Should the Press be held accountable?

[Abracadabra]

Originally posted by spearenb
Lets see, MSG holds 15-18K, there are major politicians there (both parties I might add), and it is a major event in the United States in the largest city in the United States... Yep! No terrorist target there...

Well, there's Arnold ... a major politican? Maybe in his own mind.

Zell Miller? Hardly a major player. He can't even keep his own party affiliations straight for more than 5 seconds.

The delegates? These kool-aid drinkers are the Republicans answer to the Stepford Wives.

Cheney? Well, he is the brains behind the hawkish position of the Administration. Major player? Only when it comes to getting us into a war.

Bush? He isn't scheduled to show up until tonight. And by then the Secret Service will have MSG locked down.

Major event? Yeah, that's why there's still gavel-to-gavel coverage on every major network and cable channel. Oh wait, you mean there's not gavel-to-gavel coverage? There's only a couple of hours every night? Well, so much for that argument!

Major players and major event. Heck, A&E could out-do the ratings the conventions get with re-runs of 5 year old American Justice episodes.

 

[wvrevy]

For once (and I'm making an appointment with a psychiatrist as soon as I finish this post) I've got to agree with Dawn. Well, at least partially. She makes it out like it's some major problem with the press, when in fact it was simply two individuals that did commit this transgression. The fact is that it IS a security risk (a major one) to give those credentials away.

No matter how "sympathetic" those particular members of the press were, they had no way of knowing exactly what the person they were allowing access was going to do. I don't know if prosecution should be pursued, but their remaining credentials should certainly be revoked.

 

[Pete's Mom]

I am starting to think that Abracadabra was the protestor that got removed last night.......

 

[Abracadabra]

Originally posted by DawnCt1
You can't be serious?? The VP has been there all week. His family was their two nights ago. The president will be there tonight, not to mention the former president, other statesmen, and the thousands of delegates. Get a grip!!

I have a grip, you are the one trying to make this incident the equivalent of 9/11.

If it gives you some comfort in thinking that these conventions are some major terrorist target, then so be it. That is a remote possibility, just like the Sears Tower in downtown Chicago is a remote possibility as a terrorist target. There are lots and lots of possibilities. That's the whole point of terrorism.

And when we play into those fears by elevating a college prank into a terrorist threat, we play right into the real terrorists hands.

 

[GoofItUp]

Again, getting back to the OP's question..... (WHY CAN'T A THREAD STAY ON TOPIC ANYMORE???)

Yes, the press members should be held accountable. If things were turned around and this was the Dem Natl Convention, I'd have the same feelings. Passes are issued to a person to allow that person to come in....not so that he can pass it off to whomever he likes.

There are peaceful protestors, and protestors like those who beat the NY police officer. How would a press member know which one they were letting in? And, if a protestor is willing to 'break the rules' to gain entrance, do you not think they'd be willing to break other rules as well. Just not a good situation.

 

[Abracadabra]

Originally posted by Pete's Mom
I am starting to think that Abracadabra was the protestor that got removed last night.......

No, it was actually my... (shhhh)... evil twin.

 

[BostonTigger]

Originally posted by Abracadabra
Yes, let's throw out the First Amendment, especially when someone dares commit such a heinous crime as to question King George 43.

I have to agree with what AirForceRocks said. This has nothing to do with First Amendment rights, this is about security.

 

[ckr]

"There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line."

On this, we agree.

Yes. The press should be held accountable.

 

[disney4us2002]

Originally posted by Abracadabra
Well, there's Arnold ... a major politican? Maybe in his own mind.

Zell Miller? Hardly a major player. He can't even keep his own party affiliations straight for more than 5 seconds.

The delegates? These kool-aid drinkers are the Republicans answer to the Stepford Wives.

Cheney? Well, he is the brains behind the hawkish position of the Administration. Major player? Only when it comes to getting us into a war.

Bush? He isn't scheduled to show up until tonight. And by then the Secret Service will have MSG locked down.

Major event? Yeah, that's why there's still gavel-to-gavel coverage on every major network and cable channel. Oh wait, you mean there's not gavel-to-gavel coverage? There's only a couple of hours every night? Well, so much for that argument!

Major players and major event. Heck, A&E could out-do the ratings the conventions get with re-runs of 5 year old American Justice episodes.

Surely I'm misreading your post because you can't possibly mean that because of those you list in attendance who would possibly care if the place gets bombed? You aren't really saying that right?

Your zings only reflect on your character not on those you slam.

The press who gave away their passes should at the least get their privileges revoked. It doesn't sound like they used very good judgement.

 

[spearenb]

Originally posted by Abracadabra
Well, there's Arnold ... a major politican? Maybe in his own mind.

Zell Miller? Hardly a major player. He can't even keep his own party affiliations straight for more than 5 seconds.

The delegates? These kool-aid drinkers are the Republicans answer to the Stepford Wives.

Cheney? Well, he is the brains behind the hawkish position of the Administration. Major player? Only when it comes to getting us into a war.

Bush? He isn't scheduled to show up until tonight. And by then the Secret Service will have MSG locked down.

Major event? Yeah, that's why there's still gavel-to-gavel coverage on every major network and cable channel. Oh wait, you mean there's not gavel-to-gavel coverage? There's only a couple of hours every night? Well, so much for that argument!

Major players and major event. Heck, A&E could out-do the ratings the conventions get with re-runs of 5 year old American Justice episodes.

