Giap's Memoirs...


Just as we suspected--this confirms what many of us in the military had known...


General Vo Nguyen Giap.


Giap's memoirs... (Gen. Giap was a very famous and knowledgeable General in the North Vietnamese Army.)


General Giap was a brilliant, highly respected leader of the North Vietnam military. The following quote is from his memoirs currently found in the Vietnam war memorial in  Hanoi:              


"What we still don't understand is why you Americans stopped the bombing of Hanoi. You had us on the ropes. If you had pressed us a little harder, just for another day or two, we were ready to surrender! It was the same at the battles of TET. You defeated us! We knew it, and we thought you knew it. But we were elated to notice your media was definitely helping us. They were causing more disruption in  America than we could in the battlefields. We were ready to surrender. You had won!"                                              ;


A truism worthy of note: Do not fear the enemy, for they can take only your life.  Fear the media far more, for they will destroy your honor.


General Giap has published his memoirs and confirmed what most Americans knew. The Vietnam war was not lost in  Vietnam -- it was lost at home. The exact s ame slippery slope, sponsored US media, is currently well underway. It exposes the enormous power of a biased media to cut out the heart and will of the American public.

If this is true, can't you see what all the negative talk does to our soldiers?

Brian:

It's amazing how much you forget.  When I was in high school, Lyndon Johnson was president, so it was a while a go. Still, with the wonders of the world wide web, these answers are at your fingertips.  Pretty amazing. Ditto for that field of pennies.  On an unrelated matter and in the absence of a real email address for you, you should have received snail mail about an Eagle Scout.  If you didn't, another copy could be sent.

The Golden Age of television news.  Chet, David, Walter Cronkite and Edward R. ruled the airwaves.  

Edward R. took on Tail Gunner Joe and won.  He knew the risks but the news was more important than his career.

Unlike today when so many politicians and those behind the scene are TV savvy who try to spin the story before the words are spoken you could trust these men to get the story right.

The other day when Bush had a news conference one reporter asked about the Saudi woman who was found guilty of bring rape on herself and was to be punished for it Bush replied he, as a father, was outraged.  On another network the anchor reported the story and stopped after reporting Bush was outraged about the rape.  What he didn't do was the follow-up; the reporter continued and asked Bush if he had talked to the Saudi king about it since they have a one-on-one relationship during the peace conference in Maryland.  Bush said he hadn't and said the king knows how he feels and didn't say if he was going to press the king on it.

Was the other network trying to make Bush seem more compassionate and curry favor with the administration or bowing to White House pressure?

Actually having watched the news conference live on TV and seeing it reported on the news that evening makes me wonder what the reporters were listening to at the news conference.

You, Brian, do the same thing.  There are some stories you spin.  At least your spin isn't so fast that the story hums like some anchors on other networks.

It may be because I've grown up or it may be, thanks to the Internet, I don't trust the news as much as I did in the Golden Age.

Brian, you may never fill the shoes of the giants that came before you but you are giving it an excellent effort and you are leaving some mighty big shoes behind with each broadcast.  Just slow down your spin.  And, above all, don't get caught in the spin like Dan R.

Goodnight, Brian.

Your report on the isotope shortage tonight never mentioned what the material is called.  Also showing CT scans when talking about nuclear medicine is not very accurate reporting. (You could have shown real SPECT images.)

Two inspiring stories -- Thanks for feeling they were worth reporting.

Brian Williams talked this evening about all the
pennies that the school children had collected.
That is a "major" mistake because the U.S. doesn't
mint pennies, the British mint pennies; the U.S.
mints cents. Our youth program here in Indianapolis teaches that.  

Good Evening Mr.Williams, First of all that is an incredible amount of pennies. The "Penny Harvest" is certainly something to see and for a great cause. These NYC school children are really contributing to helping all kinds of people in need. I wish I was able to visit New York City in the next few weeks to see this wonderful sight. Unfortunately my schedule doesn't leave me any time. But if I could visit I would certainly see it and contribute. Also I would look up towards your offices and lend a wave of hello. I enjoyed the tribute to Chet Huntley and what a contribution he made to the early days of NBC news. They really did report during some unforgettable years of our country. I liked the photogragh of you and the daughter,her husband and two grandsons. Happy Birthday Chet. I'm sure he would be impressed at how far NBC news has evolved and the great technology of today. Now on to the broadcast. Mr.Teague's report from Oklahoma about the dangerous ice storms doesn't make me miss living up North. Some really treacherous conditions with all the limbs of trees cracking and falling near homes and cars. I hope it goes away quickly and they all receive their power back. Listening to Mr.Russert speak about the Presidential race and the fluctuation of the poll numbers it will be very interesting next year at all the caucuses and come election day. It is difficult to keep up with who is the current frontrunner because it seems to be always changing. Time will tell next November. Finally, that was a cute animal with the big ears and long tail that you showed. I first saw the pictures of the animal on the "Today Show" this morning. Very unusual. Yet, I must say on one final note concerning weather. It was a record 77 degrees today where I live in Georgia. Predicted to be around 74 degrees tomorrow. But it won't last because it is supposed to be near freezing over the weekend. Always changing temperatures in Georgia. Hopefully we will get rain. Anyway, thank you for the broadcast Mr.Williams. Peace to all!

