The Watering Hole
2004
Shinbone
readers bend a few elbows, and fire back
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8/25/04
Way back in 2000, you wrote an article called, 'Enough Already Mrs. Cosby (5/31/00).' You referred to her citing some opinions of mine, and you indicated that she had it wrong. You wrote, 'Here is DeBecker's actual quote, from an online chat with ABC News:' and then offered something I'd said on ABC News.
I wanted you to know, however, that Mrs. Cosby was not drawing from my ABC interview. She interviewed me herself, extensively -- and she was attributing information to me that she gained directly from me.
The passages of your article about her citations being misleading or incomplete are, in fact, misleading and incomplete.
No big deal today, but I thought I'd let you know.
best --
Gavin de Becker
-- Very well, Mr. de Becker. I incorrectly deduced that your "they are the ones we send out to do the hunting and the fighting" remark was the basis for Mrs. Cosby's claim, and if what you told her in person differs so strikingly from what you told ABC, then I certainly can't hold her responsible for that.
However, I stand by my other criticisms of Mrs. Cosby's writings. Her promotion of the voting rights hoax and her papier-mache Lincoln quote are especially egregious. I hope that she would hold any student's essay to a higher standard than that. -- DC
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4/6/04
I read your article on the Pierogie race at PNC Park and Randall Simon [Blame The Pierogies: Randall Simon is not responsible (7/12/03)]. I totally disagree with your article and the ideas that you present in it. The race is amusing to the fans, and it's become a tradition. If you have no appreciation for the race, then don't watch it. No one forces you to watch the race at the games. So on behalf of Pirate fans all over Pittsburgh, please don't bash our pierogies.
Dan -- Pittsburgh, PA
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2/26/04
YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT U R TALKING ABOUT IN THE 1999 ARTICLE. [Common Criminals: FALN convicts are just plain folks (10/3/99) THE FALN IS NOT A TERRORIST GROUP!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM A PROUD PUERTO RICAN AND I DO BELIEVE IN THEIR IDEOLOGY. PLEASE REFRAIN FROM ACCUSATIONS THAT HAVE NO BEARING ON YOUR LIFE. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?
J.R.
-- No. I do not understand how anyone can think an organization that has claimed responsibility for 130 bombings against innocent Americans in the name of "armed revolution" is anything other a terrorist group. However, I do understand that the presence of terrorists on the streets of our country definitely has a bearing on my life. If you want a little more understanding, try writing to Ed Asner. -- DC
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2/18/04
Oh my God! Eminem is the rap God!!!! Nothing else!!!!!! You are a bit ...........
CHILDISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Martina
-- [Editor's note: This letter is a response to Eminem Is From Mars: ... and so are the people who love him (3/6/01)]
1/15/04
Dear Dave:
You go through a number of contortions and arguments with yourself in order to diss Al Franken, but you fail miserably. [Franken's Fraud: Is the Left this desperate for a hero? (8/31/03)]
First of all, Al's take on Goldberg's mauling of John Chancellor is right on the money. Bernie failed to include the entire quote in his screed thereby intentionally misleading his readers about what Chancellor said. Did you simply forget about that part of Al's argument or is it intentional on your part?
Secondly, while there certainly were partisan moments during some of the eulogies at Paul Wellstone's memorial, which Franken acknowledges by the way, the entire memorial was not the partisan rally as it was characterized by the right wing mouthpieces quoted in the book. Limbaugh's remarks in reference to the memorial were particularly laughable. You basically attempt to do the same hatchet job with the "we will win" quote. Try being honest about it and view the entire service on tape and count off the minutes occupied by "we will win" and so forth and report it as a percentage of the entire service for your readers. Or, advise them where they can see the entire service for themselves without having to resort to taking the word of a talking head. Trent Lott was never booed out of the place and you are either engaging in a blatant lie yourself or you are terribly misinformed and have never viewed the memorial.
In addition, although you mock it, Al's contention that it was "Bill Clinton's military" that went to war is entirely correct. If you disagree, instead of merely mocking the claim why don't you go out and demonstrate convincingly that Al is incorrect? Consider that a challenge to do so.
Finally, Al does a great job of dissecting the lies of Ann Coulter, Hannity and Bill O'Reilly in his book, but you do not challenge his conclusions regarding them. I take that to mean that they are indefensible.
Best regards,
Peter -- Manorville, NY
-- Before I respond to your criticisms, let me first make a couple minor corrections to your opening sentence. For starters, my name is not Dave, but I've certainly been called worse, so don't worry about it. Also, I have never used the word "diss," but I do know that it is short for "disrespect," and is therefore actually spelled "dis." Merriam-Webster OnLine even has a listing for it (as slang, of course, not a legitimate word).
In the Buzzflash interview I cited, Franken criticized Goldberg for taking the Chancellor quote not out of the context of a broader statement, but out of the context of the point in time in which the report was filed. As I've illustrated, the events of that time support Goldberg's contention, whether or not he was adept enough to make that argument in his own defense. It was Franken's summary of the Soviet coup which was sadly incomplete.
The way some Frankenites have revised the Wellstone memorial, you'd think nobody had actually seen any of it for himself. I don't need to "take the word of a talking head" about it, because part of the ceremony was broadcast live on Fox, and extensive excerpts were broadcast on TV and radio throughout the following day. The disgraceful events that took place there are not mitigated by whatever number of minutes the Democrats were on comparatively good behavior.
Trent Lott and his wife walked out of the building shortly after he had been booed. That counts as being booed out of the place, as far as I'm concerned. I realize that there's an internet rumor going around that this event never occurred, but was instead fabricated by the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, but prominent liberals who were present have confirmed that it happened. CNN.com reported the story, and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D, S.D.) wrote about it in his book.
To refer to the military as Bill Clinton's when he is no longer president means that you are crediting him with building it. Clinton cut the military budget every year from 1993-99, and when he left office in 2001, he'd budgeted about $10 billion less in inflation-adjusted dollars than Jimmy Carter had twenty years earlier. [http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0904490.html] If anything, Clinton left our military in a worse state of rot than Carter did, because he had depleted our resources in Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq, and done nothing to replenish them. Instead of asking me to demonstrate why I mock Franken's statement, you should ask him to back it up with something more substantial than the claim that Clinton's administration immediately preceded the current one, and therefore deserves credit by association.
I did not challenge Franken's book because I have not read it, and I do not intend to waste my time doing so. The inaccuracy of his public statements, and his use of the "satirist" dodge to evade responsibility for them, are more than enough to shatter his credibility without going to the bookstore and paying him for more of the same drivel. -- DC
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