C-SPAN May – June 2013

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June 23, 2013 – 9:08 AM

Host: PAUL ORGEL ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected]).

Guest: BOB CUSACK, Managing Editor of The Hill publication.

Topic: The week ahead in Congress.

Caller: Kelly from Owensboro, Kentucky (click here to view).

Here, C-SPAN airs, unchallenged, the conspiracy-mongering caller’s recommendation of two documents which allegedly expose “what will be the downfall of America.” The document known as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion is one of the most infamous works of modern antisemitism. The book, often promoted by those who blame the world’s ills on Jews, is a notorious forgery from nineteenth century Russia. It drew on popular antisemitic notions and, despite being exposed as fraudulent, has been a touchstone for antisemites for more than a century.

Caller: “I have a comment and a question. I would like to challenge all the viewers out there to look up a couple of documents. One is the Communist Manifesto and the other is the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. In them are step-by-step directions of how to take over a country. They go step-by-step and they are doing it real subtle. The two main ways to take over a country is by violence and by debt. I would like to ask you, what is the total amount of derivatives that are out there? And I think what will be the downfall of America is the derivatives market. I will take your answer off the air.”

Guest: “I don’t know the number on the derivatives. But there’s been a lot of frustration on Wall Street’s influence on Congress, many on the left, as well on the right, saying no one has been prosecuted for the 2008 implosion of the market. But as far as taking over the country, I’m not sure what do you mean.”

NOTE: The host should have cut the caller off at his citation of the infamous antisemitic forgery. But the failure to do so is not surprising since C-SPAN hosts generally indulge Jew-hating callers, whereas only rarely do hosts tolerate, for example, anti-black, anti-female, anti-Catholic or anti-Muslim callers.

June 23, 2013 – 9:32 AM

Host: PAUL ORGEL ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected]).

Guest: KARIM SADJADPOUR, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Topic: Review of Iranian presidential election.

Caller: Peter from Utah (click here to view).

Casting blame on Israel, the guest illogically downplays the nightmare many countries have about nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran’s fanatical Islamist leadership: “I think that the real impediment in U.S.-Iran relations is not the nuclear issue but the two countries’ positions toward Israel.” Unsurprisingly, a Washington Journal host is silent on this matter (it’s almost always open season on Israel on the program). Viewers would have gained insight into the guest’s comments if they were informed of the Carnegie Endowment’s anti-Israel (or Arabist) tilt as documented by CAMERA here, here, and here.

Caller: “I have heard on CNN that they recommended that we stop the pressure on Iran to reduce nuclear weapons. I think it might help. The pressure hurts. I think we should offset North Korea and Japan becoming nuclear … Another thing is what are some of the ways that we could do to peacefully get Iran to end the Afghanistan war and [the one in] Syria and solve the problems and get a peaceful solution.”

Guest: “The caller brings up an interesting point about potential cooperation between the United States and Iran. I think that the policy debate on Iran is very nicely bookended by two quotes from the former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. He once said there are few nations in the world with whom the United States has more common interests and less reason to quarrel than Iran. He also said that Iran has to decide whether it is a nation or a colony.

But if you look at the major U.S. foreign policy challenges in which Iran has considerable influence, the caller mentioned Afghanistan and Syria. With Afghanistan there are overlapping interests between the United States and Iran. Both are enemies of the Taliban and enemies of Sunni radicalism. And both countries want to see a stable Afghanistan that is not a narco-state. There is no [Iranian] interest to see Afghanistan come unraveled because they would have to accommodate the refugees. But there is no overlapping interest between the governments of the United States and the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran on Syria.

For that regime, the continuing rule of the [Assad] regime in Syria is important because it has been Iran’s only consistent ally since 1979. And Syria provides Iran a critical geographic link to the Lebanese Hezbollah. So it is critical that Assad remain in power and they have been spending billions of dollars to keep him afloat. Here the United States and Iran clash.

I would argue that the issue which is the single biggest impediment to an improvement in U.S.-Iran issues is actually the issue of Israel. Because for the United States, particularly for the American public, Israel’s national security is sacrosanct. That is the word President Obama and many other presidents before him have used – sacrosanct – to describe Israeli national security. The other side is that Iran sees Israel as a illegitimate state. It rejects its existence and continues to support Hezbollah and [Palestinian]Islamic Jihad. I think that the real impediment in the U.S.-Iran relations is not the nuclear issue but the two countries’ positions toward Israel [emphasis added]. I don’t see that changing under [president-elect Hassan] Rouhani’s presidency.”