Whoa.  That's all I can say about all those pennies.  I was working on a project this evening so I was listening to the broadcast, not watching it.  I put my glasses back on for this and couldn't believe my eyes.  The only time I've been through NYC was when I got lost in the Bronx on my way from home from Michigan; this might just be the reason I need to get myself back to New York and be a tourist!  

I did also get to see that little creature whose name I don't remember.  It's sooooooooooo cute!  Thank you for showing its picture.

As for the "O" effect: Obama had my interest long before Oprah showed up.  Her appearance does not (nor would it) sway me, as I vote by issues, not by who's supporting whom.  I haven't decided who will get my vote, but I do know this: if Hillary gets elected, I might just make good on my threat to move across the border!  

Brian is your news report different on the East Coast it always seems like I'm missing something when you give the report for the West Coast.

The United States was the leader of Woman's Rights with falls short as we saw President Crisina Fenandez de Kirchner get sworn in today as Argentina's first woman President.  It was good to hear her role model was Hillary Clinton.  The US use to be the first to lead now we are way behind. It is good to see that even if America doesn't recognized how smart woman are the rest of the World does. Karen Hughes should have gone to Argentina to learn about Woman's Rights.

I noticed the CIA tapes were unknown to all the White House officials as the answers were either I don't remember or I just heard about it.  One would think all the decisions were made my lower staff personal but where was the President and Vice President.  Connie Rice didn't think the Bin Laden memo was important.  Looks like Jose Rodriguez will fall on the sword for Cheney just as Libby did. Now we know why the White House appointed Porter Goss as he was clue less and just followed orders.

How much more has to happen before Americans realize we have serious problem with Global Warming.  The Health Care System was given away in 2000 as the Drug Companies are robbing the taxpayers blind and these fraud cases are the little robbers.

The young man from Finland was smart and smarter then our Homeland Security Officials.  Look how easy it was for him to get through to the President's top people. Most of the White House appointees don't know much as we saw with Dana Perino.  I couldn't stop laughing when the White House Press Secretary didn't know about the Cuban Missile Crisis. We are right now dealing with WMDs yet she's clue less. Homeland Security is a joke and those guys are just getting fat pay checks.

The campaign of Oprah reminds me of Hollywood. Yes I remember going to see Denzel Washington as thousands of people lined Hollywood Blvd. I got up close to see him and we just yelled cried and screamed real loud.  Just like their doing with Oprah now.  But when it was over everyone went back to their normal lives with just the memory.  Senator Obama does know it's Oprah people are going to see and take pictures.  This still doesn't give Obama the experience he needs to run a country and Oprah's show just wont cut it.  I'd like to think Americans are smarter then following a famous person's friend and not look at is he/she qualified. We're had 7 years of mistakes and robbery we don't need a learn on the job President.

Dear Mr. Williams,

I have a lot of respect for your coverage of the news. However, this evening I was thoroughly disappointed when you reported in the Penny story that it was in front of a bid spruce tree with decorations. Why not mentioning it for what it is a "Christmas Tree".Do you talk about a spruce at home with your children or is it Christmas tree? As a Dutch person, I really don't get why you and others spring through hoops to try as much as possible to avoid to say the word "Christmas". I guess you want to be inclusive, but it should not come at a cost. The U.S. celebrates "Columbus Day" also. In fact,he was a very controversial person. Why not calling "Columbus Day" something like "Sail Day". Christians and non-Christians alike have been celebrating Christmas through the ages. What is wrong with that?

Dear Brian,

First of all, that was good news last night on the re-opening of the New Orleans firehouse you'd reported on early this year. The coverage you did back then was one of the few things "Nightly" has done right regarding New Orleans this year. Because the attention it brought to the fact that the firefighters had been working out of trailers, etc., had drawn donations that made possible the reopening.

