Whackjobs are everywhere: Nutcase neocon columnist - In BLUE Hawaii...

[VOX]

Bear with me here. In an earlier thread on DU, a call went out to counter some lies being spread by Honolulu Star-Bulletin columnist Charles Memminger:
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http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1556163

"Kaneohe marines died for freedom" DU please respond!

DU please, please straighten this fella out! It would help to be polite but if you can't muster it I understand . He will get very few letters here. Thanks for your help . (3rd man on the left, Charles Memminger.)
http://starbulletin.com/columnist /

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So I sent a relatively polite but differing point-of-view letter --
Dear Mr. Memminger:

You may invoke the bogeyman of Ted Kennedy and Chappaquiddick (which occurred more than 35 years ago), but it is rather irrelevant to the fact that our men and women in uniform have been dying in Iraq for the past two years.

Were their deaths noble? Were their efforts worth the ultimate price? The answers to those questions lie squarely on the shoulders of the Bush administration, which saw fit to order our troops to war for an ever-changing variety of reasons, depending upon where you look in the war's timeline. Lately it has to do with "spreading freedom," although I am dubious of the administration's overly altruistic spin.

If the sound of taps makes you sad, how do you feel about the fact that the troops' commander-in-chief -- the very individual who ordered them into harm's way -- has not attended one funeral or memorial service for a single U.S. soldier killed in Iraq? Not one. His predecessors -- Clinton, Bush Sr., Reagan and Carter -- all attended memorials or funerals for soldiers killed in action. Surely these men and women who have sacrificed everything deserve better.

Sincerely,
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And here's the INSANE response I got from Memminger --

Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2005 11:15 AM
Subject: Re: 2005/02/01 "Honolulu Lite" column
How come Kennedy never "spoke the truth" about Chappaquiddick? That girl's life and the lives of thousands of Iraqis who died under Saddam and would have died if he stayed in power don't seem to matter to you as much as our Marines. But I would guess that you truly aren't a big fan of Marines either. You are just another Bush-hater who would rather see the country fail then Bush succeed in anything. This pathology of hate by supposed liberals like yourself merits serious psychological study.
CM
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Why do the wingnuts ALL spout the identical sewage? My God, it really is a cult! They **always** try to project their insanity on Democrats and liberals, but clearly, they're nuts, just disconnected from any kind of reality.

[paineinthearse]

1. Good job!!!!

Keep it up.

Typical freeper response, your points were dodged. Send all correspondence to the ombudsman for the paper's records.

I searched the paper's website and could find no ownership information. Is it privately held?

[VOX]

5. It must be. I can find no owner info either.

Also cannot find an ombudsman on the administration page.

[KamaAina]

7. Mostly local consortium with one Canadian

that'd be David Black of Black Press, who rescued the S-B from oblivion a few years back. In Canada he publishes mostly small-town papers in B.C. and Alta.

Historically the S-B has been staunchly repuke, but in a somewhat old-fashioned, moderate way; it was the voice of the Big Five comapnies (plantation owners, shipping magnates, etc.) who kept Hawai'i a repuke dungeon from annexation (1898) through 1954 when Dems seized control of the legislature. Its competitor the Honolulu Advertiser was traditionally more Democratic-leaning, but in recent years (under Gannett control) has become yet another RW cat box liner (and its writers aren't nearly as good as the S-B's, except for the few who jumped over when the S-B was about to close).

Here, then, are the details:

http://starbulletin.com/info/index.html

ADMINISTRATION
Oahu Publications, Inc. publishes
the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, MidWeek (N.B. MidWeek carries extreme nutjob Michelle Malkin, morning radio Rush wannabe Rick Hamada, failed repuke legislative candidate Jerry Coffee, and others -Ed.)
and military newspapers

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

David Black, Dan Case (cousin is Dem congressman Ed Case, HI 2nd), Dennis Francis, Larry Johnson, Duane Kurisu, Warren Luke,
Colbert Matsumoto, Jeffrey Watanabe, Michael Wo (no notable whackjobs here, but plenty of ingrained connections to the local business power structure -Ed.)

HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN
Dennis Francis, president and publisher / 529-4702; [email protected]

Frank Bridgewater, Editor / 529-4791; [email protected]

Ron Nagasawa, senior vice president / 235-5881; [email protected]

Jim Granata, vice president, production / 235-5881; [email protected]

Dave Kennedy, vice president/marketing / 529-4818; [email protected]

Glenn Zuehls, vice president/advertising / 529-4704; [email protected]

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. Why don't you send this "nutjob" this article.... I know they can't handle

facts, but then so what. Oh shit just give them all to him/her.

