[NYTr] Teach "Countdown's" Staff How to Read: Fidel Didn't 'Endorse' Clinton-Obama! Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2007 18:29:17 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit [Un-fucking-believable! Is this "propaganda posing as journalism" as McAuliff suggests... or is it sheer ignorance, incompetence, and reading comprehension difficulties? We need the Cuban literacy program "Yes, I Can!" up here in Yanquilandia! To be fair, while the headlines imply Fidel thinks Hillary-Obama is a winning ticket, most of the english-language press (especially the British) SEEM to have understood Fidel's sarcasm for what it was, but it's true that Qatar's Peninsula On-Line and The Washington Post had the most accurate headlines. The worst stupidity seems to have been that of Olbermann's "Countdown" staff. Teach those bozos how to read, Keith! -NY Transfer] PS: Fidel's column of Aug 28, 2007 is here: Fidel Castro: Submission to Imperial Politics https://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20070827/067286.html sent by John McAuliff via Jane Franklin - Aug 30, 2007 |From: John McAuliff |To: Keith Obermann |Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2007 propaganda posing as journalism: Castro did not endorse Clinton-Obama Dear Mr. Obermann, Your "World's Worst" segment on Fidel Castro was an easy diss and uncharacteristically reflective of conventional attitudes in the mass media. Now you might want to reflect upon how easily you (and others) were taken in by a completely phony story. CNN's Raw Politics segment Tuesday night reported that Fidel Castro had endorsed a Clinton-Obama ticket. Your language was derivative: "[The World's Worst] runner-up is Fidel Castro writing an editorial in the official Communist Party newspaper about whom the Democrats should nominate as President and Vice-President next year. An apparently unbeatable ticket, he writes will be Hillary as President and Obama as his running mate." Totally false! In an interesting essay on his relations with Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Bill Richardson, Castro wrote the following: "Today, talk is about the seemingly invincible ticket that might be created with Hillary for President and Obama for Vice President. Both of them feel the sacred duty of demanding 'a democratic government in Cuba.' They are not making politics: they are playing a game of cards on a Sunday afternoon." Hardly an endorsement or advice about whom the democrats "should" nominate! Simply an observation about what others are saying in a political game he is disdainful of, i.e. American candidates seeking to gain from telling Cuba how it should be governed. Full text [of Castro's column] is attached and can be found in Prensa Latina at http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7B068E4DB9-F220-42AC-818D-C4BF1DB5952A%7D%29&language=EN It will take you about five minutes to read and actually has a fascinating account of Clinton promising through the President of Mexico to lift the embargo. Below is a quick compilation of stories by a colleague as of Wednesday morning. One wonders whether this is just sloppy or yellow journalism, or deliberately intended to damage Clinton and Obama (who have taken diametrically opposed positions on the right of Cuban Americans to visit their families and send remittances). Where can the misinterpretation be traced back to? Drudge Report or something similar? Most importantly, why would you join the herd? John McAuliff From a colleague: Here is a sampling of what was being played. Weirdly, only the wash post and a paper in qattar got it about right: Castro: Clinton-Obama ticket 'invincible' CNN Castro Essay Criticizes 2008 Candidates - Washington Post Fidel Castro tips Clinton-Obama as winning team - Telegraph.co.uk Castro: Clinton-Obama ticket a winner - Houston Chronicle Castro likes Clinton-Obama ticket's odds - Concord Monitor, NH - Castro's Ghost Picks Clinton & Obama as Running Mates? Hollywood Today Newsmagazine, CA Castro Endorses Clinton-Obama Ticket - "Stop the ACLU," PA - Castro rebukes Hillary, Obama over comments - "Peninsula On-line," Qatar However, in the spanish-language press, mostly latin american, there was not nearly as much confusion. Even the francoist ABC got it right: Castro critica a Hillary Clinton y Obama por exigir democracia en Cuba - El Universo - hace 15 horas Castro hace reflexiC3n sobre prC3ximos comicios en EEUU - Diario del Pueblo Fidel Castro no confC-a ni en Hillary ni en Obama - La Gaceta TucumC!n Fidel Castro criticC3 a Hillary ya Obama - La Capital (Rosario) Castro critica a Hillary y Obama por pedir para Cuba un gobierno... ABC Nadie debe hacerse ilusiones sobre un cambio con Clinton u Obama... Once TV CUBA-EEUU: Castro critica a precandidatos demC3cratas - IPS Noticias * ================================================================= .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org . List Archives: https://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ . Subscribe: https://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr =================================================================