June 21, 2013 – 9:05 AM

Host: STEVE SCULLY ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected]).

Guest: JOAO VALE DE ALMEIDA, European Union Ambassador to the United States.

Topic: U.S. relations with European Union.

Caller: Anna from Athens, Ohio (click here to view)

Frequent anti-Israel caller (invariably indulged by C-SPAN – see below) yet again shows herself as both superficial and obsessive. She casts Israel as a nuclear threat while failing to mention the genuine danger of rogue nations such as Iran and North Korea with nuclear weapons. Consistent with Washington Journal’s chronic journalistic malpractice, this caller is take
n seriously by both host and guest.

Caller: “I wanted to ask the ambassador – last night on Chris Hayes on MSNBC he had this reporter Matt Taibbi from the Rolling Stones[Sic.], who just did a recent article about the rating agencies for the banks and just how scandalous their rating systems were. I wanted to ask the ambassador — do you think the European people responded more strongly in demanding accountability from banks in regard to the situations in different countries there compared to American citizens demanding accountability from the banking system and the rating agencies here in the U.S.
 
And I also wanted to ask him in regard to the nonproliferation treaty, which you and Obama’s movement toward breaking down that system or breaking down nuclear weapons, is that will the European Union stand stronger in demanding that Israel sign the nonproliferation treaty and kind of come out into public? I know, I spent a lot of time at the U.N. Website reading letters and documents at that Website. But there are a lot of nations in that part of the world who feel threatened by Israel.”

Host: “We’ll get a response, Anna, thanks for the call.”

Guest: “We should all abide by our responsibilities. There are international agreements that are to be respected. I think we will continue on both sides of the Atlantic making sure that there is a level playing field in terms of responsibilities being assumed by all states of the world. I think that is the case as far as Israel is concerned. Right now we are together working on those who are not respecting those agreements. You know what we are doing about Iran, about North Korea. And again, we support all the efforts to revive and re-energize the world effort toward reducing nuclear arsenals and putting in place the right system. As far as the rating agencies are concerned in the banking system …”

NOTE: Caller, whose agenda includes undermining Israel’s standing with viewers, makes erroneous claims about Israel and its purported nuclear weapons program and its relation to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) including her allegation, “…nations in that part of the world who feel threatened by Israel.” But Israel has not participated in the proliferation of nuclear technology to other countries in the way Pakistan, China, North Korea and Iran reportedly have. Neither has it threatened to annihilate other states, as Iran has threatened to destroy Israel. Israel is not a signatory to NPT. It is one of three countries, India and Pakistan being the other two, that doesn’t have a treaty obligation. Israel does not declare its presumed nuclear arsenal, and the United States does not pressure Israel to sign the non-proliferation treaty. Rather than feel threatened by Israel, Sunni Muslim Middle Eastern states have urged America to strike Shi’ite Iran. Neither the C-SPAN host nor the Washington Journal guest mention these basic facts.

This caller’s easily-recognized voice has been heard on Washington Journal variously identifying herself as: “Ann,” “Mary,” “Rebecca,” “Patricia,” “Jackie,” “Kay,” “Kate,” “Kathleen.” This call violated C-SPAN’s ostensible one-call-per-30-days rule since her previous call was on June 13, 2013 (9:23 AM), identifying herself as “Kathleen” (Click here to view). The previous 2013 call was Jan. 6 (9:43 AM) as “Anna from Athens, Ohio” (click here to view). Her most recent 2012 call was as “Kathleen from Dayton, Ohio” (click here to listen) on Nov. 4 to this same host Scully. Her previous 2012 calls were as “Kathleen from Dayton, Ohio” on Oct. 22 (click here to listen); Ann (click here to listen) May 22; Kathleen (click here to listen) March 1; Mary (click here to listen) Feb. 24; Rebecca (click here to listen) Jan. 15; Kathleen (click here to listen) Jan. 13; Jackie (click here to listen) Jan. 9; and Ann, Jan. 8, 2012.

C-SPAN claims “Washington Journal … provides a forum for leading journalists and public policy makers to discuss key events and legislation.” Perhaps, but when it comes to Israel, the show is a megaphone for anti-Jewish, anti-Zionist bigots, and the network either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care.

June 16, 2013 – 7:19 AM

Host: STEVE SCULLY ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected]).

Topic: Syria: President Obama’s third war?

Caller: Darrell from Defiance, Missouri (click here to view).

