Earlier, I posted about the not-very-well-reported details about Pat Tillman, the NFL player killed in Afghanistan. This is interesting too, for anyone who likes to keep a close eye on the media: (from an e-mail I received)
According to Reuters, Vice President Cheney came to Donald Rumsfeld’s defense in a statement released by his office late Saturday calling the embattled Defense Secretary the Pentagon’s best ever and saying “get off his case and let him do his job.”
Several other news organizations—the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times—have Cheney, through his spokesman, coming to the defense of Rumsfeld, praising him as “the best Secretary of Defense the United States has ever had,” and saying “let him do his job.”
They do not, however, have the “get off his case” line which only appears in the Reuters report (thus far).
FROM REUTERS: U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney moved to support Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld amid a firestorm over Iraqi prison abuses, with a statement that people should "get off his case" and let Rumsfeld do his job. "Don Rumsfeld is the best secretary of defense the United States has ever had," Cheney, who has sometimes taken a lead role in advancing White House positions, said in a statement issued by his office late on Saturday. "People ought to get off his case and let him do his job," Cheney said.
FROM THE NY TIMES (Elisabeth Bumiller): Separately on Saturday, Vice President Dick Cheney said through his spokesman, Kevin Kellems, that "Don Rumsfeld is the best secretary of defense the United States has ever had. People ought to let him do his job." The remarks, which Mr. Kellems offered to The New York Times, were Mr. Cheney's first public words of support for Mr. Rumsfeld, one of his oldest friends.
FROM THE WASHINGTON POST (Mike Allen): Vice President Cheney, who was defense secretary under President George H.W. Bush, said through a spokesman that Rumsfeld "is the best secretary of defense the United States has ever had." "People ought to let him do his job," Cheney said.
FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES (Peter Wallsten, John Hendren and Doyle McManus): Vice President Dick Cheney expressed strong support for besieged Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Saturday and tartly suggested that critics step back and let him carry out his duties. "As a former secretary of Defense, I think Don Rumsfeld is the best secretary of Defense the United States has ever had," Cheney said through his spokesman, Kevin Kellems. "People ought to let him do his job."
Comments (1)
So was the "get off his case" actually said and something that everyone but Reuters took out, or the other way around?
Posted by Ben | May 10, 2004 4:02 PM
Posted on May 10, 2004 16:02