Anyone else hear about THIS???

[Stephanie]

I tried to read up on this group at thier website to see what they were all about, they sound communist to me, but I couldnt make heads of tales out of it.Their called Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. Here's more example of the free speech that the Democrats are trying to squelch. I printed something about that a few days ago.
February 16, 2006

Shut up, they explained
http://powerlineblog.com/archives/013163.php
We've obtained a copy of a striking message sent out by Minnesota Democrats seeking to silence the television advertisements featuring soldiers and the parents of fallen soldiers supporting the war in Iraq. Why would Democrats want to silence the voices of these citizens? (You can see the two ads here.)http://www.midwestheroes.com/docs/video/

Here is the text of the e-mail message from the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party calling for the ad to be pulled:

Dear DFLer,

I’ve heard from many of you that you are disturbed by the misleading "Midwest Heroes" ads produced by Progress for America Voter Fund that are currently being run by KARE 11 and WCCO. The ads erroneously make a connection between Iraq and the 9/11 terrorists attacks and suggest that the war in Iraq will prevent an attack by Al Queda in America. The 9/11 Commission findings clearly state that there was no connection between Iraq and the the Al Queda terrorists attacks on 9/11. We must call for media responsibility regarding this issue. We have extraordinary sympathy for our troops and their families and believe that while our soldiers’ role is to protect the citizens of our country, it is our role as citizens to protect our soldiers and to make certain that they are not misused. It is a travesty that the tragedies of five countries and the deaths of our brave men and women are being used in this type of propaganda.

Right now, our state is a testing ground for these ads. If Minnesota speaks out and says no to this ad, the entire country can thank us. What we do here, now, will have an enormous impact on the success or failure of this kind of swiftboating in 06.

You can view the ads at: http://www.midwestheroes.com/

Additionally, WCCO did a Reality Check stating that the ad is misleading and partly true, which in my mind means that it is partly false. See it at: http://www.wcco.com/video/[email protected]

If you feel that this ad is doing a disservice to our troops and is misleading at best, and pure propaganda at worst, please call:

KARE 11 at 763 546 1111

WCCO at 612 370 0611

to ask for the removal of the ads. Letters to the Editor in your local paper would be helpful to point out the untruths being communicated to citizens as fact. Thanks in advance for being a voice of truth, and for all that you do to improve the state of our nation and state.

DFL Chair Brian Melendez will be holding a press conference at the State Capitol today at 2:30 to ask that this ad be pulled from the air waves. He will be joined by congressional candidate and veteran Tim Walz. Please tune in to your evening news to see coverage of this important event.

Sincerely,

Donna
Donna Cassutt, Associate Chair,
Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party

The new ad features the mother of Army Sergeant Michael Carlson of St. Paul, the young man who wrote his credo as a senior at Cretin High School:
"When I am on my deathbed, what am I going to look back on? Will it be thirty years of fighting crime and protecting the country of all enemies, foreign and domestic? I want my life to account for something...I only have so much time. I want to be good at life; I want to be known as the best of the best at my job. I want people to need me, to count on me...I want to fight for something, be part of something that is greater than myself. I want to be a soldier..."
The Midwest Heroes site includes the rest of the story here: http://www.midwestheroes.com/docs/bios/carlson.shtml
After serving nearly four years in the Army, including a final stint with the Ice Platoon (82nd Engineers), Michael, 22, fulfilled those prophetic words. During a night mission, his platoon was assigned to cordon off and take out of commission, two bomb-making factories. As the Bradley they were driving was going over a culvert in the roadway, the culvert gave way and the vehicle rolled over backwards into the water. Seven soldiers were in the Bradley; five died, including Michael. A rescue unit was able to save two other soldiers, in large part because before he died, Michael was able to partly pry open the hatch in the vehicle. Says [Michael's mother] Merrilee, "We are privileged to have men and women serving in the military who are willing to give their lives, their time, and their energy to preserve, protect and defend our freedom."

"We can't leave this work undone in Iraq. We can all argue about how we might have gotten there. But we're there and we need to see it through... I suppose we could have taken the beaches at Normandy," Merrilee said, "and then decided it was too expensive or too difficult to keep going. I wonder what the world would look like today."

On Memorial Day last year the Wall Street Journal published Carlson's credo under the heading "An American Soldier." See also our post "Michael Carlson and his credo."

JOHN adds: It's interesting that, while the Democratic Party repeatedly claims that the "Midwest Heroes" ad is false and misleading, it cites only one statement that it alleges is incorrect: "The ads erroneously make a connection between Iraq and the 9/11 terrorists attacks...." The Democrats' assertion is false. Here is what the ad says:

[O]ur enemy in Iraq is al Qaeda--the same terrorists who killed three thousand Americans on 9/11, the same terrorists from the first World Trade Center bombing, the USS Cole, Madrid, London, and many more.
The ad doesn't say Iraq was behind September 11; it says that we are now fighting al Qaeda in Iraq, which is obviously true. The Democrats just made their charge up, because there is no legitimate basis on which the ad can be criticized. Minnesota's Democratic Party should be ashamed of itself.

