ABC, Nightline, is worth a look! Ted Koppel

[babylonsister]

w/families and a congresswoman.

[Skittles]

1. did you hear that idiot's "Battle of the Bulge" RNC talking point?

:puke:

[amerikat]

2. As much as I respect Ted Koppel

This show will probably not lead to the obvious question, WHY ARE WE IN IRAQ IN THE FIRST PLACE????? I will email Ted and ask him to do a show about oil and it's alternatives.

I will ask him if we can discuss an economy based on quality of life as opposed to growth of the "economy".

[babylonsister]

3. No one is watching this here?

[RamboLiberal]

4. I'm watching - Perle and Allen are looking like idiots

A couple of soldiers have spoken out against the war, though Koppel tricked the wounded vet in to backtracking a bit.

Wilson and the Mass congressman are making great points. Love when Wilson told Perle who is still touting we should've let Chalabi and his merry band take control that if they had they'd have been killed.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

5. How is Koppel doing?

Is he a mediawhore or not?

[babylonsister]

8. Allen is a flipping idiot, IMVHO!

Oh, look at me, I wanna run for prezident, let's give every vet $100,000. That's what he said, but never mentioned where the funds might come from.

[T Town Jake]

6. I am...

...that soldier they just showed who lost both of his legs and had a partial stroke just about broke my heart.

This war is tragic, and the human toll is heart-breaking.

[Acryliccalico]

7. There was something being yelled from

the back at the end. What was it? Does anyone know?

[Tsiyu]

9. "What about Gulf War Syndrome? What about Depleted Uranium?"

I'm surprised they left that in there. Apparently a DUer was there and said they edited a lot of stuff out, like one rabbi who had a major outburst.

[Acryliccalico]

10. Thanks

To bad we couldn't have seen it before the edit. :kick:

[southlandshari]

11. More discussion here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3017954&mesg_id=3017954

[Tsiyu]

12. Okay, here's the rundown

At St. John's Episcopal in Washington, a Town Hall meeting with Koppel in the center, on his right, Sen George ( Gag Me) Allen ( R VA), Perlie Pew, and to Koppel's left, Joe Wilson and Rep Matthew Meehan ( D Mass). The focus: Iraq. Why Stay?

They took questions from various audience members. First a mother who lost a son in Iraq who disagrees with the war; then a widow of a soldier KIA who thinks 'all the deaths of soldiers would be in vain if we pulled out.'

Many military spoke up. Some to cheerlead for * and some to say "WTF?" One touching moment was when a severely wounded vet said, "If there were no weapons of mass destruction, why are we there?" Of course, they shamed him for saying so and NEVER answered his question...An Ambassador from France spoke up as well as a General, an ex Coalition provisional Authority Brown noser, an Arab dude ( who called the US' TV and Radio stations the laughing stock of the Arab world), a very cool Veteran's affairs dude who gave Allen hell ( he really reamed out a gung ho enlistee who said "the US military ALWAYS prevails. On the sofa, we all said "Huh? Viet Nam, anyone?" but then Vet dude repeated our words AND ripped everybody a new one for comparing Viet Nam and Iraq to WWII), an Iraqi who claims all iraqis love us and want us to stay, a young man who told Allen he gave a bogus answer to questions about the draft and who also asked "How legitimate can this election be."
When Perlie Man said "just like elections here" a portion of the audience had an outburst....too funny!

There were many outbursts. When Allen said there was a bill to pay more for death benefits to soldiers' families, one woman( the one who lost her son?) said "I'd rather have???back." "of course you would." was all Georgie the Arrogant Asswipe Senator from Virginia could come up with.

Another funny moment, when Allen Asswipe said he hoped each Iraqi could get an oil dividend ( maybe that'll work like you tax cuts. Allen appears to believe you can buy off everybody. But then, don't all Repukes?) Koppel said, "They aren't even making enough profit off the oil to pay for the War!"

My impressions? Koppel kept it even for the most part. Senator Allen needs a humbling, Perlie Man is CONTRITE but still spewing the propaganda; Wilson is my HERO and Meehan has balls. Both Wilson and Meehan said there needs to be a change in strategy, an actual plan for getting out and TRUE International support.

There were many cheers when "DU talking points" were raised. Americans are fed up, no matter how many cheerleaders and brownnosers there are licking Bush's boots. Also, Repukes live in a fantasy land where everything is a dream for them. We live the nightmare while they are in their la-la land.

By the way, Koppel asked the White House to send a spokesperson. They declined. They have a mandate, you know, and needn't lower themselves to talk to the people.

So sorry, Founding Fathers. They've turned your Constitution into an ATM machine with no regard for the People for whom you formed this nation. A pox on all Repukes....

[mazzarro]

13. Thanks so much for the rundown

eom

[Tsiyu]

14. You are so welcome, mazzarro

I always appreciate it when somebody fills me in. I figured this was important enough to summarize for those who missed it. Glad it was helpful. :)

[SoCalDem]

17. ...Koppel kept it even ...

Although I like to "townhall format", they should NOT have politicians on WITH the voices from the audience. Professional speakers/politicians know how to "burn the clock", and shows like this are limited time formats.

If they do this again, they should make it a three parter..one hour each,,

night #1..just ordinary people
night #2..the politicians
night #3.. anyone who wants to participate..no holds barred

[Sliverofhope]

15. Nightline was censored tonight

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/1/27/221941/519

Must read.

[T Town Jake]

16. Well, that's horseshit from stem to stern...

...everyone was given a chance to speak, and the anti-war side actually came out looking quite a bit better than the willful idiots still deluded by the false promises of *'s disastrous handling of this unnecessary war.
The "objection," such as it is, to Nightline's program tonight in that link is that one screamer wasn't allowed to hijack the entire show. And that objection is nonsense horseshit, period.

[sandnsea]

18. No, that's not true

The Rabbi said he would be given a chance to speak and wasn't. Some Iraqis were told they'd be given a chance to speak and nobody from their group was chosen. It wasn't about just that one person.

[uncle ray]

19. i quit reading two paragraphs in

when the blogger misses richard pearle as a panelist, along with his other comments that don't reflect the reality of how the show went, i felt no reason to keep reading the crap blog. "outbursts that probably will be edited out", of course this blogger must have been talking about his own outburst at the end, about depleted uranium and gulf war syndrome,which were NOT edited out. it all seemed to be there, when one of the panelists commenting on the iraqi elections said "just like here" you heard the snickers and laughs. when they claim to have an "all volunteer army" they were rebutted with a young lady who served in iraq, who made it very clear that it was aganst her will. you heard the cheers for the very angry older veteran who went off. since when is an outburst during a commercial not being shown censorship? only jerry springer shows what happens during break.

the show most definateley came out in favor of the anti war side, thought i admit too, hearing from some of the real people there, i understand the pro war side a little better as well. many, MANY of the tough questions were asked, not all answered, but it was very obvious when they dodged the questions, sometimes with Koppel's help.

it was really quite incredible to see this on TV, too bad not during prime time when people are actually watching. the audience reaction to the tough questions was usually loud applause, in stark contrast to the much more scant reaction to the pro war comments. at every commercial break was a NYT poll question posted, with response, and most of the results reflected an antiwar attitude, or at least shifting that way.

this show should have gotten the play by play attention that daytime press comferences usually get here, there were so many excellent questions and comments made.