Consistent with Washington Journal’s history of enabling anti-Israel, antisemitic callers (and occasional guests), host Scully indulges obsessive caller Darrell who has also identified himself in past years as “Bill” or “Bob.” Scully’s initial response (“Why would you call Israel a terrorist nation?”), either clueless or prompting, to Darrell’s ranting serves only to encourage more of the same (“Because they have attacked people since they have been there since 1947…”).

Darrell’s calls go back to at least Sept. 2009 and include: Apr. 16, 2013 (7:04 AM) Darrell from St. Louis, Missouri (click here to view); Jan. 13, 2013 (8:40 AM) Darrell from Defiance, Missouri (click here to listen); Jan. 8, 2013 (7:04 AM) Darrell from Missouri (click here to listen); Nov. 21, 2012 (7:34 AM) as Darrell from Defiance, Missouri (click here to listen); April 15, 2012 (7:36 AM) as Darrell from St. Charles, Missouri (click here to listen); Feb. 5, 2012 (7:19 AM) as Bill from Defiance, Missouri (click here to listen); Oct. 21, 2011 (7:16 AM) as Bill from St. Louis (click here to listen); Oct. 12, 2011 (7:19 AM) as Bill, Sept. 21, 2011 (7:06 AM) as Bill, May 19, 2011 (7:15 AM) as Darrell, May 2, 2011 (9:18 AM) as Bill, March 18, 2011 (7:30 AM) as Bob, Feb. 26, 2011 (7:16 AM) as Bill, Feb. 1, 2011 (7:21 AM) as Darrell; and so on back to Sept. 30, 2009 (8:21 AM) as Darrell from St
. Louis (click here to listen).

Scully: “The question we are asking is Syria President Obama’s third war?”

Darrell: “Here we go again, another war for Israel. How long are going to continue to do this? For 30 years, Israel has whined about Iran having a nuclear weapon in six months while they continue to stockpile nuclear weapons. Not a peep out of our media who is owned by Israel. So, I don’t know what you people are talking about. How many people in the Middle East are you going to slaughter for that terrorist nation, Israel? Can you answer that question?”

Scully: “Why would you call Israel a terrorist nation?”

Darrell: “Because they have attacked people since they have been there since 1947. They have done nothing but steal land from the Palestinians. They have broken every U.N. commitment they made and not a peep out of you people. Do your homework!”

Scully: “Is that attacking or is it defending the Israeli border?”

Darrell: “It has always been Israel and you know it. This is a war for Israel, a war that we are going to lose like we lost Iraq, like we are going to lose Iran – if we get involved in there. Look at what’s happening in Iraq today. It’s nothing but a (indistinct). What ever happened to the democracy we were supposed to be bringing to Iraq?”

Scully: “Carmen is next from Hamilton, Montana.”

NOTE: C-SPAN’s Washington Journal hosts too often act as “receptionists,” not moderators, merely “logging” calls, at times eliciting additional comment, rather than challenging obviously bigoted callers making wildly erroneous allegations. In this case “Darrell” charges “another war for Israel,” as if the United States and its allies did not have justification to overthrow the Taliban in Afghanistan or U.N. backing to invade Iraq; as if Israel had anything to do with either conflict; as if Israel has warned of Iran’s nuclear weapons program “for 30 years” and that program doesn’t threaten the United States; as if that Arab countries and Palestinian Arabs had not attacked Israel in 1947 and ’48, not the other way around, and so on. Yet host Scully fails to challenge “Darrell’s” erroneous allegations or his obvious prejudice.

June 16, 2013 – 7:25 AM

Host: STEVE SCULLY ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected]).

Topic: Syria: President Obama’s third war?

Caller: William from Missouri (click here to view).

Reacting to the caller’s criticism (“The comments about Israel being a terrorist nation – that is ridiculous …” ) of previous caller (anti-Israel, antisemitic “Darrell,” 7:19 AM), host Scully interrupts and puts a positive spin on his own (characteristically) ineffectual reaction to Darrell.

Caller: “The last couple of callers were saying this is not America’ s war and we cannot take care of it, but these people are having a tough time over there. When you have a government that is using weapons against its own people and you have a civil war going on where there has been 100,000 people killed – I do not see how you can turn your back on something like that…The comments about Israel being a terrorist nation – that is ridiculous. Israel, all it tried to do is sit there and be a peaceful nation for all of those years, and they sit there and keep getting hit and hit and hit…”

Host (interrupting): “That was my point earlier. Is this a question of Israel simply trying to protect its borders, a country that was clearly legitimately set up following World War II?”