JOHN adds one more: The Minneapolis Star Tribune has more tonight.http://www.startribune.com/587/story/252903.html They report on KSTP television's refusal to run the "Midwest Heroes" ad. KSTP refused to air the ad because it included a sentence that was critical of the media: "You'd never know it from the news reports but our enemy in Iraq is Al-Qaida, the same terrorists who killed 3,000 Americans on 9/11." KSTP says:

We think it may or may not be true for other media but we know it's not true about us, which is why we wouldn't take those spots.
The paper also reports on the Democratic Party's press conference demanding that the veterans' freedom of speech be squelched:

DFL Party Chairman Brian Melendez called a news conference to call the ad "un-American, untruthful and a lie."
"Minnesota has a chance to take a stand against this misleading and untruthful propaganda," he said. Referring to controversial ads that ran during the last presidential race, he said, "Minnesota TV stations should pull this ad and send a message that we will not tolerate this kind of 'swift-boating' anymore."


So now soldiers who support the war they fought in are "un-American." Unbelievable. And, by the way, does anyone have any idea what "Swiftboating" is supposed to mean? Is that when a veteran says something that liberals disagree with? Is it when a serviceman publicly describes events that he participated in and witnessed with his own eyes? I'm not sure just what the criteria are, but it seems clear that only veterans and servicemen can be guilty of the dreaded crime of "Swiftboating."

Finally, Strib columnist Nick Coleman attacks the new ad, which features the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq:http://www.startribune.com/357/story/252923.html

Americans are divided about this war. But there are patriots on all sides of the debate and there are many families, including those in mourning, praying for an end to it.
These cynical ads ignore that. They exploit the fallen and are a disservice to the troops. More than that, they are lies.


Strong language. But what, exactly, were the lies in the second ad? Coleman hints at only one:

The final mother figure in the ad tells the camera: "We have to finish this job to remember Erik's sacrifice, and all of the other fallen heroes." She is identified as M. J. Kesterson, and many viewers will assume she is the mother of Chief Warrant Officer Erik Kesterson, 29, a helicopter pilot killed in 2003 who figures prominently in the ad.
But she's not his mom.

M.J. Kesterson is married to Erik's father, who also appears in the ad, and she's Erik's stepmother.


So that's the "lie." Of course, the ad doesn't say Mrs. Kesterson is Kesterson's mother rather than his stepmother; that's just what "many viewers will assume." In other words, it isn't a lie at all.

The hatred and fear with which liberals treat the efforts of a handful of servicemen and their families to express support for their mission and optimism about its outcome is sickening.

Posted by Scott at 06:15 PM

Heres the link I posted to an article about the left trying to muzzel free speech, in case any of you missed it. :read: http://www.aim.org/media_monitor_print/4350_0_2_0/

 

[trobinett]

The LEFT trying to muzzle the media, say it ain`t true.

 

[Annie]

http://www.startribune.com/562/story/259287.html

Bob Stephenson: I appeared in that ad to help spread the truth
Such commercials are needed when media won't acknowledge the progress in Iraq.

Bob Stephenson
As a Marine who served at a forward operating base in Iraq, I was discouraged to read Nick Coleman's misleading column about an ad supporting the War on Terror that I appeared in ("Troops back from Iraq being deployed on the front lines of spin war," Feb. 11).

Every day, we see reports of terrorist attacks, wounded soldiers and kidnapped journalists. If I hadn't been there myself, I would guess that the whole operation has been a failure. Nothing could be further from the truth, and if an advertisement is the only way to get that point across, then so be it.

While car bombings might make for exciting news, they do not encompass the broad reality of our efforts in Iraq. Our soldiers are busy rebuilding schools, bridges and infrastructure. They are paving the way for democracy in an extremely oppressive region. And I can assure you that America's fighting men and women are pleased with our incredible progress and willing to see their mission through in the Middle East.

I volunteered to go to Iraq in October 2004 because, as a 20-year Marine, I felt that was my duty. To be honest, I wasn't sure what I would find upon arrival. What I saw there is drastically different from the Iraq most Americans see on their news reports or read about in their newspapers. Certainly, I saw hostility, as my base endured more than two dozen rocket and mortar attacks. But I saw a more complete picture, and that picture is largely positive.

Iraqis are far more appreciative of our efforts to secure and democratize their country than most Americans stateside realize. A survey by the nonpartisan, taxpayer-funded International Republican Institute found that 62 percent of Iraqis feel their country is headed in the right direction. This is a far cry from the collective opinion of mainstream media.

Perhaps because we live in a free nation with rights and liberties, we forget that they are a tremendous gift. Thanks to our efforts, millions of Iraqis are just beginning to open that gift.

Let us examine what has taken place in three short years. A tyrant has been apprehended and now stands trial for crimes against humanity. Iraq has held the first three free elections in its history. Since then, Iraqis have ratified their Constitution. To put this into context, the United States of America declared its independence in 1776. Yet our own Constitution was not ratified until 1789 -- 13 years later.

I know firsthand that the Iraqi people are deeply appreciative of our success. I only wish we could say the same for detractors here at home. Ads reporting the positive side of the war are necessary because our nation's media outlets are unwilling to acknowledge that progress is being made. And that's a travesty.

Lt. Col. Bob Stephenson served with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing in Iraq during 2004 and 2005. He is cochair of Minnesota Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission.