Text of the e-mail the Obama campaign sent to supporters:
In the next few hours, we have a crucial opportunity to fight one of the most cynical and offensive smears ever launched against Barack.
Tonight, WGN radio is giving right-wing hatchet man Stanley Kurtz a forum to air his baseless, fear-mongering terrorist smears. He's currently scheduled to spend a solid two-hour block from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. pushing lies, distortions, and manipulations about Barack and University of Illinois professor William Ayers.
Tell WGN that by providing Kurtz with airtime, they are legitimizing baseless attacks from a smear-merchant and lowering the standards of political discourse.
Call into the "Extension 720" show with Milt Rosenberg at(312) 591-7200
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(Show airs from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. tonight)
Then report back on your call at http://my.barackobama.com/WGNstandards
Kurtz has been using his absurd TV appearances in an awkward and dishonest attempt to play the terrorism card. His current ploy is to embellish the relationship between Barack and Ayers.
Just last night on Fox News, Kurtz drastically exaggerated Barack's connection with Ayers by claiming Ayers had recruited Barack to the board of the Annenberg Challenge. That is completely false and has been disproved in numerous press accounts.
It is absolutely unacceptable that WGN would give a slimy character assassin like Kurtz time for his divisive, destructive ranting on our public airwaves. At the very least, they should offer sane, honest rebuttal to every one of Kurtz's lies.
Kurtz is scheduled to appear from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. in the Chicago market.
Calling will only take a minute, and it will make a huge difference if we nip this smear in the bud. Confront Kurtz tonight before this goes any further:
http://my.barackobama.com/WGNstandards
Please forward this email to everyone you know who can make a call tonight.
Keep fighting the good fight,
Obama Action Wire
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The Facts on Barack and William Ayers:
William Ayers was involved with the Weather Underground when Barack Obama was eight years old, and Barack has roundly condemned their actions.
Last night on Fox News, Kurtz tried to radicalize an education reform program in Chicago called the Annenberg Challenge. The Challenge was funded by Republican Walter Annenberg, introduced by Mayor Daley and Republican Governor Jim Edgar, and one of its initiatives was even praised by John McCain.
Kurtz claimed on Fox News that William Ayers recruited Obama to the Annenberg Challenge -- a flat out lie. Ayers did not serve on the board of the Challenge, and he had nothing to do with Barack's recruitment. Some more background on Stanley Kurtz:
Stanley Kurtz Is Tied To Bill Kristol's Conservative Think Tank. Kurtz is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. The Policy Advisory Board includes: William Kristol. [Bio, policy advisory board, EPPC website, accessed 8/27/08]
Stanley Kurtz Was A Research Fellow At The Hoover Institution. In 2004, Stanley Kurtz was a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. [Boston Globe, 3/10/04]
Stanley Kurtz Claimed That Same Sex Marriage In Denmark Led To A Decline In Marriage Resulting In 60 Percent Of Children Being Born Out Of Wedlock. Stanley Kurtz stated: "Data from European demographers and statistical bureaus show that a majority of children in Sweden and Norway are now born out of wedlock, as are 60 percent of first-born children in Denmark. In socially liberal districts of Norway, where the idea of same-sex registered partnerships is widely accepted, marriage itself has almost entirely disappeared. [Boston Globe, 3/10/04]
Analysis Of Statistics On Marriage In Scandinavia Was Debunked. "Kurtz's argument -- which O'Reilly embraces -- is that when legal rights are accorded to gays, through some unspecified process heterosexual couples begin bearing children out of wedlock and refuse to marry when they otherwise would. There are many government policies that alter the incentives to get and stay married, and thus have direct and unsurprising effects on marriage; for instance, the availability of no-fault divorce leads to more divorces, and laws providing the same rights for cohabitating heterosexual couples as married couples lead to fewer marriages, as couples make private commitments to each other without seeking the imprimatur of the state. But neither Kurtz nor O'Reilly has provided a plausible justification for their belief that extending rights to gay couples harms heterosexual marriage." [Media Matters For America, 6/3/05]
