FORD
09-02-2004, 10:35 PM
September 02, 2004 Zell Miller's speech based on Email hoax
Someone ought to tell Zell that not everything he receives in his inbox is the gospel truth. Jesse at pandagon revealed a portion of Miller's insane diatribe was lifted from a chain email as we noted yesterday.
And today, it looks like the core of Miller's attack on Kerry is similarly founded entirely on GOP email agitprop.
Last night, a raving Zell-lot said:
Listing all the weapon systems that Senator Kerry tried his best to shut down sounds like an auctioneer selling off our national security but Americans need to know the facts.
The B-1 bomber, that Senator Kerry opposed, dropped 40 percent of the bombs in the first six months of Operation Enduring Freedom.
The B-2 bomber, that Senator Kerry opposed, delivered air strikes against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Hussein's command post in Iraq.
The F-14A Tomcats, that Senator Kerry opposed, shot down Khadifi's Libyan MIGs over the Gulf of Sidra. The modernized F-14D, that Senator Kerry opposed, delivered missile strikes against Tora Bora.
The Apache helicopter, that Senator Kerry opposed, took out those Republican Guard tanks in Kuwait in the Gulf War. The F-15 Eagles, that Senator Kerry opposed, flew cover over our Nation's Capital and this very city after 9/11.
I could go on and on and on: against the Patriot Missile that shot down Saddam Hussein's scud missiles over Israel; against the Aegis air-defense cruiser; against the Strategic Defense Initiative; against the Trident missile; against, against, against.
Which all sounds very damning if true, which it isn't. Of course it also sounds like yet another chain email which is the basis for an Urban Myth, one which has been thoroughly discredited. From Snopes:
Claim: Senator John Kerry "voted to kill every military appropriation for the development and deployment of every weapons systems since 1988."
Status: False.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2004]
Sen. John Kerry
Democrat from Massachusetts
HE says he is strongest
Presidential Candidate on National Defense!
He said Check the Record..
We Did !
Here is what we learned.
He voted to kill the B-1 Bomber
He voted to kill the B-2 Stealth Bomber
He voted to kill the F-14
He voted to kill the F-15 Strike Eagle
He voted to kill the F-16
He voted to kill the AV-8B Harrier Vertical Takeoff and Landing Jet Fighter
He voted to kill the AH-64 Apache Helicopter
He voted to kill the Patriot Anti-Missile System
He voted to kill the Aegis Anti-Aircraft System
He voted to kill the Trident Missile System
He voted to kill the M-1 Abrams Tank
He voted to kill the Bradley Fighting Vehicle
He voted to kill the Tomahawk Cruise Missile
In short, he voted to kill every military appropriation for the development and deployment of every weapons systems since 1988 to include the battle armor for our troops. With Kerry as president our Army will be made up of naked men running around with sticks and clubs.
Substitute clubs for spitballs, and Zell was repeating an email hoax, almost word for word.
As Snopes goes on to explain, "all the citations stem from votes on three Congressional bills, none of which were about a specific weapons system or group of weapons systems." All three votes were appropriations bills, voted as a package, and Congressmen vote yes or no on, and in many instances support alternatvie appropriations packages which contain the same or even more weapons systems -- or even because they think the bills should allocate more dollars for defense. As Snopes explains:
Senators and Representatives might vote against a defense appropriations bill for any numbers of reasons — because they object to the presence or absence of a particular item, because they feel that the government is proposing to spend too much or too little money on defense, or anything in-between. Maintaining, as is the case here, that a Senator who voted "nay" on one year's defense appropriations bill therefore voted to "kill" a variety of specific weapons systems is like claiming that any Congressman who has ever voted against a defense appropriations bill has therefore also voted to abolish the U.S. military.
In other words, Zell's accusations are a complete and total lie, and either he is too dishonest to admit it, or too big a rube to see it.
Making Zell's attack even more insane is the fact that both Dick Cheney and President Bush I actually spoke specifically in favor of spiking some of the very same weapons systems Miller falsely claims Kerry tried to kill. Cheney, for example, complained about Congress "forcing" him to buy more F-14s and F-15s, two systems Zell accuses Kerry of opposing. As Snopes points out, Secretary of Defense Cheney himself testified before Congress that he favored cutting the Apache Helicopter program:
So I recommended that we cancel the AH-64 program two years out. That would save $1.6 billion in procurement and $200 million in spares over the next five years.
If you have Zell's email address, please acquaint him with Snopes, and also with Google. And urge him to see a doctor. Some Aricept might be in order.
