Letter to the Washington Post

For those of you who did not have the displeasure of reading the coverage the
Washington Post gave to the DSM hearing on Thursday, here is the

link. This was a total trash piece and sadly was the only coverage the
Washington Post gave to this important hearing. Below is a copy of the letter I
have sent to the Washington Post, and I encourage all of you to do the same. At
the end of this post is the email addresses to Dana Milbank, who wrote the
article and also Michael Abramowitz who is the national editor. The fact that
this article was not only in bad taste but also filled with lies is a disgrace
to the people of this country, the members who attended this hearing, the
witnesses and most importantly the families of the fallen soldiers who took the
time to attend. Please voice your opinion of how you feel regarding this letter.

Dear Sirs;

I was highly upset when I read the coverage that a once great newspaper
gave to the hearing on the Downing Street Memo. Dana Milbank’s portrayal of
the actual meeting would leave one to wonder if he was even present for it, or
did he get his reporting from Bill O’Reilly.

From the opening sentence of “In the Capitol basement yesterday,
long-suffering House Democrats took a trip to the land of make-believe” I knew
that this was an apparent biased report. As I read on, my suspicions only got
more confirmation. I fully agree with the right to opinions and publishing
them, after all this is America, but those opinions should be based upon fact.
One fact is that the Washington Post failed to provide full and accurate
coverage to this hearing. Thankfully other, now more respected, News Medias
did provide an accurate portrayal of the hearing.

The fact is that the meeting was held in a small room in the basement of
our capital because Republicans would not let it be held any where else. Also
there was a failure to report how Republicans scheduled an unprecedented 11
votes during the duration of this meeting. Also worth noting was the fact that
the Democrats did not let this interfere with their agenda.

I also found it extremely peculiar how Mr. Milbank tried to dismiss the
testimony of former ambassador Joe Wilson by saying his wife was ousted by the
administration and failing to mention the unfortunate demise his wife took
because of this.

The true fact of the matter is this report was nothing more than a slap in
the face to the 1700 plus soldiers who gave their lives defending the very
freedom that Mr. Milbank exercises in order to write his what I will now coin
as “satire” piece. There were numerous family members of fallen soldiers
present that shared stories of how their loved ones died in this war. Each
story was as heart wrenching as the last, and Mr. Milbank desecrated the
memories of them by twisting and conjuring a story while ignoring the facts.

It is common place in American society to label anyone who speaks against
the war as “unpatriotic”. Well sirs, the fact that Mr. Milbank would write
this report and the fact that it was allowed to be published is very
unpatriotic. While you are sitting high in your offices getting fat off the
protection and freedom of the brave men and women in our armed services,
soldiers are dying. Unpatriotic is not letting the stories of how they have
fallen be heard. Unpatriotic is not reporting the story accurately and
factually. Unpatriotic is totally ignoring the fact that there is a British
Government document that now shows the war in Iraq was inevitable in the eyes
of our President. Your paper, under the direction or Mr. Milbank has
thoroughly trashed the memories of our beloved soldiers and I feel an apology
is not only owed to your readers, but also to people like Cindy Sheehan who
willingly and painstakingly rehashed the story of how her son gave the
ultimate sacrifice to our country. Apologies are also in order for the members
of Congress and witnesses who were also present for this historic and I hope
they get what is due.

In closing I would also like to remind you that the petition for George
Bush to answer these allegations was signed by over 560,000 citizens of this
country. That is an enormous achievement for something that took place in the
time span of three weeks and limited to the internet. In reading through the
posts to blogs and forums, I notice the same consensual tone as I have
regarding this article. I am sure it is evident to you and your staff with a
large number of emails you letters you are receiving denouncing this article.
I hope you do what is not only morally but also ethically right as journalists
and give the hearings the fair and unbalanced coverage they are deserved, and
in turn issue a former retraction and apology for allowing Mr. Milbank’s trash
piece to be published

Thank you for your time

Here are the emails for the folks I mentioned:

Dana Milbank: milbankd@washpost.com

Michael Abramowitz: abramowitz@washpost.com