However, since this story was merely headlined when the situation in New Orleans merits far more than that after such a long stretch without being covered, I'm continuing my count: Last night's newscast is the 69th since you last aired a full report out of New Orleans.

Also, although you weren't anchor Saturday night, kudos to Martin Savidge's piece out of Canadaville, Louisiana, on New Orleans evacuees who are getting free housing there and are now living new and better lives. That, and the Canadian donor's generosity in building this village, are good news. So thanks for "Nightly" for airing it.

The evacuees in Canadaville are the lucky ones. For at this time of year folks sing about being home for Christmas with loved ones, and have warm, happy memories of past Christmases back home, there are still many in New Orleans, or who are poor evacuees longing to return, who won't be home for Christmas. Here are three excellent Daily Kos diaries on this profoundly distressing issue, where you'll find more information, by fellow diarists: "NOLA: Just Arrest Them So We Can Do Some Business," <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/12/7/65816/6162"> "NOLA: From The Overpass To The Underpass," <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/12/7/93915/6603/1004/419035"> and "our Democracy Broke When That Levee Broke." <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/12/8/185438/290"> (Bear with me for the extensive reading list, but I wanted you to see how this issue has been getting beaucoup attention from us bloggers and is far more newsworthy than you and others in the mainstream media have been letting on.)

Not to be ungrateful for the Canadaville story, I wish I could be so sanguine about how homeless people actually in New Orleans, or evacuees living difficult lives in far-off cities who want to return to New Orleans but can't find affordable housing, are faring. So as long as I don't see any full reports actually out of New Orleans on "Nightly" I'm going to continue to demand that this pressing issue be covered and be covered regularly out of New Orleans. And that the New Orleans bureau be reopened. Because what's going on in New Orleans is far more newsworthy than a lot of the stuff Nightly has been covering.

When you and "Nightly" have been concentrating heavily on sub-prime lending and the mortgage and foreclosure "crisis" and other economic matters almost every night, you have been neglecting to cover all the far more serious affordable housing and homelessness issues which beset people in New Orleans and in the diaspora over two years after Katrina. This includes the fact that undamaged or lightly-damaged public housing is wastefully going to be demolished, when fixing it up will not only provide much-needed affordable housing, but employment. Not to mention the suspicion many have that such housing is going to be razed to prevent poor people of color from returning to New Orleans. And it's not just public housing that's being razed--see "Demolished: A New Orleans Tale" <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/12/10/115712/33"> for more details about homes, schools, etc. slated for demolition. It's as if someone wants to see that New Orleans does not come back.

Your, and NBC's, consciousness needs to be raised regarding New Orleans. Thinking about your lack of coverage out of that struggling city makes me physically because of how so many are still in a world of hurt there. It not only displays an appalling lack of compassion, but also is morally wrong of both you and NBC. Have you decided this doesn't matter because it's going on in New Orleans?

New Orleans does matter--because she's the canary in the coal mine. Because what's started in New Orleans where the problems are most acute due to Katrina's aftermath will eventually spread to the rest of the country--even without a major disaster, the way the economy's going.  

As noted above, last night was your 69th newscast without a full report out of New Orleans. Why is the plight of the people there being ignored? This includes the survivors still living in those dangerous, formaldehyde-emitting FEMA trailers and the homeless still living under overpasses.
(Many of these survivors are vets, by the way--odd that given your obvious soft spot about military folks including veterans, you never aired anything on New Orleans' homeless vets, even around Veterans Day--but I guess you've just shrugged them off with "After all, they're in New Orleans--so who cares?")

And then there are people homesick for Louisiana, frail elderly, disabled or poor folks missing New Orleans while stuck in Houston, Atlanta, or some other strange, distant city, unable to return because they cannot afford to do so. And because their life in unfamiliar surroundings away from friends  has been so difficult and sad, they've not only developed depression but also serious physical ills, or have had ones they've already had worsen, and died sooner then they would have otherwise.

Newspeople such as yourself are supposed to function as a Fourth Estate--standing up for the "little guy" against large predators such as Big Business and Big Government. Your silence on what's going on in New Orleans, where many "little guys" who only want to rebuild their lives and homes in New Orleans are being preyed upon by "big guys" who want to make BushCo's genocide by neglect in Louisiana stick by destroying housing they could move into and discouraging their return to New Orleans--is unconscionable.