Caller: “Yes, I believe that’s all they’ve done. I believe that they have just been trying to protect themselves but things keep building up on them and these wars keep popping up. The bottom line is these are wars that somebody has to fight. Somebody has to stop the killing. I call it genocide. When you watch that many people die, it is a sad thing. I do not think you can lay everything on Obama. He has a really tough job right now. I’m not really an Obama supporter, but he has a really tough job. I feel for him, to be in his spot. That’s pretty much all I have to say.”

Host: “Okay William, thank you for the call.”

June 16, 2013 – 7:34 AM

Host: STEVE SCULLY ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected]).

Topic: Syria: President Obama’s third war?

Caller: Kenny from Alexandria, Virginia (click here to view).

Host Scully characteristically indulges a caller’s erroneous, unsubstantiated claims about U.S. foreign policy and Israel. False allegations are made about Israel’s purported nuclear program but unmentioned is the genuine danger posed by rogue nations such as Iran and North Korea with nuclear weapons. The caller’s message about Israel is basically a repeat of his Feb. 28, 2013 (7:33 AM) (click here to view) diatribe in which he seemed to imply that Israel’s purported nuclear arsenal is a danger the United States might consider attacking.

Caller: “I was stunned by President Obama’s decision. I have been 100 percent behind him and he has been restricted ever since he got into office. There’s the scandal of the birth certificate. But at a time when the Pentagon funding argument has still prevailed over domestic issues, the issue of Israel – I have nothing against any country. But Israel has 70 nuclear weapons, which stunned Iran, and Israel has not signed the U.N. Charter [Sic]. So, it seems like since we are spending a ten times, twelve times more than everyone else in the world combined on defense – more or less offense. It’s the issue of jobs and weapons – so it is coming to where it may be a jobs kind of issue now for companies that are doing this for the Pentagon funding. Now, to have our procedure of stepping into Syria is not a good guiding light for the world to view us as a place of peace.”

Host: “Kenny, thank you for the call – and again, your point is really a backdrop again to underscore what the President will be facing as he holds a series of bilateral and G8 meetings that will be taking place beginning tonight and through the early part of …”

June 16, 2013 – 7:38 AM

Host: STEVE SCULLY ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected]).

Topic: Syria: President Obama’s third war?

Caller: Sandra from Empire, Alabama (click here to view).

Host does not interrupt or halt caller, who cites specific books from the Bible, urges America to strongly support the Jewish nation against its enemies.

Caller: “I just wanted to say something about Syria. We need to really be careful because look what happened in Egypt. [President] Morsi and his people were caught on public TV in Egypt joking about, supposedly it was a river in Africa, but it came out that they said th
at their main enemies are America and Israel. We don’t know who is coming in (indistinct). Another thing, Israel – If they ever to go to war we need to stand behind them. If people would just read their Bibles – Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Revelation – all of it. What’s going on today was written thousands of years ago. We need to get back to the basics in America. Thank you very much.”

Host: “Thanks for the call.”

June 16, 2013 – 7:39 AM

Host: STEVE SCULLY ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected]).

Topic: Syria: President Obama’s third war?

Caller: Arnold from Smyrna, Tennessee (click here to view).

Disputing previous caller Sandra’s plea which cites Scripture to urge strong support of Israel against its enemies, caller Arnold cites a Bible chapter (Ezekiel 33) to argue that God, as in the past, is not “happy with Israel right now.” Not happy “right now” about what in particular – Israeli self-defense? Host Scully fails to ask the caller what he means. The obvious questions not asked: Is God unhappy with Israel’s enemies, and how does the caller know how God feels? Not surprisingly, mention is not made of the multitude of biblical passages which describe how God provides for severe punishment of Israel’s enemies (Genesis 12, Isaiah 17, Ezekiel 38 and so on).

Caller: “Just to respond to that last caller [Sandra], she said we need to get back to God. She is right. Folks need to remember that God is love. She said that we need to support Israel and she mentioned something about the Book of Ezekiel. God does not always support Israel. If you’ll read Ezekiel 33, you know, chapter 33 of Ezekiel, God, many times in the past, has not been happy with Israel. I do not believe He is happy with Israel right now.”

Host: “So, how does that all tie into the latest developments in Syria?”

Caller: “I was just responding to her comment. I think the only hope the world has any more, which includes Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, the entire world situation – there is an answer and it’s a very simple answer – and the answer is love. Love is the only thing that’s going to save this planet. My name is Arnold Joseph White. I have written a book …”

Host: “Okay, thank you for the call …”

NOTE: Caller Arnold White says he’s written a book. Washington Journal attracts a variety of self-promoters, as callers and, too often when it comes to Israel’s critics, as guests.

