On November 4, 2008, the American people demanded change in Washington DC.
One of the most important changes must be removing criminals (h/t Juan Cole) and proven liars from serious national policy debates, including our commercial airwaves and opinion pages.
To: ABC, AP, CBS, Chicago Tribune, CNN, FOX, Los Angeles Times, McClatchy, MSNBC, NBC, Newsweek, NPR, New York Times, PBS, Time, USA Today, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal
On November 4, 2008, the American people demanded change in Washington DC.
One of the most important changes must be excluding felons and proven liars from serious national policy debates, including our commercial airwaves and and opinion pages.
This is not a First Amendment issue because we are not asking Congress or the White House to engage in censorship.
Rather, this is an editorial standards issue. We believe any credible news organization should adopt standards that exclude felons and proven liars.
Below is a list of individuals who have disqualified themselves from serious national policy debates.
1. Convicted criminals
Ted Stevens (2008)
Bob Ney (2006)
Duke Cunningham (2005)2. Under indictment
William Jefferson (2007)
Tom DeLay (2005)3. Proven Liars
a. Members of the White House Iraq Group (WHIG), who manufactured pre-war propaganda to defraud Congress and the American people into supporting an invasion of Iraq.
Andrew Card (Founder), White House Chief of Staff
Karl Rove (Chair), Deputy White House Chief of Staff
Nick Calio, Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs
Stephen Hadley, Deputy National Security Advisor
Karen Hughes, Counselor to the President
Scooter Libby, Vice President’s Chief of Staff
Mary Matalin, Counselor to the Vice President
Condi Rice, National Security Advisor
James Wilkinson, Deputy National Security Advisorb. Former military officers who promoted Pentagon propaganda to invade Iraq while serving as paid consultants to military contractors who benefited from the invasion of Iraq.
Col. Ken Allard
Robert Bevelacqua
Gen. Wayne Downing
Timur Eads
Rick Francona
Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis
Jeffrey McCausland
Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney
Maj. Gen. Bob Scales
Gen. Montgomery Meigs
Maj. Gen. Don Sheppard
Paul Vallelyc. Politicians and journalists who knowingly lied about crimes or ethical violations, under oath or on camera.
Bill Clinton (Monica Lewinsky court testimony, 1998)
Robert Novak (Valerie Plame outing, 2003)
Sarah Palin (Alaska Ethics Violations statement to reporters, 2008)4. Likely War Criminals
Senior members of the Bush Administration authorized or failed to stop torture and other war crimes.
Elliot Abrams
David Addington
John Ashcroft
John Bolton
Jay Bybee
George Bush
Dick Cheney
Douglas Feith
Alberto Gonzales
William Haynes
Donald Rumsfeld
George Tenet
Paul Wolfowitz
John Yoo
Go here to sign the petition. / Democrats.com
