The Discerning Texan
All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.
-- Edmund Burke
-- Edmund Burke
Sunday, June 12, 2005
The public's right to know about Kerry's Form 180
Last week, when the Boston Globe made public that John Kerry's grades at Yale were not as good as were President Bush's, lost in the ensuing reporting of that fact was the hidden fact that, in order for the Globe to have access to Kerry's grades, John Kerry had to sign the infamous Form 180 -- the form that authorizes the release of Kerry's military records.
The interesting twist to this story is not that Bush got better grades; indeed that story seems to have been a diversion by the Globe to hide the real stroy: the fact that now that the Globe and LA Times have Kerry's military records in their possession, they nevertheless continue to refuse to release to the public the remainder of the information therein. Thomas Lipscomb wrote in the recent Editor and Publisher about this:
Now that the Boston Globe has in its possession what it claims are Kerry's "full military and medical records" is the Globe ready to make these much-anticipated records available to the public? Managing Editor Mary Jane Wilkinson replied, "It is my understanding that Kerry will release these papers to anyone else now that he has signed the Form 180. The Boston Globe is not going to make available the papers we have received."
But "the onus is on the Globe to explain why they are not releasing the records. They at least ought to give the public some reason," according to former journalism dean and Fordham University Larkin professor Everette Dennis. "With the opportunity to release the Kerry material on the internet inexpensively, there certainly is no physical problem preventing the Globe from publishing them," Bill Gaines, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and Knight Professor of Journalism at the University of Illinois, told me. "The decision they have made certainly doesn't seem to be in the interest of their readers and not very good journalism."
Both the Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times claim that Kerry will release any papers in their possession to anyone else who applies. But that isn't what The New York Sun's Josh Gerstein found when he called Kerry's able press representative, David Wade. Gerstein reports: "Asked whether the senator would permit release of the records to The New York Sun, Mr. Wade said, 'The issue is over.'"
But it isn't. And it won't be until the public has access to the SF-180 which procured release of the papers. Freedom of Information Act requests for it are now under way. Those requests will most likely be successful, perhaps as early as next week. And there is nothing barring its release before those requests are processed but John Kerry, and The Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe.
"Not very good journalism"?? No kidding... For if it is indeed shown that the Globe and the LA Times intentionally withheld information in its possession that the media as a whole (including Fox, the New York Post, and others) has been seeking for well over a year -- particularly if the information is shown to be damning to Kerry and/or corroborates some of the charges of (e.g.) the Swift Boat Veterans -- it will be equally indicative as to the true "objectivity" of the Boston Globe (published by the same publisher as the New York Times) and the LA Times.
Anyone who has not been hiding their head in the sand can see that our elitist media has been conspiring for quite some time now to hide truth from the citizenry -- particularly when that truth reveals facts inconvenient to a Democrat, or to the left in general.
Still the intransigence of the Globe/Times in supressing material that the US public has been clamoring for well over a year -- is as telling as was the Rathergate matter -- namely that the "mainstream" media is indeed little more than a propaganda arm of the Democratic party, if not a willing operational organ of the left and its agenda. If the release of Form 180 does reveal what I believe that it will, then to argue otherwise would be to display either one's own left-leaning partisan bias/intellectual dishonesty or else one's incredible obtuseness and/or naivete. Take your pick...
UPDATE: Captain Ed is all over this story too...
The interesting twist to this story is not that Bush got better grades; indeed that story seems to have been a diversion by the Globe to hide the real stroy: the fact that now that the Globe and LA Times have Kerry's military records in their possession, they nevertheless continue to refuse to release to the public the remainder of the information therein. Thomas Lipscomb wrote in the recent Editor and Publisher about this:
Now that the Boston Globe has in its possession what it claims are Kerry's "full military and medical records" is the Globe ready to make these much-anticipated records available to the public? Managing Editor Mary Jane Wilkinson replied, "It is my understanding that Kerry will release these papers to anyone else now that he has signed the Form 180. The Boston Globe is not going to make available the papers we have received."
But "the onus is on the Globe to explain why they are not releasing the records. They at least ought to give the public some reason," according to former journalism dean and Fordham University Larkin professor Everette Dennis. "With the opportunity to release the Kerry material on the internet inexpensively, there certainly is no physical problem preventing the Globe from publishing them," Bill Gaines, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and Knight Professor of Journalism at the University of Illinois, told me. "The decision they have made certainly doesn't seem to be in the interest of their readers and not very good journalism."
Both the Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times claim that Kerry will release any papers in their possession to anyone else who applies. But that isn't what The New York Sun's Josh Gerstein found when he called Kerry's able press representative, David Wade. Gerstein reports: "Asked whether the senator would permit release of the records to The New York Sun, Mr. Wade said, 'The issue is over.'"
But it isn't. And it won't be until the public has access to the SF-180 which procured release of the papers. Freedom of Information Act requests for it are now under way. Those requests will most likely be successful, perhaps as early as next week. And there is nothing barring its release before those requests are processed but John Kerry, and The Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe.
"Not very good journalism"?? No kidding... For if it is indeed shown that the Globe and the LA Times intentionally withheld information in its possession that the media as a whole (including Fox, the New York Post, and others) has been seeking for well over a year -- particularly if the information is shown to be damning to Kerry and/or corroborates some of the charges of (e.g.) the Swift Boat Veterans -- it will be equally indicative as to the true "objectivity" of the Boston Globe (published by the same publisher as the New York Times) and the LA Times.
Anyone who has not been hiding their head in the sand can see that our elitist media has been conspiring for quite some time now to hide truth from the citizenry -- particularly when that truth reveals facts inconvenient to a Democrat, or to the left in general.
Still the intransigence of the Globe/Times in supressing material that the US public has been clamoring for well over a year -- is as telling as was the Rathergate matter -- namely that the "mainstream" media is indeed little more than a propaganda arm of the Democratic party, if not a willing operational organ of the left and its agenda. If the release of Form 180 does reveal what I believe that it will, then to argue otherwise would be to display either one's own left-leaning partisan bias/intellectual dishonesty or else one's incredible obtuseness and/or naivete. Take your pick...
UPDATE: Captain Ed is all over this story too...
