Follow-up on TV Ads in Minnesota Supporting the War on Terror

Original Post:
- Feb. 18 — So Why Can’t Former Soldiers and the Families of Fallen Soldiers Speak Out?
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Here is the full text of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s February 16 home page demand that Minnesota TV stations take the first of two ads of Minnesota Families United, an organization of former soldiers and families of soldiers killed in action, off the air (ads can be found in various formats here; “Heroes” is the first ad, “Remember” is the second):

DFL CHAIR CALLS FOR MISLEADING AD TO BE TAKEN OFF THE AIR

ST. PAUL (2/16/06) – Today, DFL Chair Brian Melendez called on all Minnesota TV stations to follow the lead of KSTP TV and pull the ‘Midwest Heroes’ ad off the air. He was joined at a press conference at the State Capitol by Congressional candidate and veteran Tim Walz.

The ad states that the media only reports negative stories, a comment that is patently untrue. As reported on WCCO’s ‘Reality Check,’ 4 out of 10 news stories are positive and the majority of Sunday political news show commentators are conservative.

The ad then states that the enemy in Iraq are the same terrorists responsible for 9/11, and images of Saddam Hussein are shown along with the Twin Towers. This tactic is misleading at best, as the 9/11 Commission Report states that there is no connection between Iraq and the 9/11 terrorist attack.

“Minnesota has the chance to take a stand against this kind of misleading propaganda,” said DFL Chair Brian Melendez. “Right now, our state is a testing ground for this particular ad, and we can be sure that many more will follow this election season. Minnesota TV stations should pull this ad and send the message that we will not tolerate this kind of swiftboating anymore.”

“WCCO has called this ad ‘misleading’ and only ‘partly true,’ said Chair Melendez. “Well, partly false advertising insults Minnesotans intelligence. We won’t stand for propaganda that can’t be backed up with fact.”

Separately, Powerline has reported that the DFL has characterized the ads as “un-American.”

The “media only reports negative stories” comment in the ad, even if incorrect, is protected speech. The DFL can come back with its complaint when it is successful in having John Kerry retract the following slanderous remark on December 4 on “Face the Nation”:

And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the–of–the historical customs, religious customs. Whether you like it or not–

Schieffer: Yeah.

Kerry: –Iraqis should be doing that.

Kerry is entitled to his (deluded, and in his last sentence, incoherent) opinion. So is Lt. Col. Robert Stephenson, who spoke of “only negative media coverage” in the ad. (By the way, my observations are that wire service news stories originating from Iraq are largely negative, and I defy anyone to show me that they are anywhere near even 20% positive. DFL’s reference to Sunday talk shows is gratuitous, as those shows are about discussion and analysis.)

And while we’re on the topic of truth, the DFL disputes the claim that the “enemy in Iraq are the same terrorists responsible for 9/11.” I hate to break it to DFL, but they are all from the same terrorist organization, Al Qaeda, which is who we are fighting in Iraq. DFL is only worming out of a direct lie because the people we are fighting in Iraq are not the same individual people. Well, yeah, that’s because the 9/11 hijackers are all dead. Only the party of trial lawyers could come up CYA wording like that.

So who appointed the Minnesota DFL czars at the Ministry of Truth?

Go to Powerline to find an mp3 of an interview conducted by the Northern Alliance with Lt. Col. Stephenson.