CBS's Pitts Paints Breitweiser as Random Voter Swayed by Kerry Kristen Breitweiser has been an active, publicity-seeking Bush-bashing 9/11 widow who has spent time on the campaign trail for Kerry-Edwards and is featured in a new Kerry-Edwards TV ad in which she denounced Bush for opposing the 9/11 Commission and then declared that "during the Commission hearings we learned the truth, we are no safer today" and since "I want to look in my daughter's eyes and know that she is safe...I am voting for John Kerry." But on Thursday's Early Show, CBS News reporter Byron Pitts mentioned none of that as he portrayed her as some sort of random Bush voter who was so impressed by a Kerry speech line making fun of President Bush that she now plans to vote for Kerry. On the October 21 Early Show, Pitts played a clip of Kerry, during an Ohio campaign appearance: "A President of the United States has to do more than one thing at the same time and I believe that this President has failed, failed to make our country as safe and secure as we ought to be." Over video of himself walking next to Breitweiser down a sidewalk, Pitts asserted: "That struck a chord with supporters here, especially one." "Here?" Pitts was checking in from Girhard, Ohio and so viewers unfamiliar with Breitweiser may have assumed she was just a local Ohioan when, in fact, she resides in the New York City area. Breitweiser, identified on screen as a "9/11 widow," proclaimed: "My favorite part of the speech is when he said that we should expect our President to do more than one thing at a time." Pitts then painted her as a randomly persuaded voter: "Kristen Breitweiser lost her husband on 9/11. One of the leading advocates for the 9/11 commission, she voted for President Bush four years ago, not this time." Breitweiser declared to Pitts: "I know Senator Kerry will make us safer as our President, I know that. And I'm voting for him for myself and for my daughter." On Breitweiser, it isn't as if Early Show producers were unaware of her active participation in the Kerry campaign. Back on the September 28 Early Show, CBS reporter Jim Axelrod announced, over video of John Edwards on stage handing a microphone over to Breitweiser: "Mr. Kerry's running mate, John Edwards, was joined on the campaign trail by 9/11 widow Kristen Breitweiser." CBS played a clip of her, identified on screen only a "9/11 widow," talking to the crowd: "I'm a little nervous so bear with me. And I got a little teary-eyed, so. I know, forgive me for voting for President Bush." Wednesday's World News Tonight, but not CBS Evening News, featured a clip of her new ad for Kerry. ABC's Bob Woodruff explained, over a brief shot of Breitweiser on stage with Edwards at a campaign event, how "yesterday the Kerry campaign released its own 9/11 ad" in which "widow Kristen Breitweiser accuses George Bush of opposing the 9/11 Commission and resisting reform." ABC then played a bit of Breitweiser in the ad: "And during the Commission hearings, we learned the truth. We are no safer today. I want to look in my daughter's eyes and know that she is safe, and that is why I am voting for John Kerry." The full ad script, as posted by the Kerry-Edwards campaign: "My husband, Ron, was killed on September 11th. I've spent the last three years trying to find out what happened to make sure it never happens again. I fought for the 9/11 Commission, something George W. Bush, the man my husband Ron and I voted for, didn't think was necessary. And during the Commission hearings we learned the truth, we are no safer today. I want to look in my daughter's eyes and know that she is safe, and that is why I am voting for John Kerry." To view video of the TV spot: www.johnkerry.com Nothing about her campaigning for the Democratic ticket or cutting a TV ad for them made it into the piece filed by Pitts for the October 21 Early Show which the MRC's Brian Boyd brought to my attention. From Los Angeles, Julie Chen introduced it a bit past 7am EDT: "Now to the election. With just 12 days to go the war on terrorism remains a primary focus. This morning Senator John Kerry is taking aim at the President's policies in Ohio. CBS News correspondent Byron Pitts is with the Kerry campaign. Good morning, Byron." From Girhard, Ohio, Pitts began: "Good morning, Julie. Well first off this morning John Kerry is going geese hunting, an effort in part to show voters here he's a regular guy. But on the stump his main target remains President Bush." John Kerry at campaign event: "In Iraq every week brings fresh evidence that President Bush just doesn't see what's happening and he isn't leveling with the American people about why we went to war, how the war is going and he has no idea how to put our policy back on track." Pitts: "The Kerry campaign concedes it's a risky but necessary strategy: attack President Bush on what the polls still show is one of his greatest strengths, the President's leadership in the war on terror. Thus, it's the war in Iraq and the mounting casualties there where Kerry sees an opening." Kerry: "If the President can not recognize the problems in Iraq, he will not fix them. I do recognize them and I will fix them." Pitts: "And there's something else Kerry says he already recognizes, a link between the problems in Iraq and problems at home." Kerry: "A President of the United States has to do more than one thing at the same time and I believe that this President has failed, failed to make our country as safe and secure as we ought to be." Pitts, over video of himself walking beside Breitweiser: "That struck a chord with supporters here, especially one." Kristen Breitweiser, identified on screen as a "9/11 widow," standing outdoors: "My favorite part of the speech is when he said that we should expect our president to do more than one thing at a time. Al Qaeda is doing a thousand things at a time, they're trying to kill us." Pitts: "Kristen Breitweiser lost her husband on 9/11. One of the leading advocates for the 9/11 Commission, she voted for President Bush four years ago, not this time." Breitweiser to Pitts: "I know Senator Kerry will make us safer as our President, I know that. And I'm voting for him for myself and for my daughter." Pitts concluded: "Another widow will campaign with Kerry today. Dana Reeve, wife of the late actor Christopher Reeve. Kerry's topic -- stem cell research."
This kind of collusion is par for the course. The "Kerry Crying" picture from last year was taken in a local diner and attached to the story of the woman he was crying over. This poor woman's health insurance was so bad that she had to work while undergoing cancer treatments. This, of course, was followed by the demand for government to do more for these people. Problem is, most of the story is bullshit, the parts that are true have been twisted or divorced from other pertinent facts (strangely like kmfegan's example). The local paper did a story on the woman and her husband, including an interview in which they admitted that their story was not as portrayed, however, they believed things like that were happening to other people, so they had no problem with the deception. The national news never picked-up on the in-depth story, yet this "poor woman's" story was repeated over and over, and used in Kerry campaign speeches for quite a while, even though it had been exposed by a reputable paper as lies.Here's my post in another thread on the woman, unfortunately the story I referred to is archived.
Didn't they tell a sob story about how they had no money, but the husband hangs around the house all day because he doesn't feel like working?
He was out of work but wouldn't take any jobs he felt were beneath him. They weren't so hard-up that he would consider working for Walmart to pay the bills.
