UPDATE: 6/28/2006: The Paper that originally reported this has issued a correction. The Sun-Sentinal now states that Murtha said:
Many people around the world consider the American presence in Iraq dangerous to world peace, U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said to a crowd of more than 200 in North Miami Saturday afternoon.
Another Update, 7/6/2006: Well, the original may have been closer to the truth than the corrected story according to the video.
Stick a cork in John Murtha. He has announced that the US is a bigger danger to world peace than North Korea or Iran. While I'm sure that little pronouncement will play really well in parts of Europe and with Code Pink and the like, I think he may be damaging himself in the district he has to win reelection in.
Oh wait. Never mind. Do, please, keep running your mouth, Murtha.
MIAMI — American presence in Iraq is more dangerous to world peace than nuclear threats from North Korea or Iran, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said to an audience of more than 200 in North Miami Saturday afternoon.Murtha was the guest speaker at a town hall meeting organized by Rep. Kendrick B. Meek, D-Miami, at Florida International University's Biscayne Bay Campus. Meek's mother, former Rep. Carrie Meek, D-Miami, was also on the panel.War veterans, local mayors, university students and faculty were in the Mary Ann Wolfe Theatre to listen to the three panelists discuss the war in Iraq for an hour.A former Marine and a prominent critic of the Bush administration's policies in Iraq, Murtha reiterated his views that the war cannot be won militarily and needs political solutions. He said the more than 100,000 troops in Iraq should be pulled out immediately, and deployed to peripheral countries like Kuwait.
I can’t see his point.
The world is getting safer every day, since the army of North Korea, that has invaded at least 3 countries has been destroyed, not to mention the routing of the iranian forces, that has been occupying Nigeria, Ecuador and North Canada..
Every country is a danger to the world peace. I propose to build more nuclear bombs – I am glad the US does that, improving his useless, pitiful arsenal of WMDs of today, he really needs something that can go boom -, and we should go with a big bang.
Just joking
)
“MIAMI — American presence in Iraq is more dangerous to world peace than nuclear threats from North Korea or Iran, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said to an audience of more than 200 in North Miami Saturday afternoon.”
Were I in Sun-Sentinel’s shoes, I’d sit quiet as a mouse, hoping this will all blow over without much more fuss. Elizabeth Baier quotes Murtha several times in her Breaking World News (Brit Hume of Fox News as well as the Wall Street Joural have taken Baier’s ball and run with it) claims of what Murtha said in Miami. When direct quotes are used, it’s often the case the reporter has recorded the event, in order to make certain their quotes are accurate. What initially drew my attention was her lack of quotes for what she claims Murtha said in her first paragraph.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-ctownhall25jun25,0,7119684.story
Shortly after reading the Sun Sentinel story, I googlenews’ed “Murtha Miami Iran Nuclear”
Among the dozens of hits quoting Ms. Baier indexed within a few hours of the Sun Sentinel’s earth shaking expose’ of Murtha’s talk, I found another article published by the Miami Herald.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/14896189.htm
You will notice, this writer totally missed Murtha’s “shot heard around the world” (technorati now has 400+ hits for what Ms. Baier claims Murtha said.)
On the unlikely chance Ms. Baier did *not* quote Murtha from a recording she made at the event … I’ve written the Florida International University Public Relations folks asking them to preserve their audio/video recording of this event they sponsored for Murtha to speak at.
I’ve sent inquiries to the entire editorial boards of the Sun Sentinel, Wall Street Journal, Arizona Sun Star and Miami Herald, as well as Knight Ridder, asking them to pursue any recording of this event, in pursuit of the real news story, Elizabeth Baier.
It shouldn’t take more than a day, or three, for Ms Baier to experience personally, that the world of journalism is flat. Whether you like or despise John Murtha is no longer the story. The real story is … just how far has mainstream media sunk? Is Jerry Springer Journalism the new standard for reporters?
Here’s what should strike every blogger as truly shocking… If Murtha never said anything like this … If America’s Conservative Talking Heads plastering this “Murtha fiction” all over the internet, including Fox News and the Wall Street Journal, then who’s to blame for this story achieving such prominence that our enemies will have no trouble finding it, and get the comfort these stories provide them?
Hold your breath and hope that all this aid to our enemies really does have to do with what Murtha said in Miami. Until this gets cleared up by audio/video recordings verifying what was said, it’s America’s media “dittoheads”, including bloggers that are the ones providing comfort our enemies.
Let’s hope Fox News, Wall Street Journal, and of course, bloggers ain’t the real culprits giving comfort to our enemies.
Keep in mind there are only two stories written by reporters who were actually in Miami last Saturday, where Murtha spoke. One used Mutha’s outrageous comments as her opening paragraph, and the other, at a competing Newspaper in Florida, never mentioned them at all.
I spent a few hours on the phone with a friend of mine who is editor for a news site. I’m letting him run with this ball. You can follow how this story develops at:
http://theinfozone.net/
chancuff
It is also equally possible the Miami paper downplayed the remark, is it not? Will you be as upset to find that out?
are you going to update your post now that the sun sentinel has retracted its eroneous quote attributed to mr. murtha?
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/06/28/murtha-retraction/
Done. Let me ask you this: is the left as quick to issue corrections as it is to demand apologies?