CNN Compares Ron Paul Supporters to Terrorists

Open Letter to CNN and Glenn Beck: Ron Paul Supporters are Not Terrorists

Michael Nystrom

CNN and Glenn Beck recently aired an inflammatory and misleading piece comparing Ron Paul supporters to terrorists. Mr. Beck’s irresponsible association has already led to impassioned responses from the large, peaceful and growing Ron Paul community, including a call to boycott CNN’s sponsors, and an eloquent response from a former US Marine.

I was heartened by the Marine’s response. I fully support and encourage the boycott efforts. With this letter, I am also urging everyone within the Ron Paul community to write directly to CNN, requesting that your network and Glenn Beck issue a retraction, clarification and an apologyto Ron Paul and the peaceful Ron Paul community for your wrongful and damaging characterization.

On November 5th, nearly 40,000 hard working Americans donated an average of $98 to Ron Paul’s campaign for president, resulting in one of the biggest one-day online political fundraising events ever. We did it because we are tired of mainstream networks such as yours ignoring us. We did it with the intention of making a news splash so large that you could no longer pretend we do not exist. Our efforts succeeded beyond our wildest expectations, but Mr. Beck’s recent piece has revealed your true colors.

You did something shameful. You chose to portray 40,000 upstanding Americans as terrorists. I find it tragically ironic that Glenn Beck chose a segment called, “A Nation Divided” to compare the peaceful actions of fellow American citizens to terrorists. Mr. Beck’s actions only contribute to the division in this country. Calling this large group of peaceful Americans terrorists is an absolute disgrace, especially in a post-911 America when the Military Commissions Act allows the president, at his sole discretion, to name any American an “enemy combatant.” Your network and Glenn Beck may think it is funny to play fast and loose with this kind of language, but I take this very, very seriously. Nothing could be more divisive than to call fellow law-abiding Americans “terrorists.” Is this how far your network has sunk in its desperate grab for ratings? Shame on you. Shame on you and your editors, for selling out the foundations of our country so readily and so cheaply.

In his piece Mr. Beck erroneously stated that Dr. Paul’s November 5th fundraising was done “to commemorate Guy Fawkes.” What is your source for this statement? This statement is factually incorrect, and I hereby request that you produce your source, or retract it. With this single incorrect fact, Beck goes on to spin an entire piece that only amplifies and distorts his disinformation. Later in the piece, CNN’s guest, David Horowitz, speaking of Ron Paul, says: “I think it is very significant that he chose Guy Fawkes as an image.” This so clearly misinformed that it would be laughable if not for its seriousness. Is it your network’s standing policy to allow such woefully misinformed guests on all of your “news” shows? How can you expect informed citizens to believe any of your future program guests if you allow such egregious errors go unchecked and uncorrected? Ron Paul and his official campaign had nothing to do with the organization of this day, so it is impossible that Ron Paul was the one to “choose Guy Fawkes as an image.” Please do not assume that all Americans are complete idiots, nor that we will stand by passively as you broadcast such lies.

Your poorly researched, factually incorrect, sensationalist opinion is exactly what is dividing America and driving citizens from networks such as yours to the unimpeachable honesty and integrity exemplified by Dr. Ron Paul and his peaceful campaign for president. I hereby request that you issue a retraction, clarification and apology to Dr. Paul and his grassroots supporters. Without it, your network will continue its accelerating slide towards the realm of complete irrelevance in the minds of informed Americans.

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