June 16, 2013 – 7:42 AM

Host: STEVE SCULLY ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected]).

Topic: Syria: President Obama’s third war?

Caller: Margaret from Ardmore, Oklahoma (click here to view).

Caller cites Scripture (probably referring to Joel 3:2) to warn against other nations dividing the land of Israel. Whereas host Scully engaged the previous caller, who cited Scripture against Israel, with this phone-in viewer as with Sandra who also referred to the Bible in support of the Jewish state, he is typically mute.

Caller: “They are right about Israel. God said that ‘Divide not the land.’ That’s actually in the Scriptures [Hebrew Bible]. He gave it to Israel. It belongs to Israel. On Syria, they have more chemical weapons than anybody else and biological [weapons]. Do we want to send our sons and daughters? These people that are saying, ‘Go to war.’ This is ridiculous. Our government cares more about getting reelected by giving amnesty to 50 million people. This is something one of the top Hispanic leaders said about two months ago – I believe it was on CNN – and a week later one of the Hispanic ladies… said there were 55 million. They used to give quotas as to how many could come in. But on our troop ships they want to know what’s happening next. They have taken away the gold standard. The top economists have said if we would go to the gold standard and quit spending, we would be all right…”

Host: “Okay Margaret, thanks for the call.”

NOTE: The Book of Joel (3:2) says “I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land (New International Version).” This reference from the Hebrew Bible is relevant not in that contemporary diplomacy must  follow Jewish scripture, but rather as a reminder that not only must Arab Muslim and Christian claims be considered in any final agreement, but so too must Jewish ones. Nevertheless, C-SPAN hosts chronically seem to be either unaware of Jewish religious and historical claims or unwilling to comment on them when appropriate.

June 16, 2013 – 8:06 AM

Host: STEVE SCULLY ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected]).

Guest: PAUL SINGER, USA Today “Congress & Politics” editor.

Topic: Congress and the PATRIOT Act.

Caller: Cliff from Baltimore, Maryland (click here to view).

On Washington Journal, where any challenge of a conspiracy-mongering caller is a rarity despite numerous such allowed on the program, host Scully does something most unusual for him (and other C-SPAN hosts) – he vigorously challenges conspiracy-mongering “Cliff.”

Caller: “…the exact purpose of 9/11was to turn this country into a police state. The bombing of Oklahoma City [government building] was also a government-stage incident. This has all been contrived. The people of this nation need to understand that.”

SCULLY: “…When you say it was a government-staged incident, what is your evidence?”

Caller: “There’s tons of evidence. The mainstream media is owned by corporate government.”

SCULLY: “Give me your evidence, what is your proof?”

Caller: “Just like the Twin Towers, the controlled demolition experts say this was a controlled demolition.”

SCULLY: “Give me the evidence. What is your proof? What is your evidence”

Caller: “Oklahoma City was blown up from the inside…”

SCULLY (interrupting): “Okay.”

Guest: “The caller is correct that I do not have an opinion whether the PATRIOT Act is good or bad. It’s not my job to have opinions. I have spent an awful lot of time rooting around in politics and government. I have extraordinary doubts about your conclusions about both 9/11 and Oklahoma City. I have pretty good reasons to believe that those were not planned by the government and they were not strategies to gather more government control…”

SCULLY (addressing caller and viewers): “If you have the facts on this, present the facts but otherwise, we don’t deal with these conspiracy theories. We have been getting a lot of calls like this so just give us your evidence. We attemp
t to be knowledgeable and balanced in this segment. We want to focus on what is in the Act and the politics that led to its passage and your calls and comments on whether you think it is working.”

NOTE: Given Washington Journal’s history as a platform for the defamation of Israel and Jews by conspiracy-theorist callers whose remarks are typically unchallenged, the host’s repeated demand for evidence and the guest’s rejection of the caller’s thesis are encouraging – although the Jewish people and state are not at issue. C-SPAN will begin to elevate its coverage of Israel and Jewish issues when callers from the antisemitic fringe get similar treatment.

June 4, 2013 – 8:03 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected]).

Guest: Representative CHRISTOPHER SMITH (R-NJ), Chairman of Global Health and Human Rights subcommittee of the House.

Topic: U.S. foreign policy challenges.

Caller: James from Hope Town, Florida (click here to view).

Caller: “Good morning. Thank you for taking my call. Good morning congressman. I am a retired marine engineer. Prior to that I worked in the construction industry. And I can tell you this: From the symmetrical fall of building 7 [World Trade Center Building 7 – one of New York’s Twin Towers destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001 in an attack perpetrated by al-Qaeda terrorists] on 9/11 and its free fall, that explosives were used to bring it down. My question, congressman, is – I would like to know why you and the rest of Congress are not listening to the thousands of architects and engineers calling for a new investigation of its destruction.”

