even if it passed, the resolution wouldn't mean anything; it has no force.

And if Congress is really looking for someone to censure, the lawmakers need not look as far afield as the White House. Agree with Bush or not, he has consistently argued, and to all appearances genuinely believes, that his wartime powers under the Constitution and granted him by Congress' post-9/11 authorization for the use of force allow him to abrogate certain laws.

heinous!

[salin]

1. Astro Turf...

most papers will retract - and even write something about the incident - if/when it is called to their attention that it was not a readers ltte (our local paper calls to verify that one is the author of the letter) - but rather a piece of astroturf propoganda.

So where else did you find it?

[Pryderi]

3. so far, only 7 places:

Censure is a bad idea
Capitol Hill Blue, VA - Mar 13, 2006
... program. A resolution to censure is a bad idea. First, it is divisive and futile; the Republican Congress would never pass it. Even ...
Editorial: Overcome urge to censure
Fort Pierce Tribune (subscription), FL - Mar 17, 2006
... program. A resolution to censure is a bad idea. First, it is divisive and futile; the Republican Congress would never pass it. Even ...
Editorial: Dismiss idea of a Bush censure
Ventura County Star (subscription), CA - Mar 15, 2006
... program. A resolution to censure is a bad idea. First, it is divisive and futile; the Republican Congress would never pass it. Even ...
The urge to censure
Cincinnati Post, OH - Mar 17, 2006
... program. A resolution to censure is a bad idea. First, it is divisive and futile; the Republican Congress would never pass it. Even ...
The urge to censure
Kentucky Post, KY - Mar 18, 2006
... program. A resolution to censure is a bad idea. First, it is divisive and futile; the Republican Congress would never pass it. Even ...
The urge to censure
Scripps Howard News Service, DC - Mar 13, 2006
... program. A resolution to censure is a bad idea. First, it is divisive and futile; the Republican Congress would never pass it. Even ...
The urge to censure
Ocala.com, FL - Mar 15, 2006
... program. A resolution to censure is a bad idea. First, it is divisive and futile; the Republican Congress would never pass it. Even ...

[Daphne08]

7. This is not the first time I've seen this sort of thing. n/t

[Pryderi]

4. Found it in 23 places on the web search:

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22resolution+to+censure+is+a+bad+idea.%22&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&start=10&sa=N&filter=0

[salin]

9. dang... huge astro turf letter

may I encourage you to send your find (perhaps this thread - and then all of the links) to Josh Marshall at Talkingpointmemo.com I thnk he used to follow some of this stuff - also to Atrios ? Get some attention - and a chance that more folks will send a note to those 23 and counting papers printing supposedly local letters to the editor...

[Pryderi]

10. Good ideas. I'll follow up on them.

[salin]

13. hold on to determine whether astroturf or

attributed, editorial by owners of the paper. (See below for distinction) - however if these are being written as if they are local editorials (as in the folks working the ed board at the paper) and are not that... then it is noteworthy and I would pass it along.

[salin]

16. Find how many do not attribute the author

maybe send a note to the publisher of capitol hill blue (doug thompson) to see if there is a legitimate reason the same item would be carried by local papers, without attribution, as editorials?

Also check the other hits you found (places where it was carried in local papers) to determine which attribure the author, and which read as though it is their own.

You very well may have stumbled onto something a wee bit interesting with this...

[bluerum]

2. Letter writing campaign through a conservative group? Why are

todays editorial staff's so eager to publish this crap?

I canceled my subscription to the Boston Globe recently, partly for this reason.

I refuse to support any organization who gives voice to the fascist's who have stolen our country.

If they are too damn lazy to do any investigation (ie: phone call verification of authorship) then I refuse to give them my money.

[roseBudd]

5. Definitely contact the Post tomorrow ask for the editorial dept. & tell

them about the astroturf.