I am literally falling over laughing at this response!!!! The 9/11 had 3K innocent persons die and we are talking 15K-18K (possibly) people in MSG. We had Terry McCaulif (DNC Chairman) present. Plus the leaders of the free world. Lynn Swann was even there (A national treasure in and of itself)!!!!

Yeah, 15-18K mass gathering of people is a major event in the times we live in.... You are something else...... There actually is no smilies that can describe how much I am laughing right now... Jeeeeshhhh... Go take your view of the world and preach it out loud!!! GWB will win for sure....

 

[Fizban257]

I'm sorry Abracadabra, but you can't seriously think that a terrorist attack that took out Madison Square Gardens, thousands of delegates, a large portion of Congress, and a sizeable chunk of the press corps woudln't rise to the level of 9/11, can you? I'm sure you're having lots of fun ridiculing Republicans and belittleing their status, but your comments are simply foolish. You've definitely gone too far when you manage to get WVRevy agreeing with Dawn (or me for that matter).

 

[skiwee1]

Originally posted by Abracadabra
That's the best comeback you can come up with? Better pour yourself another cup of joe.

'


Well I must need more coffee because I thought her comeback was very cute~!

 

[wvrevy]

Originally posted by Fizban257
I'm sorry Abracadabra, but you can't seriously think that a terrorist attack that took out Madison Square Gardens, thousands of delegates, a large portion of Congress, and a sizeable chunk of the press corps woudln't rise to the level of 9/11, can you? I'm sure you're having lots of fun ridiculing Republicans and belittleing their status, but your comments are simply foolish. You've definitely gone too far when you manage to get WVRevy agreeing with Dawn (or me for that matter).

Well....let's not go TOO far I agree that any gathering with that many war-mongering corporate whor...er...Republicans, would certainly be a terrorist target, and I agree that the people that allowed access to unauthorized people were wrong in doing so....That's as far as I'll go. The whole "should the press be held accountable" rhetoric is too much for me. It wasn't "the press", it was two individuals.

That said, should Zell Miller be arrested for making public threats against Chris Matthews ? Just curious....Somebody really needs to check that old man's geritol bottle....Think somebody may have spiked it with something

 

[Grog]

I find it laughable that anyone would seriously think that a political convention of all places would qualify as a major terrorist target.

You might find it laughable, but the Police Departements in NYC and Boston didn't.

 

[Abracadabra]

Originally posted by disney4us2002
Surely I'm misreading your post because you can't possibly mean that because of those you list in attendance who would possibly care if the place gets bombed? You aren't really saying that right?

Your zings only reflect on your character not on those you slam.

The press who gave away their passes should at the least get their privileges revoked. It doesn't sound like they used very good judgement.

First, yes you are misreading my post. But that's your privilege.

As for my character, you don't know me from Adam or Eve, so you should presume to know what my character is or isn't. Drawing conclusions based on what some anonymous person writes on the Internet can be misleading and unfulfilling. But just as with the misreading, that's your privilege also.

As for not using good judgement, that may be true, but we don't know the whole story do we. What we do have is a very incomplete account that is somewhat spin-doctored to draw conclusions that are desired. Usually knowing the whole story leads one to very different conclusions.

But that's also not as much fun as what we get to do this way.

 

[wvrevy]

Originally posted by Grog
You might find it laughable, but the Police Departements in NYC and Boston didn't.

The police departments in Boston and NYC get their information from where again ? And the theme of the RNC is what, again ?

It's a target, but a relatively minor one in the grand scheme of things. The people behind the terrorist attacks are not stupid, and are highly unlikely to hit us where or when we expect. I'm much more worried about the Hoover dam than I am Madison Square Garden (or than I was the Fleet Center).

 

[Abracadabra]

Originally posted by skiwee1
'


Well I must need more coffee because I thought her comeback was very cute~!

 

[Fizban257]

Originally posted by wvrevy
Well....let's not go TOO far I agree that any gathering with that many war-mongering corporate whor...er...Republicans, would certainly be a terrorist target, and I agree that the people that allowed access to unauthorized people were wrong in doing so....That's as far as I'll go. The whole "should the press be held accountable" rhetoric is too much for me. It wasn't "the press", it was two individuals.

By "the press" I agree that we should be talking about the two yo-yos who gave up their passes. But it doesn't make the rest of the press corps look too good either--a few bad apples spoiling the bunch. The two involved should have their credentials revoked and their identities revealed to the public--if they're that biased I want to know.

Originally posted by wvrevy
That said, should Zell Miller be arrested for making public threats against Chris Matthews ? Just curious....Somebody really needs to check that old man's geritol bottle....Think somebody may have spiked it with something

I actually felt pretty bad for Zell and for Chris last night. Chris's style of questioning doesn't lend itself well to remote video-conference set-ups with lots of background noise. Zell misheard half of what Chris asked and it went downhill from there. Chris was even trying to defend conservatives at one point, but to Zell it sounded like an attack.

 

[wvrevy]

Originally posted by Abracadabra
As for not using good judgement, that may be true, but we don't know the whole story do we. What we do have is a very incomplete account that is somewhat spin-doctored to draw conclusions that are desired. Usually knowing the whole story leads one to very different conclusions.

This is also VERY true....We don't have the whole story (in fact, I haven't even seen this anywhere else, as yet). For all we know, the reporters may have worked for Faux News Channel Wouldn't THAT be a hoot ?

 

[Towncrier]

When in our country's history has the press been held accountable for anything?

Is this a trick question?