[Caller’s point is one often made by 9/11 anti-Israel conspiracy mongers (not necessarily including this caller) prior to launching into allegations that Jews were behind the 9/11 attacks because, they say, no Jews died in the 9/11 attacks. As guest appropriately points out, while there are legitimate questions about the quality of construction of the Twin Towers, there are no questions as to the nature of the attacks executed by flying hijacked airliners into buildings. Guest points out the falseness of the myth, from first-hand knowledge, that Jews didn’t die in the attacks, and relating his experience speaking in Bethlehem (West Bank) to a group of Palestinian Arab students who blamed 9/11 attacks on Israelis, alleging no Jews died then.]

Guest: “Of which destruction? I’m sorry, I missed a little of that.”

Caller: “Building seven on 9/11.”

Guest: “It’s a question that has been answered many times. I do believe there have been a number of efforts to investigate. The 9/11 Commission worked very hard. It investigated every aspect of the terrible events of 9/11. A number of my constituents were killed or had family members who were killed. I was a prime mover behind the legislation which eventually led to the implementation that was done. Our former [New Jersey] governor was the chairman. They did an exemplary job. They looked at virtually every aspect of it, but there are always remaining questions. Your question needs further answer.”

Host: “How do you get that further answer then?”

Guest: “Well, I think, you know, probably more investigations on the part of – maybe not government – maybe think tanks. The 9/11 investigation was one of the most comprehensive that I have ever seen. Governor Thomas Kean [former Republican governor of New Jersey] and former Congressman Lee Hamilton [D-Indiana] put together a series of hearings. They had a very good staff. That report, which was several inches thick, and I have read it, and I actually chaired two hearings about its implementation, and former [House] Speaker [Dennis] Hastert authored a bill, HR1, to implement the entirety of it. We are safer. We were not safe. We are safer but not safe. Much more needs to be done to mitigate the threats from al-Qaeda and others who wish us ill. But in terms of the other aspects of it, I am not sure how much we really need to know. It’s unanswered. We could go back to it.”

Host: “What’s unanswered?”

Guest: “The building capabilities of both of the Twin Towers; their architecture structure. There were probably corners that were cut. I say probably, I don’t know that for sure.”

Host: “In the construction?”

Guest: “In the construction. People were at the point of almost being shocked as to how quickly it imploded.”

Host: “Do you have any doubt as to the cause of the September 11 attacks?”

Guest: “No, none whatsoever. As a matter of fact, I remember – I was actually in Bethlehem and I spoke to a group of [Palestinian Arab] students who questioned and actually blamed it on the Israelis, which is the theater of the absurd and they said no Jews died in 9/11. I said ‘Hold it, timeout – I know several widows of Jewish men who died in 9/11.’ There were people of every faith, and those of none, who were in the Twin Towers. Innocent people were slaughtered. It was an act of terrorism, the likes we had not seen since Pearl Harbor in terms of magnitude. So, there is no doubt who the culprits were. I think that there will always be conspiracy theories always about everything including that. But, I think, we have done a good job in the government on this.”

NOTE: While 9/11 related calls (nearly all of them conspiracy mongering) to Washington Journal are a common occurrence, what is not a common occurrence is a C-SPAN host, such as Casey here, closely scrutinizing guest’s comments, and a guest forcefully demolishing the inflammatory myth promoted by antisemites and Israel haters that Jews were behind the attacks.

May 30, 2013 – 7:02 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected]).

Caller: Tommy from Tennessee (click here to view).

Caller has an understandable concern for his fellow Christians in the Middle East but a huge gap in his understanding is indicated when he mistakenly lumps Israel with Syria as a place of danger for Christians (“I’m concerned about my Christian brothers in the Middle East, especially in Syria and Israel”). Casey dialogues with the caller but characteristically for a Washington Journal host she fails to correct or even question this serious misconception.

An informed host would know that while the Christian population is sharply diminishing (due to great pressure from the majority Muslims) throughout the Middle East, including the Palestinian areas, the opposite is true in Israel where Christians and Muslims as well as Jews have full civil rights and all are treated equally under the law. Israel is the only country in the Middle East experiencing an increase in its Christian population.

Host: “Tommy, how do you get your news?”