Norm Dixon: How Reagan Armed Saddam with Chemical Weapons
... June 18, 2004. Norm Dixon How Reagan Armed Saddam with Chemical Weapons. June 16,
2004. ... The Ties That Blind. How Reagan Armed Saddam with Chemical Weapons. ...
counterpunch.org/dixon06172004.html - 101k - Feb 2, 2005 - Cached - Similar pages

Revealed: 17 British firms armed Saddam with his weapons - ... Revealed: 17 British firms armed Saddam with his weapons. Investigation: By
Neil Mackay Home Affairs Editor. SEVENTEEN British companies ...
www.sundayherald.com/31710 - 31k - Cached - Similar pages

COVER STORY: How he US armed Saddam Hussein with chemical weapons
COVER STORY: How he US armed Saddam Hussein with chemical weapons. BY NORM
DIXON. On August 18, the New York Times carried a front ...
www.greenleft.org.au/back/2002/506/506p12.htm - 38k - Cached - Similar pages

A Time to Break Silence: US complicity in Saddam's crimes against ...
... The vast, lucrative arms trade in the Middle East laid the groundwork
for Saddam's aggression against Kuwait. Without high-tech ...
www.inmotionmagazine.com/time.html - 20k - Cached - Similar pages

Stephen Green: Who Armed Iraq?
CounterPunch. February 24, 2003. Rumsfeld's Account Book. Who Armed Saddam?
by STEPHEN GREEN. You have to give Defense Secretary Rumsfeld ...
www.counterpunch.org/green02242003.html - 29k - Cached - Similar pages
< More results from www.counterpunch.org >

How The United States Illegally Armed Saddam Hussein
NEWS YOU WON'T FIND ON CNN. . Iraq-Gate. How The United States Illegally Armed
Saddam Hussein. A Report From Democracy Now, The Journalist ...
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article1412.htm - 7k - Cached - Similar pages

Scoop: US Armed Saddam Hussein With Chemical Weapons
... Weapons Friday, 30 August 2002, 9:46 am Article: Green Left Weekly - Australia.
How The US Armed Saddam Hussein With Chemical Weapons. ...
www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0208/S00158.htm - 46k - Cached - Similar pages

Who armed Saddam?
Who armed Saddam? (16 September 2002) Published in Labour Left Briefing,
October 2002. Glen Rangwala explores Bush and Blair’s ...
middleeastreference.org.uk/llb020916a.html - 12k - Cached - Similar pages

Who Armed Saddam? - Rumsfeld's Account Book
RENSE.COM. Who Armed Saddam? - Rumsfeld's Account Book. By Stephen Green
CounterPunch.org 2-24-3 You have to give Defense Secretary ...
www.rense.com/general35/rums.htm - 20k - Cached - Similar pages

[yorkiemommie1]

3. that was a pretty rude reply

I think hawaii could go red really easily. the military is a HUGE presence there. i have lots of relatives there and not a blue one in the bunch.

i got an email from a former classmate that was sent out from Hickam AFB and when i replied i signed it 'peace'. heh,heh.

[paineinthearse]

4. Memminger is ready to sell out

Read this recent article. Somewhat tongue-in-cheek, or is it? He's a Jeff Gannon wannabe.
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http://starbulletin.com/columnist/column.php?id=8778&col_id=53

Getting bribed to write stuff? Priceless.
Friday, January 28, 2005

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First it was commentator Armstrong Williams who was paid $241,000 by the federal education department to promote the president's "No Child Left Behind" program. Then columnist Maggie Gallagher was paid $21,000 by the department of health to push Bush's pro-marriage project.

This is really outrageous. If the Bush administration is going to shell out big bucks for columnists to secretly shill government initiatives, then "Alo--Ha! Friday" demands a cut. And we can offer better deals. For instance, we will support any major federal health program for $9.95 per month. Right now we have a special introductory "No Child Left Behind" rate of $22.50. Our rates vary on supporting marriage: Heterosexual couples ($14.93), Same Sex ($138.48), Human/Appliances ($543.83). For a full menu of bribery options, inquire within. And now the news ...

[VOX]

6. Regrettably, someone somewhere once told Charlie he was funny...

And Charlie took it to heart.

Our loss.

[annabanana]

8. HA! This is, word for word, the same response he gave me...

He must have gotten a bunch of mail all at once. I returned with:

"mis-direct and attack, ho-hum" Which is, of course what he did.

[truth2power]

9. Ok, I hope this makes sense...

First he's excoriating you because you allegedly care MORE about the Marines than about the deaths of all those poor Iraqis who perished under Sadaam. "...don't seem to matter to you as much as our Marines."

However...if you were making the argument that the US military has been responsible for the deaths of maybe 100,000 innocent Iraqi citizens, you can be sure he would attack you because you care MORE about Iraqis than about the Marines, who are sacrificing their lives for freedom in the ME.

See how it works?? Whichever side you take, they take the opposite side and accuse you of being a hatemonger.

You can't win, because it's like trying to argue with a drunk. Yes, they really are crazy, and yes, it's a cult and they're operating from the primitive brain. The sooner we understand this, the better. :evilfrown: