Amid all the media fanfare during the run-up to the recent special election in California’s 50th congressional district, there is also a marvelous case of mainstream media omission. Here is a snippet from an LA Times story on the election:
Some analysts blamed Busby's loss on a gaffe during the campaign's final days, when at a rally she seemed to be encouraging illegal immigrants to vote. Before her comments, GOP officials in Washington were increasingly concerned about the outcome. But after Busby's comments Thursday night, momentum in the race switched.
So exactly when did the LA Times first report on this critical gaffe that occurred on June 1? The LA Times first mentioned it in the above story on June 8 – an entire week after it occurred and only after the election. The LA Times broke the news delicately to its readers without repeating the offensive text of the gaffe ("You don't need papers for voting.").
Of course if you wanted news of the Busby gaffe before the election, it was available in some places. The San Diego Union Tribune did have a story covering it before the election. Hugh Hewitt had it. Power Line blog had the audio recording, and the story reached the zenith of the blogosphere, Instapundit, on June 4. But the crucial words were deemed unworthy to be printed by newspapers such as the LA Times and the New York Times…until after the election. This media behavior reminds me very much of the 17 days in 2004 when the charges of the Swift Boat veterans were also unmentionable in the MSM, even though in retrospect both presidential campaign managers agreed that these charges represented the most crucial juncture of the campaign.
There should be a special term to describe this media behavior. So here is a proposed definition:
Swift Boat Hush (n.) - A behavior of the mainstream media during an election campaign characterized by a period of widespread silence concerning a news story that is severely embarrassing to a liberal candidate. The silence ends when it no longer shields the candidate from damage.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Arch Conservative
The swift boat strategy wouldn't have been so successful if Kerry hadn't stood up at the DNC and said" hey look at me ... war hero over here..... no need to look at my senate record... war hero here running for president."
He brough it on himself and got what he deserved.
2 - Joey
Not to rain on anyone's parade but the surprising fact is that Kerry collected more heroism awards in a shorter period time than even Audie Murphy. You should google Murphy and read the synopsis of action for each award he earned.
That's commendable. Or deceptively contrived.
3 - JustOneMan
Joey are we voting?
Put me down for deceptively contrived.
4 - JR
Strange. I heard extensively about both this story (before the election) and the Swift Boat story, and I get my news from the main stream media. My experience would seem to directly contradict the assertion of this post.
And why do you seem to place more importance on the L.A. Times than the San Diego Union Tribune if the voters were in the San Diego area?
5 - Harry Forbes
Good question, JR.
If you go to the SD story, it is just a single piece that does not get a big play in the paper. 'National' papers ignored the gaffe, but not the special election campaign. They had daily stories about it.
Blogs and talk radio played the gaffe story up much more.
6 - Harry Forbes
On that other point, JR; Can you point me to some MSM stories that covered this gaffe before the election (they would date from June 1-5)?
I found very few references by searching Google news.
7 - gonzo marx
that's funny..the full text AND audio was on Hardball BEFORE the election...
now if we go with the Post's phraseology...what do we call it when things are completely made up by the Rovians and the AM radio propagandists?
oh ..that's right...it's already got a name....
Fox
Excelsior?
8 - Harry Forbes
I disagree.
Though I am ignorant of TV (by personal choice), I maintain that major newspapers did not report this quote before the election. After the election they called it 'a turning point'. If it was on 'Hardball', why not mention it in the NYT, LAT, WaPo, etc?
9 - JR
I saw the story on CNN. It made a good TV/radio story because they had the quote on tape.
10 - Harry Forbes
CNN?
OK, JR. I am convinced of your point with respect to TV, but not with respect to newspapers. By and large, they did not run this story.
11 - MCH
Re comment #1;
"The swift boat strategy wouldn't have been so successful if Kerry hadn't stood up at the DNC and said" hey look at me ... war hero over here..... no need to look at my senate record... war hero here running for president."
He brough it on himself and got what he deserved."
John Kerry's military service:
2 tours in Vietnam
3 Purple Hearts
1 Silver Star
1 Bronze Star
Archie's military service:
None...
12 - JP
Ha! MCH.
If you'd listened to the words IN CONTEXT, it's clear she was suggesting one doesn't need voting papers to help the candidate's team. The wording was poorly chosen, but if this were George Bush speaking it would have been written up as another case of Bush verbal gymnastics. Instead, because the speaker was a Democrat, it was framed as advocating non-citizen voting rights--which is far from what was being said.
Whether non-citizens can legally work on a campaign is another question, and that may well be against the rules. If that were against the rules, to me that would be the story and would be fair game.
But right wing radio blew this gaffe way out of proportion.
13 - Dave Nalle
Not to rain on anyone's parade but the surprising fact is that Kerry collected more heroism awards in a shorter period time than even Audie Murphy. You should google Murphy and read the synopsis of action for each award he earned.
Joey, are you seriously trying to compare the things Kerry did to earn his medals to the actions Murphy took to win his? What a comparison demonstrates is how low the standards for those medals have gone, or else how great a range there is for qualifying for them, since Kerry's actions are hardly comparable to Murphy's.
dave
14 - Arch Conservative
MCH do you ever make sense? Do you even try?