Caller: “I usually get mine from CNN. Sometimes I get the over night news from the major networks. On the weekends, I like the BBC. They tend to be more thorough on the weekends and during the week. I just want to sa
y that you are doing a fine job Miss Libby. It is a privilege to hear your voice. Keep up your good work that you do and all your co- workers.”

Host: “Tommy, thank you for your kind words. Tell us more about your news usage. Is it just television, or do you also go to online websites that match up with those news outlets you mentioned to us?”

Caller: “Sometimes I do but not usually. I tend more to listen to the radio a lot. Sometimes I listen to the radio a lot late night. I can’t get the BBC on my TV but I can get it on the radio. I listen to the BBC late-night sometimes, not all the time. It just that the BBC just seems to do a better job. I don’ t know if they’ re more objective or less subjective or whatever the phrase is but they seem to present their documentary reports in a way that is easy for me to understand.”

Host: “Tommy, you said you go there for international news. So that is of concern to you?”

Caller: “I’ m concerned about my Christian brothers in the Middle East, especially in Syria and Israel. I feel like the time is approaching that Christians are going to be slaughtered left and right. It may come to our shores. I hope not.”

Host: “Let’s go to Dennis in Fairfax, Virginia, independent caller. How do you get your news Dennis?”

May 27, 2013 – 8:49 AM

Host: PEDRO ECHEVARRIA ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected]).

Guest: RANDY PLUNKETT, military dot com community and government outreach representative.

Topic: Employment for returning veterans.

Caller: Tony (actually James Morris) from Los Angeles, California (click here to view).

Guest and host indulge off-topic, frequent C-SPAN caller (65 calls since Dec. 2008) Morris who is obsessively anti-Israel and invariably misleads about America’s policies. As he does here, Morris invariably brings up the USS Liberty incident which was determined by the U.S. government in six separate inquiries to have been a “fog of war” mistake. This incident is a staple of anti-Israel propaganda. Morris habitually defames U.S. Senator John McCain (Ariz.), former Republican Party nominee for the presidency.

Washington Journal hosts almost always indulge Morris who invariably parrots what amounts to the Iranian propaganda line (he has been cited approvingly by Iran’s Press TV, an official government mouth-piece). He last phoned in April 22, 2013 as “James” (click here to view). Morris’ 64 previous calls (with very few exceptions each has been anti-Israel, anti-America, pro-Iran) to Washington Journal since December 2008 are chronicled. Morris’ Iran connection is indicated by the government-funded propaganda Website, which refers to Morris as a “Los Angeles-based political analyst” in a propaganda video (posted May 23, 2011) featuring Morris (includes his photo).
 
Caller: “Thanks for taking my call. I want to thank military dot com and Brian Jordan for having the courage to report on the USS Liberty crew memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. I actually confronted John McCain on Memorial Day last year about his betrayal of the USS Liberty crew and it was barely picked up in the U.S. media. They just talked about me as being a McCain heckler. If you google … you can see the Youtube that explains it. Again, I wanted to salute Brian Jordan. He is the only one who had the courage to actually cover the memorial at Arlington National Cemetery on June 8 last year. Thank you.”

Guest (apparently clueless, nodding in concurrence throughout Morris’ rant): “Thank you.”

Host: “About the employers, we hear as far as situations with emotional issues that sometimes occur, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), does that become stigma for someone looking for a job in the job force?”

NOTE: CAMERA has documented Washington Journal’s customary hospitality to anti-Israel, anti-Jewish callers. James Morris, under his own name and aliases, epitomizes such extremists. Yet C-SPAN hosts continue to treat him as someone whose rants and disinformation are worth broadcasting.

May 10, 2013 – 7:22 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected]).

Topic: Administration’s handling of Boston Marathon bombings?

Caller: Mike from Tampa, Florida (click here to view).

Consistent with Washington Journal’s chronic journalistic malpractice when the Jewish state is concerned, host Casey fails to challenge off-topic caller’s inflammatory illogical accusation blaming Israel for the Boston Marathon bombing in order to “drag America into war with Iran.” Never mind that the bombing was perpetrated by two Chechnyan-American brothers who apparently had been influenced by Islamic radicalism. Casey could have at least asked for the conspiracy mongering, anti-Israel caller’s source for his information that “Israeli security people” were hired for the Marathon.

Caller: “Hi. Thanks for letting the public speak here. I think that one of the one of the things that worries me here is I read that the Department of Homeland Security was hiring foreign contractors for the Boston Marathon that included Israeli security people who had inside knowledge and information about the details going on there. I think our government has gotten way too cozy with Israel. If you think about who had the most to gain during this to drag America into war with Iran, I would be looking in that direction.”

