Speaker's Office: Fox, Drudge, Reuters are Wrong

Fox: Delay of Congress Called for BCS Game
...Democrats have already called a time-out so lawmakers can enjoy a very important event — the BCS championship football game between University of Florida and the Ohio State University.

Reuters: ...everyone got yesterday off for the college football championship game between Ohio State and the University of Florida.

Drudge (via Crooks and Liars, who still just have the football game angle)

I was so ticked about this that I called the Speaker's office -something none of the reporters did, obviously, because the guy who answered the phone was able to explain to me exactly why the House schedule was a day short this week. The reason no votes were scheduled was because all freshman congress members were at a mandated seminar on House procedures. Blunt would have known that when he was eagerly giving quotes to the press about how Democrats control scheduling. Pelosi's office said that she answered a question about this in yesterday's press conference. I haven't been able to find a transcript of that. I suggested an additional statement from Nancy correcting this hatchet job.

If you have questions about what dems are doing, go straight to the horse's mouth because the media isn't telling us what's really going on:

Office of the Speaker
(202) 225-0100

edit- Here's a video of a relevant piece of that presser (she doesn't get into the seminar, but it's obvious that the game had nothing to do with scheduling decisions)

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2007/01/pelosi_whats_th.html

snip>
REPORTER: …Madame Speaker, why did you postpone votes tonight so that members could go to the BCS Game, if you did? …

PELOSI: “What’s the BCS mean?…”

Her question came as a whispered aside to Tim Roemer, the former Democratic congressman, who served on the 9/11 Commission.

The BCS Game, of course, is the Bowl Championship Series Game which is to be played tonight in Scottsdale, Ariz, is being called the Super Bowl of college football. Tonight’s first ever BCS game pits the number one Ohio State Buckeyes against the second-place University of Florida Gators.

For the record, Pelosi indicated there were no scheduled votes tonight not because of football but because she wanted to give bills that will be debated and voted on starting tomorrow a “three-day layover” so lawmakers could read the billls.

don't go confusing the issue with facts. ;)

And unlike truthiness this word had a copywrite mark to it. Funny show last night.

but what Faux and the other MSM and rwingers hope is that most folks won't take the time to find out what is really going on. Any more, I assume that republics are lying whenever they open their mouths, especially Roy Blunt.

:patriot:

Thanks, RS!!!!

:kick:

Now if the media would start reporting this...but I won't hold my breath.

others....

of a good Dem-bashing story.

So maybe Pelosi should send a couple of heavies round to explain it to him.

but alone I doubt it would have generated it. I certainly don't think his comment was responsible for it.

Fox seem to be fairly definite on it:



Hoyer seems to be taking 'credit' for the day off. I can't find any more context than that.

I really don't trust anyone. If it's on the House floor, it should be in record, and the preceding comments should be available to see.

(Not in the serious sense, but in the less serious intra-party fighting sense.)

Make Nancy look bad, then she get booted out, he gets to move on up. Murtha becomes majority leader.

from the Library of Congress (searching a portion of Hoyer's quote)-



Then later, when the game enters the dialogue, it looks like mostly bloviation to me. Granted, not the wisest move with cameras -or republicans- around:



"So what was responsible for the 'story'?" I frequently find myself at odds with Hoyer's politics, but in this instance there's a whole sting of people I'd point at before him -Matt Drudge, Fox, the Reuters reporter, ALL the reporters who didn't check the story out before they ran it, ALL the reporters who still aren't correcting it, any republican who advanced the story. Like that.

I wasn't certain, but now it looks pretty bad for Blunt. They're responsible, because they went out to a damn football game, and then they turned it around to make us look like the bad guys.

and if you can't trust the Democratic Majority Leader's word in the House of Representatives about the Congressional schedule, what can you trust? Seriously, are you saying everything said in Congress has to be double-checked - even when it's the Democrats saying it? Blunt didn't even ask him why they had cancelled votes on Monday - Hoyer just volunteered it, while explaining why he wanted to get votes going as early as possible on Tuesday.

when it's delivered through the prism of a media that caters to the republican agenda.

even when they've said something in Congress. He said it, they reported it - and then we've criticised them for reporting what the House Majority Leader said.

Why can't they get a simple story straight? How does such obvious bullcrap get broadcast to the masses?

REUTERS??!!!

Come on! Who believes this crap? This is so obviously bullshit! Come on!

"What does BCS mean?"

:angry:

SR

at the national level which reported that they had specifically taken the day off to let Boehner and the Boehnerettes go see the BCS game. They need to demand an immediate appology, because this is a very blatant distortion, now that I've seen the facts.

Then started thread after thread?

From Drudge!!!!

:mad:

but I'll explain why. It should have registered: "Why would Democrats allow mostly Republicans to go to a game, violating one of their pledges?"

No one's that generous. Imagine how she could've used that against them if it were true?

I guess I believed it because I heard Steny Hoyer, GOD DAMN IT! Those fuckers can't fucking tell any truth!

Right?

eom

Office of the Speaker
(202) 225-0100
or e-mail
http://speaker.house.gov/contact/

That's what I said, too.

and Blunt and I remember hearing when Hoyer spelled out the voting schedule from Tuesday thru Friday to Blunt (who was whining) that something was mentioned about not voting on Monday because the newly elected had orientation and wouldn't be available. It was mentioned on the House floor. It was prior to mentioning the football game as I recall, but I'm not sure. I jotted down the schedule on my calendar and left Monday blank.

freakin' coin toss at the game.

What's this "first ever" game? They've been doing this for several years now with the different bowls taking turns as the championship game.

I think they are planning on making it an annual event. Bowl games are usually the leaders of conferences. It's possible that the two "best" teams have played each other in bowl games before... but it's never been billed as the "Superbowl" of College ball.

i think....

Every year for about a decade now one of the bowl games has hosted the #1 and #2 seed instead of their usual conference champions. For decades the Rose Bowl had the PAC-10 champion versus the BIG-TEN champion. A few years ago they hosted the BCS with the #1 and #2 seeds instead.

That is the question... Will they actively put Nancy's statements out there, and take back what they said? I freaking doubt it very much.... We knew we would be fighting the MSM...

Small nit, but means a lot to us "west-siders."

My favorite part of Fahrenheit 911 is when John Conyers explains to Michael Moore, "Son, we don't read the bills."

;-)

Which was very considerate of Conyers.
Definitely one of my favorite parts in any political docu.