"I'M GIVING YOU THE FACTS"

I listened to Greg Knapp on Dallas radio KLIF this afternoon on the commute home. Greg's first rant was against the NY Times article, "9/11 Report Cites Many Warnings About Hijackings." Greg claimed he was giving his listeners the facts so they wouldn't have to read the article but could still argue with their "liberal friends." But among the important points in the article that he neglected to include in his "facts" were:

(1) Greg made it sound like the warnings the FAA received prior to 9/11 were few and non-specific; however, he failed to mention that "...leaders of the F.A.A. received 52 intelligence reports from their security branch that mentioned Mr. bin Laden or Al Qaeda from April to Sept. 10, 2001." It is true that, as Greg claimed, the article stated that, "Five of the intelligence reports specifically mentioned Al Qaeda's training or capability to conduct hijackings, the report said. Two mentioned suicide operations, although not connected to aviation," but the sheer number of warnings should have sent up red flags.

(2) Greg didn't inform his listeners that, "The Bush administration has blocked the public release of the full, classified version of the report for more than five months, officials said, much to the frustration of former commission members who say it provides a critical understanding of the failures of the civil aviation system." I'd have liked to hear his explanation for the administration's suppression of the information, but his call screener informed me that "Greg has moved on from that story and doesn't want to revisit it."

(3) Greg emphasized that the article stated that civil aviation authorities were more concerned about an attack on foreign soil than a domestic attack (shades of Condi's PDB defense!) but he omitted this key sentence from the article: "The report discloses that the Federal Aviation Administration, despite being focused on risks of hijackings overseas, warned airports in the spring of 2001 that if 'the intent of the hijacker is not to exchange hostages for prisoners, but to commit suicide in a spectacular explosion, a domestic hijacking would probably be preferable."'

Greg spent at least half of his time blaming Clinton/Gore, thanks to his trusty friends at NewsMax. "Same old, same old," he remarked about the Times article. I could say the same about his methodology. I used to consider Greg Knapp one of the less objectionable right-wing talk radio hosts, but increasingly he is taking his talking points directly from NewsMax and the Bush apologists, thinking less and being less honest with his listeners.

But then, that's how Rush and Sean made their fortunes, isn't it?