When I pried my eyes open this morning and got on my computer I found out, to my chagrin and disappointment, that our correspondent Jane Stillwater, officially sponsored by the Iconoclast, had been descheduled for the interview we all expected, to be aired on CNN. How could they do that? Jane is just the right person to get to the guts of the matter. Here is what she had to say about what happened.
“Why did they do that?” I asked one of the reporters here.
“Because of what Michael Ware said at the McCain press conference yesterday.”
“But Ware didn’t SAY anything.”
“Yes, but McCain apparently thinks that Ware snickered when McCain stated that he had been safe on the streets of Baghdad .” Huh? I had been at that press conference myself. I didn’t hear Michael Ware snicker. I heard EVERYONE snicker. You can’t hardly even walk safely around the Green Zone right now let alone walk around Baghdad . Even McCain did his stroll wearing body armor and escorted by Humvees and troops. What’s the big deal?
“The big deal is that Michael Ware was trashed by the right-wingers. He got swift-boated. He got Howard-Deaned. And now it looks like CNN is refusing to go up against the swift-boaters and is backing down – and that includes not having you on their show, especially since you were the one who had actually asked McCain a question.”
We all know about those NeoCon Swiftboaters. While they do not actually put out ads they are always looking for likely recruits. I know all about that. Most people have forgotten that John McCain himself suffered a version of swiftboating right after the primary in 2000. A rumor was floated about a black love child, doubtless recycled from Project Arkansas.That rumor cost McCain the nomination. Instead, we got Bush as the nominee.
The guy who floated both the Clinton and McCain versions was John Fund. McCain was in NY when he discovered this. I wrote an article about it. The Brown Badge of Courage.
John told me the same salacious story of the Clinton Love Child around 1994. During the Clinton Administration, at least until 1998, John was always calling with astonishing stories about the Clintons. “Why would he have a tattoo there? I asked at one point, really rather shocked. All those stories were so lurid.
I think it is very unfair that a perfectly open and interesting question posed to John McCain would lose Jane the opportunity to have her interview. I suspect that Jane would have many interesting insights to impart to us, her fans. I think I will call CNN and ask them to reconsider. Their corporate offices are located in Atlanta,Georgia.
CNN Headline News, 190 Marietta Street Northwest, Atlanta, GA, 30303, (404) 827-2600 or (404) 827-2300
Here are the folks they have listed as being in charge on their website.
Executive Vice President Susan Grant
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