[Pryderi]

6. THE EDITORIAL STAFF POSTED IT AS THEIR OWN!

[roseBudd]

8. Yeah, it is an unsigned editorial not an LTTE so technically not astroturf

Post is owned by Scripps, Knox News is also Scripps, the byline for the Knox New version is:

(Contact Dale McFeatters at McFeattersD(at)SHNS.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com

With the Post being toast at the end of the JOA I guess it's not surprising they are outsourcing editorials.

[salin]

12. oh - the owner editorial

- if they are all owned by the same thing - that is their right - though I wonder if it comes across as a local editorial board - or the corporate offices (difference in how it is read locally.)

Astro turf, for those not familiar, is when something is faked "grassroots"/local - and folks send versions of the same letter to the editor and they are printed under the assumption that it is a local, original letter - when in reality it is a planted piece of propoganda.

Rosebud - thanks for catching this and pointing out the difference.

[IndianaGreen]

11. The "editorial" from a Dale McFeatters, is on Capitol Hill Blue

Here are the links:

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/blog/2006/03/censure_is_a_bad_idea.html

and Bill Frist used the same talking point:

But Senate Republican leader Bill Frist told ABC, the censure resolution is a bad idea. And he suggested that Feingold - who has made no secret of his own White House ambitions - was engaging in a political stunt.

http://www.officeroutlook.com/news/Science/840.htm

Scripps Howard: “A Bad Idea.” Sen. Russ Feingold, a liberal Democrat from Wisconsin and possible candidate for his party’s presidential nomination, is asking fellow senators to censure President Bush for misleading Americans about his secret eavesdropping program. A resolution to censure is a bad idea.” (Editorial, “The Urge To Censure,” Scripps Howard News Service, 3/13/06)

http://www.senate.gov/galleries/daily/pressreleases.html

But then we get this shit from our "own":

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank writes that Feingold's proposal was treated as if it had political B.O.:
Democratic senators, filing in for their weekly caucus lunch yesterday, looked as if they'd seen a ghost.

"I haven't read it," demurred Barack Obama (Ill.).

"I just don't have enough information," protested Ben Nelson (Neb.). "I really can't right now," John Kerry (Mass.) said as he hurried past a knot of reporters — an excuse that fell apart when Kerry was forced into an awkward wait as Capitol Police stopped an aide at the magnetometer.

Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) brushed past the press pack, shaking her head and waving her hand over her shoulder. When an errant food cart blocked her entrance to the meeting room, she tried to hide from reporters behind the 4-foot-11 Barbara Mikulski (Md.).

"Ask her after lunch," offered Clinton's spokesman, Philippe Reines. But Clinton, with most of her colleagues, fled the lunch out a back door as if escaping a fire.

http://www.themoderatevoice.com/posts/1142415413.shtml

[Pryderi]

14. Another one about Democrats running from Russ from Capitol Hill Blue 72hit

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/blog/2006/03/dems_run_and_hide_from_feingol_1.html

By searching "A day of tough, election-year talk between Feingold and Vice President Dick Cheney" 72 HITS IN THE NEWS SECTION OF GOOGLE!

Results 1 - 10 of about 72 for A-day-of-tough-election-year-talk-between-Feingold-and

[salin]

15. No attribution to the author in the Cinci editorial

linked in the OP. Interesting.

[IndianaGreen]

17. Dale McFeatters is a columnist for Scripps Howard News Service

according to the Washington Times.

http://washingtontimes.com/commentary/20050703-101113-3455r.htm

[salin]

18. then certainly the cinci enq "editorial"

that reads as if they wrote it - ought to mention Scripps Howard, if not the author. Good find. More to dig on.

:hi:

[roseBudd]

19. I'd like to know why it's on Cap Hill Blue, surely that's not Scripps n/t

[Toots]

20. "allow him to abrogate certain laws."

Certain Laws????Any laws of his chosing I am sure. IOW the man is above the Law and they are okay with that...The Censure is not for misleading Americans it is for violating US Statute (Law) They LIE about every single thing...

[stickdog]

21. Repeditorial is more like it. (nt)