Someone ought to tell Zell that not everything he receives in his inbox is the gospel truth. Jesse at pandagon revealed a portion of Miller's insane diatribe was lifted from a chain email as we noted yesterday.
And today, it looks like the core of Miller's attack on Kerry is similarly founded entirely on GOP email agitprop.
Last night, a raving Zell-lot said:
Listing all the weapon systems that Senator Kerry tried his best to shut down sounds like an auctioneer selling off our national security but Americans need to know the facts.
The B-1 bomber, that Senator Kerry opposed, dropped 40 percent of the bombs in the first six months of Operation Enduring Freedom.
The B-2 bomber, that Senator Kerry opposed, delivered air strikes against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Hussein's command post in Iraq.
The F-14A Tomcats, that Senator Kerry opposed, shot down Khadifi's Libyan MIGs over the Gulf of Sidra. The modernized F-14D, that Senator Kerry opposed, delivered missile strikes against Tora Bora.
The Apache helicopter, that Senator Kerry opposed, took out those Republican Guard tanks in Kuwait in the Gulf War. The F-15 Eagles, that Senator Kerry opposed, flew cover over our Nation's Capital and this very city after 9/11.
I could go on and on and on: against the Patriot Missile that shot down Saddam Hussein's scud missiles over Israel; against the Aegis air-defense cruiser; against the Strategic Defense Initiative; against the Trident missile; against, against, against.
Which all sounds very damning if true, which it isn't. Of course it also sounds like yet another chain email which is the basis for an Urban Myth, one which has been thoroughly discredited. From Snopes:
Claim: Senator John Kerry "voted to kill every military appropriation for the development and deployment of every weapons systems since 1988."
Status: False.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2004]
Sen. John Kerry
Democrat from Massachusetts
HE says he is strongest
Presidential Candidate on National Defense!
He said Check the Record..
We Did !
Here is what we learned.
He voted to kill the B-1 Bomber
He voted to kill the B-2 Stealth Bomber
He voted to kill the F-14
He voted to kill the F-15 Strike Eagle
He voted to kill the F-16
He voted to kill the AV-8B Harrier Vertical Takeoff and Landing Jet Fighter
He voted to kill the AH-64 Apache Helicopter
He voted to kill the Patriot Anti-Missile System
He voted to kill the Aegis Anti-Aircraft System
He voted to kill the Trident Missile System
He voted to kill the M-1 Abrams Tank
He voted to kill the Bradley Fighting Vehicle
He voted to kill the Tomahawk Cruise Missile
In short, he voted to kill every military appropriation for the development and deployment of every weapons systems since 1988 to include the battle armor for our troops. With Kerry as president our Army will be made up of naked men running around with sticks and clubs.
Substitute clubs for spitballs, and Zell was repeating an email hoax, almost word for word.
As Snopes goes on to explain, "all the citations stem from votes on three Congressional bills, none of which were about a specific weapons system or group of weapons systems." All three votes were appropriations bills, voted as a package, and Congressmen vote yes or no on, and in many instances support alternatvie appropriations packages which contain the same or even more weapons systems -- or even because they think the bills should allocate more dollars for defense. As Snopes explains:
Senators and Representatives might vote against a defense appropriations bill for any numbers of reasons — because they object to the presence or absence of a particular item, because they feel that the government is proposing to spend too much or too little money on defense, or anything in-between. Maintaining, as is the case here, that a Senator who voted "nay" on one year's defense appropriations bill therefore voted to "kill" a variety of specific weapons systems is like claiming that any Congressman who has ever voted against a defense appropriations bill has therefore also voted to abolish the U.S. military.
In other words, Zell's accusations are a complete and total lie, and either he is too dishonest to admit it, or too big a rube to see it.
Making Zell's attack even more insane is the fact that both Dick Cheney and President Bush I actually spoke specifically in favor of spiking some of the very same weapons systems Miller falsely claims Kerry tried to kill. Cheney, for example, complained about Congress "forcing" him to buy more F-14s and F-15s, two systems Zell accuses Kerry of opposing. As Snopes points out, Secretary of Defense Cheney himself testified before Congress that he favored cutting the Apache Helicopter program:
So I recommended that we cancel the AH-64 program two years out. That would save $1.6 billion in procurement and $200 million in spares over the next five years.
If you have Zell's email address, please acquaint him with Snopes, and also with Google. And urge him to see a doctor. Some Aricept might be in order.