Claimed That The National Nursing Shortage Was The "Fault Of Feminism." In 2002, the Los Angeles Times reported, "Back at National Review Online, contributing editor Stanley Kurtz makes the same point! He, too, says women shouldn't be trying to play by men's rules. Of course he has a slightly different take. According to Kurtz, the national nurse shortage is the fault of feminism, for bringing about "the replacement of a traditional ethic of sacrifice by a post-'60s ethos of self-fulfillment." Kurtz stated at the time "Nursing was once built around a spirit of feminine compassion and sacrifice. In the new, feminist world, that is unacceptable." [Los Angeles Times, 7/21/2002]
Stanley Kurtz Stated That The Harvard Faculty No Confidence Vote In Lawrence Summers Would Cause "Lasting Damage To The Cultural Left." On March 19, 2005, Stanley Kurtz stated on the National Review Online website, "I think the vote of no confidence in Lawrence Summers is a wonderful thing. Harvard continues to discredit itself with the American public. The faculty is trapped. If Summers resigns, this extraordinary example of political correctness will come back to haunt Harvard, and the entire academy, for years. But if Summers hangs on, the faculty itself will have been humiliated -- checked by the very fact of public scrutiny. Either way, Harvard is tearing itself apart. So long as the public simply writes of the academy, the mice can play. But the intense public scrutiny in this case puts the captains of political correctness into a no-win situation. Like the closely watched Susan Estrich fiasco, this battle is doing lasting damage to the cultural left. As they say, sunlight is the best disinfectant." [National Review Online, 3/19/05]
The Obama Action Wire is a grassroots rapid response group for supporters to fight smears, spread the truth, push back on misleading media, and take positive action.
Forward this email to everyone you know or sign up for the Obama Action Wire now.
And the bots responded in union (nice cute, non offensive headline from the LA Times)
As nation watches Denver, Obama campaign muscles Chicago station over ex-radical Ayres
In a surprising attempt to stifle broadcast criticism of its candidate, the presidential campaign of freshman Illinois senator Barack Obama is organizing supporters to confront Chicago's WGN radio station for having a critic of the Illinois Democrat on its main evening discussion program.
"WGN radio is giving right-wing hatchet man Stanley Kurtz a forum to air his baseless, fear-mongering terrorist smears," Obama's campaign wrote in an e-mail sent to supporters. "He's currently scheduled to spend a solid two-hour block from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. (Wednesday night) pushing lies, distortions, and manipulations about Barack and University of Illinois professor William Ayers."
Kurtz, a conservative writer, recently wrote an article for the National Review that examined Obama's ties to Ayers, a former 1960s radical who helped found a protest group that advocated violence.
The magazine was blocked in its initial attempts to obtain records from the University of Illinois at Chicago regarding the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a school reform project that Obama chaired and Ayers co-founded.
As The Ticket reported here, the school later reserved its position and opened the records Tuesday. Media organizations are poring over scores of boxes of documents to study the Obama-Ayres relationship, which the senator has described as merely casual.
Obama's campaign is urging supporters to call the radio station to complain. "Tell WGN that....
...by providing Kurtz with airtime, they are legitimizing baseless attacks from a smear-merchant and lowering the standards of political discourse," the note said.
WGN, like the Chicago Tribune and The Times, is owned by Tribune Co. As a clear-channel station at 720 on the AM dial, WGN's signal reaches dozens of states. Such efforts to prevent programs often backfire by calling even more public attention to the controversy.
"It is absolutely unacceptable that WGN would give a slimy character assassin like Kurtz time for his divisive, destructive ranting on our public airwaves," the note continued. "At the very least, they should offer sane, honest rebuttal to every one of Kurtz's lies."
Zack Christenson, executive producer of the longrunning interview program "Extension 720 with Milt Rosenburg," said the response from Obama supporters was strong. Rosenberg like Ayres is a college professor.
"I would say this is the biggest response we've ever got from a campaign or a candidate," said Christenson. "This is really unprecedented with the show, the way that people are flooding the calls and our email boxes."
Christenson also stressed that the Obama campaign was invited to send a representative to appear on the show to balance the discussion of the newly-opened documents. But the campaign headquarters just down Michigan Avenue from the station refused the request. This is not the first time Obama's organization has sought to steer supporters to influence a broadcast outlet airing criticism.
Our colleagues John McCormick and Steve Schmadeke have more details on this brewing controversy at the Swamp.