The last time I looked New Orleans was still an American city. Read the below comment to find out what sort of impression your lack of full coverage out of New Orleans and treating her if she were not part of America and her people as if they were not Americans conveys to someone on the ground there:

Nightly News NOLA Reporting

The Nightly News dropped the story of New Orleans and Katrina immediately after Brian Williams made his grand speech about how he was NOT going to drop New Orleans Katrina reports just because viewers were tired of it.  In my fantasy world I hope it was Brian having his last say to his bosses who were dictating no more Katrina news.  I do believe he sincerely was affected by the suffering of the city.  Truthfully, I don't watch national news anymore.  How can I when huge areas of my world lie in ruins?  They don't treat us a citizens of this country, so I guess it is not my country anyway.  I just get to pay taxes to it.

by doctorj2u

And it is truly sad how New Orleans has been abandoned and forgotten by the rest of the country, including those who really matter because they set the agenda, namely politicians and newspeople, as noted in the diary, "I'm Depressed." <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/12/6/101933/813/819/418179"> You, as a major mainstream media person, need to put an end to this distressing trend which is only making the suffering of the people and  of New Orleans worse and may threaten the survival of that beautiful city. And the only way you can do this would be by reopening the New Orleans bureau, by airing full coverage out of that city, and by working towards an NBC-sponsored presidential debate out of New Orleans.

To Brian and Stephanie (above)

"As for the "O" effect: Obama had my interest long before Oprah showed up.  Her appearance does not (nor would it) sway me, as I vote by issues, not by who's supporting whom.  I haven't decided who will get my vote, but I do know this: if Hillary gets elected, I might just make good on my threat to move across the border"

I could have written this, too,Stephanie.  I like him, his wife and his kids and think they should get to live in the White House.  they would be a great First Family.

I'm not against a woman President - really I'm not, but Hilary is not suitable.  She's never really done anything on her own and her attitude is one of entitlement. There are a lot of young women Governors who could serve and do well, also many women who are in the Congress and the boardrooms of companies all over America would be appropriate. An accomplished woman for President is not far away.

Oh and to Gerda - I call it Christmas, too.

Gerda,
I think you might have missed the tongue in cheek humor with regard to the tree.  Mr. Williams has a very dry sense of humor that is not always caught as humor.  
Merry Christmas (yep I do say that)

I have a great deal of regard for your News but why did you give so much coverage to
Mr. Larry Bourbannais, wounded in the recent Colorado shootings. You made him out to be a hero. Why? This may ruffle some feathers BUT I don’t see him as a hero at all.

As well intended as his outward motives MAY have been, you NEVER, EVER, tell a Security Officer and certainly NOT a police officer to relinquish their weapon because YOU think they need to act more promptly. If he had tried that here in Indiana he might well have been arrested for interfering in police/security business. What ever the reasons were for the Security Officer to hold back using his weapon, those reasons are HIS business and not the business of Mr. Larry Bourbannais. Security personnel were on their way and took down the shooter. All Mr. Larry Bourbannais did was to act recklessly and imply in his interview that the Security Personnel he encountered was acting somehow a cowardly.

Shame on Mr. Larry Bourbannais.

Robert Roy
Indianapolis Indiana.

Last week, Brian Williams read two letters from viewers who said they felt there were many copy cats of mass murders because so press is given to them and how they wished the press would stop doing so.  However, all the news networks continue to give massive coverage of these horrific events, latest one in Colorado.  What that tells me: frankly, my dear, the media doesn't give a damn what we want.

Dear Brian Williams,  I thank you for your beautiful words this morning about the Penny Harvest Field, but I wonder if you can explain what you mean by a "life altering experience?" I conceived the Field as a tribute to the children in the Penny Harvest and their year-long service in the program, but I also hoped other people -- the rest of us -- might find meaning in it.  I'd love to hear what you saw and felt.  Many thanks, Teddy
Teddy Gross, founder and exeutive director of Common Cents

great stuff!  thanks

I was filled with amazement towards the field of pennies, and I hope that it reminds everybody how much worth they truly have. Those children have their own "field of dreams"  made of a coin most people call obsolete. Now, I was not pleased to read the comment made by Jim on December 10th regarding the British mint versus the US mint. Yes, the British mints the penny, but the US also mints the penny - please refer to http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/circulatingCoins/ to educate yourself on our circulating coins. I believe that if the US Mint can refer to our one cent coin as a "penny," then Brian has a very solid foundation to stand on with his reporting!

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