FRIDAY'S LETTERS: Philly Press Club Not Oldest, Press in Bed With Politicos, Cohen and Colbert

By: E&P Staff In today's letters, more thoughts on Stephen Colbert's speech at the White House Correspondents Association dinner, a reader points out that there are older press clubs than the one we highlighted in Philadelphia, and a call for the Iraqi victims of the war be acknowledged.


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Why Aren't the Iraqi Victims Counted by Press?

I always enjoy your articles in E&P and lately have been enjoying your musings on the Colbert affair.

However, I find it a little off-putting that whenever you mention the human costs of the war, the Iraqi people seem to be completely off your radar. It's a blind spot you share with a lot of other liberals and I don't think it becomes you or the cause of seeing this war clearly.

Michael McFadden


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Some Press Clubs Older Than Philly's

Tsk, tsk -- the sign of a good journalist rests in good research. Editor & Publisher said the Quill and the Pen club in Philadelphia (circa 1800s) was the oldest press club. SPJ gave an award to Milwaukee and their 1885 club because you thought they were the oldest press club. The Denver Press Club is documented to be the oldest continuously operating press club, according to a 1877 article in a Denver paper. We bounced around from hotel-to-hotel in our early days, but the Denver Press Club continued to operate under the same name. We opened our own building in 1925 exclusively for use as the Denver Press Club and continue to operate in the same building today. We ARE the oldest documented press club in the country! What award do we win?

Alan J. Kania
Member of the board of directors and unofficial press club historian
The Denver Press Club


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Reader Evidently Feels Reality Has a Liberal Bias

I write to note that you concluded a recent E&P story about columnist Richard Cohen of the Washington Post commenting on the decorum of Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondents' Dinner with a totally gratuitous comment by E&P Editor Greg Mitchell. To quote:

"E&P Editor Greg Mitchell in a column recently recalled when Cohen, shortly before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, declared that Saddam Hussein "without a doubt" had weapons of mass destruction, adding, "Only a fool -- or possibly a Frenchman -- could conclude otherwise.? "

I can only assume that this Staff report included Greg Mitchell's comment to indicate their lack of agreement with Mr. Cohen's observations in general, and concerning Stephen Colbert's "comedy" routine at the WHCA Dinner in particular. Of course, its inclusion is redundant, as the mocking tone of the article makes that view abundantly clear.

Unlike the E&P staff, I agree with Mr. Cohen that the Colbert performance was totally inappropriate. However, that is not my reason for writing.

It is my belief that Mr. Cohen's statement about Saddam Hussein's possession of WMDs and an active WMD program AT THE TIME HE MADE IT was correct. That belief is confirmed by statements of Iraqi military sources after the war, by Saddam Hussein documents captured during the war and just recently translated, and by the presentations at an Intelligence Summit held in Alexandria VA earlier this year. I've attached a summary of the salient evidence of what happened to the WMDs once the Russians and French were unable to stop us from enforcing the U.N. mandates, as reported by NewsMax.com. I would refer you to the web site of the summit for additional information and documentation. [www.intelligencesummit.org]. The fact that the evidence presented at this conference has not been covered by the main stream media is an example of the MSM ignoring receipt of an unwanted message. That is, that WMDs were in Iraq until shortly before the invasion, and they were moved out of the country with the complicity of the Russian government. For its own reasons, the Bush administration is not complaining about the MSM not covering this story. Apparently, they need the cooperation of Russia in dealing with Iran and North Korea more than they need vindication on the WMD issue.

Much has been written that "no WMDs have been found in Iraq". If we hadn't gone into Iraq when we did, they would have been found... found raining down on us and our allies.

Stanley J. Penkala
Pittsburgh PA


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We Still Think It's Worth Reading the 'Times'

Just a note of thanks, you are doing a terrific job covering the news! I get more accurate and timely info from your website than the NY Times and CNN.

Sally van Haitsma
California


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Colbert Letters Continue to Trickle In...

Having read everything I can possibly find on the reactions to Colbert's routine, I have been unable to locate an article that addresses the substance of his comments. [Editor's Note: see E&P's full transcript of the Colbert speech, published Wednesday.]

I have seen many articles that discuss whether he was or was not funny, whether he was or was not heroic for doing what he did... But this is all color commentary on the game, the typical old horse-race reporting we have become so accustomed to. It doesn't address the substance of the commentary. It's like going to a football game and never hearing the score.

Could anyone with access to print or media publication beyond the internet kindly address at least a few of the points raised by Stephen Colbert? How many recent issues did he address in this one talk? If he missed any major points, I would be surprised.

This shouldn't be a matter of whether the outlet is liberal or conservative, it should be a question of facts. Colbert's presentation has drawn so much heat because it is essentially a summary of the past 6 years. If it was not at least based partially on real world events, there wouldn't be the discussion, was he funny/not funny divided upon political lines.

Eric Hake
Charleston, IL



What more proof is needed that the press is totally in bed with the politicians, when they can?t take a ribbing from a comedian? They sat there like a bunch of old eastern establishment fuddy duddies with a complete lack of a modern day sense of humor. They should cover their old typewriters for a week and tune in to Jon Stewart, Bill Maher and Colbert to see what a farce they are a part of. America takes these comedians more seriously than the self congratulatory, so-called mainstream press.

Elwood A. Anderson
Las Vegas, Nev.