CASEY: “Let’s go to Lyndon in Bristow, Virginia …”

May 7, 2013 – 8:23 AM

Host: GRETA BRAWNER ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected]).

Guest: ELI LAKE, Newsweek/Daily Beast senior national security correspondent.

Topic: National security: Syria, Benghazi, North Korea.

Caller: Henry from Michigan (click here to view).

Millions of viewers (C-SPAN claims 28 million weekly viewers) here heard a rare but appropriate rebuke of a typical Washington Journal conspiracy mongering, anti-Israel caller.

Caller: “Mr. Lake, Lindsey Graham and John McCain, these are all, pretty much talking heads for the Dick Cheney neocon wing of let’s go to war for the greater glory and good of Israel. The United States has no dog in this fight. We are broke. If you can remember that. We’ve got people who don’t have jobs who are starving in this country. And the president – I want everybody to please call and support the president’s deliberative process. Ask the president to get Congress started on jobs here…”

Host: “Ok
ay Henry, lets leave it there because you feel we have no dog in this fight.”

Guest: “I don’t want to take this caller seriously. I would like to tell you, if you are watching, sir, I regard you as a nonsense person. The notion that Lindsey Graham and John McCain, who are elected U.S. Senators, are somehow cutouts for the state of Israel as part of a large conspiracy – as populist fringe theory – enjoy your basement, enjoy your conspiracies. Back here in reality, I would like to cover the world as it is.”

[Host Brawner, consistent with C-SPAN’s often mindless indulgence of anti-Israel callers, essentially restates caller’s false premise as a question, suggesting that Israel is the tail that wags the U.S. dog:]

Host: “Let me talk about Israel as our ally. Is there pressure on this administration, on this Congress to act because of Israel?”

Guest: “I don’t think that there is pressure necessarily. I think Israel, as I wrote and then said publicly, has intensive diplomacy with the United States on what it considers to be its red line. The difference is Israel is a sovereign state. It does not just do whatever the U.S. tells it to do.

It gets an enormous amount of military aid and probably that’s more important politically than it is to Israel as a thriving economy. There’s certainly an argument there for cutting the aid and that should be debated. But I don’t think that intervention in Syria in this sense is like something for the United States. The other thing I would point out is that Syria is devolving into a civil war; the potential for chemical weapons getting in the hands of terrorists is a problem for all of Syria’s neighbors. It’s a problem for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, its a problem for Turkey, it’s a problem for Iraq and Saudi Arabia. It’s a problem for a lot of American allies in the region. And yet there are certain segments, a small fringe that are dedicated Internet users. It is all about Israel. It is just too monocausal for me.”
 
NOTE: Concerning aid to Israel, mention could have been made here by a well-informed host of the advantages to the United States from its close relationship with Israel. In addition to Israel being the United States’ closest Middle East ally and only example in the region of a Western-style democracy, advantages to the United States include Israeli innovations for improved unmanned aircraft, anti-missile defenses, battlefield medical techniques and intelligence on anti-U.S. as well as anti-Israeli radicals and countries.

In addition, Israel is required by U.S. law to spend 74 percent of American aid in the United States. This helps create or sustain thousands of American jobs. Israel is one of many nations receiving U.S. military aid; while aid to Israel may be a proportionately large amount of the foreign aid budget, it has been dwarfed in post-war years by American military spending on and in the prosperous NATO nations. Overall, American aid to Israel is a tiny portion of the federal budget.

May 6, 2013 – 7:39 AM

Host: ROBB HARLESTON ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected]).

Topic: House Speaker Boehner: Republicans are doing more with less.

Caller: Kevin from Boston, Massachusetts (click here to view).

Host Harleston, consistent with Washington Journal’s chronic indifference to “blame-Israel” callers, characteristically indulges another off-topic phone-in making preposterous, vague and wandering accusations.

Host: “What you think about the Speaker saying Republicans are doing more with less?

Caller: “They ought to be able to do more because they got all the more, you know. It seems like they are corrupted. They are trying to bring us into another war. It seems like every time we try to fix our (indistinct) problem, they drag us off to foreign problems and wars overseas or whatever. Israel is no help. They are like a dictator. They are always telling us what to do, when to do it. I mean, they’ve got those people. They don’t know what’s going on in that country over there. I mean, there’s so much going on. They keep chastising our President. They never had his back, never did anything for our country. They don’t care. Republicans really don’t give a damn about us.”

Host: “Jamie in Manassas, Virginia on our line for Republicans. Our last caller says Republicans don’t care. Jamie, what do you think?”

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