What the fuck does my service or anythign about me have to dow ith John Kerry running for president?
The point is that John Kerry ran for president based on his military service and asked us to completely ignore everything else about him. Then men WHO WERE THERE UNLIkE YOU MCH came out and stated Kerry was lying. They had issues with Kerry.
Why don't you try and adress the points instead of making dumbass comparisons of the poster and those who they are commenting on!
15 - MCH
"What the fuck does my service or anythign about me have to dow ith John Kerry running for president?"
- Archie
Umm, don't you mean "non-service," Archie?
----------------------------
"Then men WHO WERE THERE UNLIkE YOU MCH came out and stated Kerry was lying. They had issues with Kerry."
- Archie
"The Swiftboat vets attack on John Kerry was dishonest and dishonorable."
- John McCain (5 1/2 years POW, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, Distinguished Flying Cross)
Oh, and by the way Archie, since I served and you didn't, I had 100% more chance of "BEING THERE" than yourself...
16 - Arch Conservative
MCH does it asgain.........
you served and I didn't.........
and these two facts have bearing on John Kerry's service and his ability to make a good president because?
"The Swiftboat vets attack on John Kerry was dishonest and dishonorable."
- John McCain (5 1/2 years POW, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, Distinguished Flying Cross)
Yeah and John amnesty mccain is the last word on everything honorable right?
What is dishonorable was John Kerry standing up at the DNC on the graves 59K dead Americans and saying vote for me because I'm a war hero.. what kind of douchebag would use a 30 year old war as his only reason for being president? why didn't he want to discuss his senate record?
bob dole and george bush are both world war 2 vets but they they didn't feel the need to make their runs for president entirely about thier military service?
oh if john kerry is such a fucking war hero beloved by every in the military why did the majority of them vote for Bush in 2004?
oh and did you vote for clinton twice mch? how fucking important was military service to you then [Edited] MCH. You make these completely dumbass analogies between those whoom you disagree with and those who are the subjects of the discussions as if they in some way had some sort of relevance. Your posts bring absolutely nothing of value to the disccusions at BC.
[Edited]
From now on I am just going to ignore you completely.
17 - Arch Conservative
you edited the best part
18 - Clavos
MCH says #11:
John Kerry's military service:
2 tours in Vietnam
3 Purple Hearts
1 Silver Star
1 Bronze Star
You posted this BS in another thread back on May 30.
The actual truth is Kerry served five months, less than half of one tour, in Vietnam. He was sent back to the world under a policy to return thrice-wounded troops, but it is also worth noting that his first Purple Heart has been questioned by a lot of people, including the doctor who treated the "wound."
He also served aboard the USS Gridley, which was briefly in the Gulf of Tonkin, supporting aircraft carriers. During this time he was never in-country.
19 - Clavos
Harry Forbes,
The phrase "Swift Boat Hush" is a great addition to the American lexicon, you should post it on the Urban Dictionary!
20 - Harry Forbes
Good idea, Clavos. I submitted it.
21 - Arch Conservative
John Kerry is talking about running for president again. When asked about his chances he referred to a couple of presidents from the 1800's who lost and then run and won.
Man this guy mst be drinking the kool aid right out of Boston harbor if he actually thinks he can run again and win. For starters it won't be just the GOP out to get him next time it will be the Clinton's and their henchmen. Second if he ever did get his party's nomination he wouldn't be able to say "bush suucks and this war sucks," nor would he be able to play the war hero card again. He would actually be forced to discuss his senate record which would work to his disadvantage when people fimd out what he's really all bout.
Kerry like his MA counterpart, Senator swimmer, is damaged goods and he will NEVER become president.
22 - Bliffle
I heard plenty about the Swift Boat Vets thing: no shortage of news. In fact, I heard more than the story deserved.
23 - Arch Conservative
Well if Kerry tries to run again you will hear it all over again Bliffle.
24 - Bliffle
I thought the swift boat thing was crap-reporting. Some of the swifters weren't anywhere near, some recanted, and the whole thing sounded political. Worthless.
25 - Arch Conservative
Ok say the whole swift boat thing was crap Bliffle....
That still doesn't change the fact that Kerry tried to get elected on his military service alone. All Kerry talked about at the DNC was his service. "I'm John Kerry and I'm reporting for duty." remmeber that one? Gee you think a guy with a 20 years in the Senate would have at least a few things to mention that he did while in the Senate...But not John Kerry.... Many men served honorably in Vietnam and other wars. They're not all qualified to be president though.
Why did the mainstream media totally ignore veterans who had nothing to do with the swift boat guys who had their own rallies in washington dc to protest john kerry?
How do you account for the fact that the majority of the military vote went to Bush not kerry?
The bottom line is that John Kerry has absolutely no shot at ever becoming president after his laughable 2004 campaign. Even the people who voted for him only did so because they hated Bush. They were like "gee this guy is kind of a phony with no real convictions but hey at least he's not Bush so I guess I gotta vote for him."